ITV

Category: Terrestrial

  • DD to introduce new infrastructure for 35th National Games

    DD to introduce new infrastructure for 35th National Games

    MUMBAI: Indian pubcaster Doordarshan is planning an expansive coverage of the 35th National Games through its main sports and numerous regional channels. This will include live telecasts, highlights and news based programs of the Games.

     

    Doordarshan will start telecasting special programs on Games from 31 January to 14 February, 2015. This includes the opening and closing ceremonies of the National Games.

     

    DD sports, DD National and all other regional language channels including DD Malayalam will telecast the opening and closing ceremony of the Games, live. These channels will also air special programs during the National Games.

     

    From 1 February, Doordarshan will telecast the events live on most of its regional channels. Round the clock coverage of the Games including highlights, news based programs and interviews are also on the cards.

     

    Most of the popular games like athletes, aquatics, football, basketball, kabaddi, tennis, gymnastics, handball, badminton and boxing will be telecast live on Doordarshan. Other events will find space as highlights.

     

    To make the Games a visual treat, Doordarshan is planning to bring in its entire resources and high-tech equipments including HD OB vans, under water cameras, high – tech graphic technologies etc.

     

    High Definition camera used in international events like Commonwealth Games will be used for the first time in the forthcoming National Games.

     

    The 35th edition of the National Games will see more than a total of 9515 participants, among them 7464 are athletes and 2051 of them are non-playing participants such as coaches, team managers and other supporting officials.

     

    Run Kerala Run, the curtain-raiser to the Games, turned out to be a huge success on as people of all walks of life thronged the streets to make it a phenomenal event. It was an occasion for the people of the State to join hands and pledge support to the Games being hosted by Kerala for the second time since 1987. From Parassala in the South to Manjeswaram in the North the simultaneous Run, at all its 21 mega points, 226 mini mega points, and over 10,000 ordinary points, attracted extraordinary crowds.

     

    Sachin Tendulkar held centre stage in the capital, while the other district headquarters had its own star attractions, notably Malayalam film heroes Mohanlal in Kochi and Dileep in Kottayam.

  • Doordarshan relaunches website to increase accessibility

    Doordarshan relaunches website to increase accessibility

    NEW DELHI: In keeping with its pledge to give a new look to all its properties, Doordarshan has revamped its website www.ddindia.gov.in.

     

    The new look of the website is fresh, vibrant, contemporary and colourful. The emphasis is as much on aesthetic appeal as it is on content and administration related details. The new website also offers ease of navigation as it has dedicated pages of each national channels including one for DD Kisan channel, which is yet to be launched.

     

    Touted to be the corporate website, Doordarshan’s new launched website further links the user to all regional channels existing websites. The latest topics on the homepage range from specific details on the only free to air DD Free Dish to news headlines to scheduled movies of the week and easy social media accessibility. Also, via website, users would be able to access the live streaming of DD News.

     

    The website also offers a clickable option for the users to view the website in four different colour themes. The users can also change the sizes of the fonts for ease of legibility. An added new feature that merits mention is the dynamically updated programme schedule of national channels with regular update being done remotely by “What’s On India.” This channel guide allows users to view the programmes being telecast for that particular time band on each channel, as well as the programmes lined up for the entire day.

     

    The multi-media gallery section incorporated in the newly launched website details the users on the latest developments and upcoming events at Doordarshan.

     

    For greater speed and ease of navigation, superior technology has been incorporated while designing the website. Access to sub-sections has been made quicker and easier. The browsing experience on www.ddindia.gov.in has been made richer.

     

    This mobile-friendly and content rich website is being maintained by the National Informatics Centre.

  • DD digitizes 20,000+ hours of archival recordings; to outsource digitization

    DD digitizes 20,000+ hours of archival recordings; to outsource digitization

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan, which commenced digitization of its archival recordings in 2003, had spent Rs 9.57 crore until October last year out of the allocation of Rs 19.21 crore allocated for the purpose under the Eleventh Plan.

     

    DD was allocated a further Rs 16.32 crore under the 12th Plan, which as remained unutilized until October last year.

