[cr-india] CR in Andipatti?

[sajan venniyoor]

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There are two things here worth following up:

1.	Data transmission on CR is an interesting idea, but not if it takes a Rs.500 data chip. Presently, even commercial FM operators are not allowed data transmissions. Digital radio, which can comfortably accommodate data transmission, is not even dreamt of in the new FM policy. Nevertheless, anything that pushes the envelope is worth a try.

2.	More importantly, how exactly does the I&B Ministry propose to start a community radio service at Andipatti. As far as we know, no ‘well-established educational institution’ at Andipatti has applied for a CR license. If the Andipatti CR is set up outside the provisions of the CR Guidelines, what could be better for us? 

Ms. Jayalalithaa has requested the Centre to modify the CR Guidelines. If she succeeds, I vote that we instantly declare her the Patron Saint of Community Radio.

Sajan.

Jayalalithaa seeks nod for data on radio  
 
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2004 02:38:28 AM ]
CHENNAI: 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to modify the guidelines for community radio service to enable radio browsing too. She also asked for community radio service in her constituency Andipatti. 

Radio browsing would involve transmission of data on FM frequency, which is not allowed at present. Delivering her speech at the inauguration of the Anna 90.4 MHz — India ’s first campus community radio — Ms Jayalalithaa said, to achieve maximum results at the maximum speed, the internet had to converge with the radio. Information downloaded from the internet and integrated into the community radio services would help people browse radio and lead to multiple benefits. 
Speaking to ET, P S Sundaram, managing director, Technomedia Solutions P Ltd, which has provided the prototype design for the Anna FM radio studio, which is touted as the smallest, completely digital, tapeless multi-purpose studio, said that radio browsing could be enabled through an inexpensive (about Rs 500) chip receiver LCD display device. Alternatively, the radio could be plugged into a computer or data-to-speech enabling software could also be used. 
Mr Sundaram, who was earlier associated with the I&B ministry’s BECIL, said that almost all other community radio projects in the world incorporated data transmission as well. While I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was present at the function, did not commit on this aspect, he readily agreed to start community radio services at Andipatti when Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani mentioned Amma’s request as part of his inaugural address. 
The reason for Ms Jayalalithaa’s insistence on radio browsing enablement lies in the power of IT intervention that she has referred to. She cited the example of village Ulagapitchanpatti, in Melur taluk of Madurai where, a simple web camera image of an infected vegetable crop sent by a woman kiosk operator under the Rural Access to Services through the Internet Programme (RASI) to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Extension Centre helped save the crop worth over Rs 1.5 lakh. The University centre responded with a solution immediately. 
Ms Jayalalithaa hoped that community radio would help connect the women’s self-help groups in the state. Being trained to use the internet, this would help disseminate market intelligence and messages of social relevance to women and local groups, she added. Mr Advani conceded that India had lagged behind in tapping the communication potential of radio. 





Jayalalithaa seeks nod for data on radio  
 
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2004 02:38:28 AM ]
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to modify the guidelines for community radio service to enable radio browsing too. She also asked for community radio service in her constituency Andipatti. 

Radio browsing would involve transmission of data on FM frequency, which is not allowed at present. Delivering her speech at the inauguration of the Anna 90.4 MHz — India ’s first campus community radio — Ms Jayalalithaa said, to achieve maximum results at the maximum speed, the internet had to converge with the radio. Information downloaded from the internet and integrated into the community radio services would help people browse radio and lead to multiple benefits. 
Speaking to ET, P S Sundaram, managing director, Technomedia Solutions P Ltd, which has provided the prototype design for the Anna FM radio studio, which is touted as the smallest, completely digital, tapeless multi-purpose studio, said that radio browsing could be enabled through an inexpensive (about Rs 500) chip receiver LCD display device. Alternatively, the radio could be plugged into a computer or data-to-speech enabling software could also be used. 
Mr Sundaram, who was earlier associated with the I&B ministry’s BECIL, said that almost all other community radio projects in the world incorporated data transmission as well. While I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was present at the function, did not commit on this aspect, he readily agreed to start community radio services at Andipatti when Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani mentioned Amma’s request as part of his inaugural address. 
The reason for Ms Jayalalithaa’s insistence on radio browsing enablement lies in the power of IT intervention that she has referred to. She cited the example of village Ulagapitchanpatti, in Melur taluk of Madurai where, a simple web camera image of an infected vegetable crop sent by a woman kiosk operator under the Rural Access to Services through the Internet Programme (RASI) to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Extension Centre helped save the crop worth over Rs 1.5 lakh. The University centre responded with a solution immediately. 
Ms Jayalalithaa hoped that community radio would help connect the women’s self-help groups in the state. Being trained to use the internet, this would help disseminate market intelligence and messages of social relevance to women and local groups, she added. Mr Advani conceded that India had lagged behind in tapping the communication potential of radio.