The Hindu : New Delhi News : Doordarshan then and now

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Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
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New Delhi

Doordarshan then and now

Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication organised a national seminar on “Public service broadcasting: Challenges ahead” in Delhi this past week to commemorate the golden jubilee of Doordarshan. The major milestones of Doordarshan were highlighted and reasons were analysed for its decline in popularity in recent years. Media-watchers pointed out that Doordarshan would have to take competition into consideration while formulating future strategies since the audie nce now had a great deal of choice.

The importance of using Doordarshan for popularising public service messages related to environment and climate change was noted. The benefits of public service broadcasting such as accessibility, independence and the variety of programmes that viewers could choose from were discussed. The significance of local radio as a medium of communication was brought up as it could reflect local interests and needs.

A presentation was made on the future of documentaries and the importance of “story-telling” to retain the interest of the audience was also underlined.

Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon, honoured its students at an award ceremony earlier this week. The Chairman’s Awards, Prof. Subhash Saxena Freshman Year Mathematics Award, Dr. Kusum Ansal Excellence Award and Director Merit List Award were among the 70 awards presented to meritorious students for excelling in academics. “Spectrum”, the bi-annual magazine of the Institute, was also released on the occasion. Institute director Prof. M. P. Singh annou nced a proposed student exchange programme with Valparaiso University in the US. He also announced plans to launch an executive MBA programme in collaboration with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and a management of entertainment programme with UCLA certification.

Indira Gandhi National Open University M.Sc. Chemistry students were presented with a modular laboratory on the university’s Foundation Day this past week. Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal inaugurated the laboratory.

Designed by manufacturing house Kewaunee Labway, the state-of-the-art laboratory boasts some of the latest amenities. It has been fitted with vacuum, gas and electricity lines, water taps and has safety mechanisms in place. It also has polished granite tops which are fire and chemical-resistant.

Young students discussed strategies on how to prevent polio at a debate at Hans Raj College’s Economics Department fest in Delhi on Wednesday. The students argued that the need of the hour was a strategy that would assign responsibility to both individuals and society. It was also important to treat the virus without misconceptions and introduce incentives to encourage people to get their wards vaccinated.

Several debaters suggested use of mobile vans to disseminate information, continued media coverage and implementation of schemes to eradicate polio. The underlying emphasis of the debate was that even if the number of polio cases was low it was still very much a cause for concern.

Mata Sundri College for Women is holding its three-day annual fest, “Saarang”, beginning Wednesday. On the menu are a host of cultural and academic activities such as paper presentations, debates, poetry competition, one-act play and street play.

There will also be competitions where students can display their calibre in rangoli and mehendi, classical and light music, quiz and group dance.

Urvashi Sarkar

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