     

    In addition, DD spent sums of Rs 4.59 crore (out of the available Rs 4.82 crore), Rs 3.35 crore (out of the available Rs 3.56 crore), Rs 3.47 crore (out of the available Rs 4.27 crore and Rs 2.89 crore (from the Rs 4 crore) for 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively for this digitization from the Internal Extra Budgetary Resources (IEBR) of Prasar Bharati.

     

    Doordarshan has digitized 20,139 hours of recordings. Among these, AIR digitized material include archival records of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and many other national leaders and Doordarshan recordings are under 38 categories, which include rare archival records of several national leaders.

     

    Prasar Bharati sources told Indiantelevision.com that it plans to outsource the digitization process, and has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) calling for applications from private entities for digitization of its archival / legacy programmes.

     

    However, as per sources, digitized archives of Doordarshan are not accessible to the people through mobile phone applications.

  • Channels asked to cover Republic Day with sign language interpretation from DD News

    Channels asked to cover Republic Day with sign language interpretation from DD News

    NEW DELHI: Private television channels, which normally re-transmit the signals of Doordarshan relating to the Republic Day Parade, have been asked to carry the sign language interpretation following a demand by the hearing impaired.

     

    DD News always telecasts the Parade with simultaneous sign language interpretation.

       

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in an advisory that it had received the request from the hearing impaired to ‘help them connect meaningfully with this important National Day.’

     

    As in previous years, DD will provide this feed free of cost to private channels.

     

    The Ministry noted, “Whereas the media has always been in the forefront of taking up important issues covering national integration, the progress of disadvantaged sections of the society etc. would be another step in the right direction by media to facilitate access to the Parade commentary to differently abled people. It is in this spirit that all TV channels interested in carrying the live telecast of the Republic Day Parade with commentary are advised to carry the signals of DD News with sign language interpretation.”

     

  • There is more to January than Republic Day, DD Bharati programmes show

    There is more to January than Republic Day, DD Bharati programmes show

    NEW DELHI: The onset of the Basant Panchami festival and the month of Magh in the Hindu calendar will be marked by DD Bharati with the launch of its special series “Maihar Gharana.”

     

    The series features four stars of Ustad Baba Allaudin Khan Maihar Gharana: sitar maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Sharan Rani Backlliwal and Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

     

    Ustad Baba Allauddin was regarded throughout India as a musician saint and remained a student of music till the age of 70 completely mastering the Dhrupad and instrumental compositions of the Seni Gharana and adding innumerable new compositions and many new Ragas, such as Hemant, Shobhavati, Durgeshwari etc.

     

    Basant Panchami, announces the arrival of spring (Basant), the bosom friend of Kamdev – the god of love. DD Bharati commences the series with a special archival performance of sitar player of country and abroad, Pt. Ravi Shankar, followed by Ali Akbar Khan in the next week. The series commences on 24 January at 9 pm and repeat telecast at 5 am and 1 pm.

     

    President Pranab Mukherjee’s broadcast to the nation will be telecast on 25 January from 07:30 pm to 8 pm on all DD channels. 

     

    The 66th Republic Day Parade will be telecast from 9 am on 26 January on all DD channels.

     

    The Beating Retreat ceremony, which officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities, will also be telecast live. It is conducted on the evening of 29 January, the third day after the Republic Day. It is performed by the bands of the three wings of the Defence forces: the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force. The venue is Raisina Hills starting from Rashtrapati Bhavan and the adjacent Vijay Chowk, flanked by the north and south blocks of the Central Secretariat towards the end of Rajpath from 04:45 pm to 06:15pm. It concludes with the lighting of the entire Central Secretariat and all Government buildings on both sides of Rajpath.

  • Committee formed to inquire DD on 400+ unaired episodes

    Committee formed to inquire DD on 400+ unaired episodes

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan has been asked to immediately report on why 164 prorammes running into over 200 episodes produced by the Srinagar Kendra of Doordarshan and 288 episodes received from 30 outside production houses between 2009 and 2011 have still not been telecast.

     

    Doordarshan director general Vikayalakshmi Chhabra has been asked to shortlist those series, which can still be used, Prasar Bharati sources told Indiantelevision.com. The outside producers were to be paid Rs 30,000 per episode.

     

    The DG has also been asked to take disciplinary action against the concerned officers, and a DD source told Indiantelevision.com that a high-level committee had been formed for this purpose.

    The sources said no payment has been made for such programmes by Doordarshan so far.

     

    The telecast of these programmes was stopped during the first quarter of the year 2011 by the then DDG (Programmes) at DDK Srinagar.

     

    Some facilities for production of these programs were out–sourced. In some cases, the fee structure of Doordarshan was also not followed which was in violation of procedure for ‘in-house programmes.’

     

    The programmes included documentary series, talk shows, music-based programmes including qawaalis, dramatic series, programmes done under Bharat Nirman, and game shows.

  • DD Urdu: Over 160 series commissioned; several new series launched this month

    DD Urdu: Over 160 series commissioned; several new series launched this month

    NEW DELHI: A total of around 400-odd serials have been selected for Doordarshan’s Urdu service out of a total of 580 that were pending before the Prasar Bharati Board.

     

    According to DD additional director general Anita Sinha, 165 series out of these have been commissioned.

     

    Thus, after DD National, DD Bharati and DD News, a major revamp of DD Urdu has been undertaken with several new shows being introduced from the beginning of this month. These are new niche shows that cater to their selective audience.

     

    The shows are meant to target all age groups thus igniting the flame of the Urdu language. They include four in-house and four commissioned programmes.

     

    The in-house programmes are:

     

    Yaadein (Memoirs): 8:30 pm.(Saturday), repeat at 2 am and consequent day at 1:05 pm – Famous personalities from all walks of life are invited in the studios to share their memories, experiences and interested anecdotes in this series based on ‘Down the memory lane’ of the personality.

     

    Yaadon Ke Darichay Se: 8 pm (Saturday), repeat at 1:30 am and consequent day at 12:30 pm – Film based programme knitting old and new film songs with an anchor. Each programme is theme based, like rain, love and film personalities.

     

    Mubahisa: 9:30 pm (Monday), repeat at 12:05 am and consequent day at 1:30 pm – Mubahisa is a studio based programme on current affairs and covers social, cultural and political aspects of the nation.

     

    Taleem aur Rozgaar: 9:30 pm (Thursday), repeat at 12:05 am and consequent day at 1:30 pm – The programme is based on education and employment of the youth of our country. Programme highlights the current educational and employment opportunities for the young talents.

     

    The commissioned programmes of 13 episodes are:

     

    Ru-Baru: 9:30 pm (Friday), repeat at 12:05 am and consequent day at 1:30 am – This is an interview based talk show inviting personalities from the field of education, films, music and dance and also personalities of social and cultural eminence. The series is particularly designed for the young generation to understand that devotion and dedication is essential to become successful.

     

    Karwan-e-Aazadi: 8:30 pm (Sunday), repeat at 2 am and consequent day at 1:05 pm – Series on freedom fighters Indian got freedom after sacrificing million of lives of freedom fighters and the contribution of these freedom fighters cannot be forgotten. Indian history and people of India will remember them forever. Some of the renowned freedom fighters covered in the programme are Ram Prasad, Bismil, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, Bhagat Singh, Raja Mahender Pratap Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi.

     

    Urdu Adab Ke Legends: 5:30 pm (Tuesday), repeat at 5 am and consequent day at 10:30 am – As the title indicates, the series covers the lives of the Legends of Urdu literature without whose contributions, the history of Urdu literature is incomplete. The legends included in the series are Qurratul Ain Haider, Shaharyar, Ali Sardar Jafri, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Akhtarul Iman, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi amongst others.

     

    Dastan-e-Urdu: 6:30 pm (Monday), repeat consequent day at 08:05 am and 11:05 am – The series depicts the evolution of the Urdu language from its initial stage ‘Raikhta’ to a language of a common man. Evolution of Urdu took place, step by step and it reached to its zenith when it was spoken in the courts of empires. The series, produced by Kamna Prasad, traces the history of Urdu language with in-depth research and interesting facts.

  • DD Urdu launches new talent show on ghazal singing

    DD Urdu launches new talent show on ghazal singing

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan has launched a new talent show on ghazal singing, Jashn-e-Begum Akhtar, to commemorate the centenary year of Padma Bhushan Begum Akhtar, on DD Urdu.

     

    The all India hunt has been conceptualised to look for a talented voice that can carry forward the legacy of ghazal singing. The idea of the show is to encourage the youth to reunite with their roots and values and appreciate the beauty and dignity of Urdu language.

     

    The regional rounds of this competition were held at five regional kendras: Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai, to facilitate equal representations from different regions. There were 112 participants from Delhi.

     

    Participants between the age group of 18 to 40 years were invited to take part in the reality show. The selected 15 candidates from each of the regional rounds performed in the mega and pre-final rounds that were held in Delhi from 9 to 14 January.

     

    The singers were judged by an esteemed panel of Padamshri Dhrupad exponent Shanno Khurana, Padamshri Shovana Narain, Dr. Rahat Indori and Prof. Wasim Barelvi. Popular playback singer and performer Peenaz Masani was the anchor for this series. Along present along with the panel were eminent classical vocalist Rita Ganguly, who had conceived the programme in 2012 and Additional Director General Anita Sinha, who got it cleared and executed.

     

    The final round will be held in March 2015, where five finalists will perform in front of personalities like Kavita Krishanmurthi, Hari Haran, Javed Akhtar, Gulzar and Zakir Hussain. The top finalists will be awarded suitably. The finalists are Rageshree Das (Kolkata), Oshin Bhatia (Delhi), Krishna Nand (Lucknow), Santa Kundu (Kolkata) and Sourabh Salunke (Mumbai).

     

    The various selection rounds will be telecast on DD Urdu, DD National and DD Bharati.

     

  • DD Bharati to air live coverage of dance & music festivals in January

    DD Bharati to air live coverage of dance & music festivals in January

    NEW DELHI: Even as it depends on Doordarshan archives for its programming, DD Bharati has planned several live reportage during this month, apart from the telecast of the Republic Day Parade.
     
    There is a subtle relationship between ancient places of worship and classical dances. The gracefully dipping and rising contours of these temples does reveal that it is the same lyricality, which one perceives in the movements of Indian dances. The temple architecture of ancient India as well as classical dances were born of the same aesthetic sensibilities. That is the probable reason for important dance festivals to be held against the ideal backdrop of ancient temples.
     
    DD Bharati will cover live the three-day Mukteswar Odissi dance festival that gets underway at the Mukteswar temple premises in Bhubaneswar from 14 to 16 January featuring solo dances by Sujata Mohapatra, Sangeeta Dash and Naba Kishore Mishra; duets by Lingaraj Pradhan-Sanjukta Dutta, Rashmi Raj-Biswabhusan Mohapatra and Debasish Patnaik-Niladri Bhusan Mohanty besides group presentations by the Vitalina Lobach and troupe from Russia, Poushali Mukerjee’s troupe from Kolkata and Odisha Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar.
     
    Mukteshwar Temple in Bhubneswar famous for its elegantly carved arched gateway is considered as one of the finest examples of Orissan Architecture. The complex of this legendary temple serves as the venue of the Mukteshwar Dance Festival. The festival celebrates the unrivalled charisma of Odissi, the classical dance form of Orissa.
     
    DD Bharati will also telecast live some sequences from the Sirpur National Dance and Music Festival from Raipur on 16 January from 8 pm, on 17 January from 6 pm, and on 18 January from 8 pm.
     
    Perched on the banks of Mahanadi, Sirpur is a small town located 85 km away from the state capital, Raipur and has astonishing monuments in the form of temples and Buddhist monasteries (Viharas), all set into a picturesque canvas of exquisite nature and meditative peace. In the midst of this exoticism and mysticism unfolds the much acclaimed Sirpur National Dance and Music Festival – held year after year in the month of January, under the auspices of the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board.

     

    Amongst the renowned Indian and international artistes who will grace the festival this year are Kathak dancer and Hindustani classical music vocalist Pt. Birju Maharaj, English percussionist Peter Robert Lockett, American saxophonist and composer George Brooks, Jazz percussionist – Phil Maturano, Indian playback singer Anuradha Paudwal, Indian musician and sitar player Shujaat Husain Khan, Indian classical musician and santoor player Rahul Sharma.
     
    DD Bharati will return to Bhubaneswar for live reportage of the Rajarani Festival from 18-20 January from 6-8 pm. The Rajarani Music Festival, held in the courtyard of the Rajarani Temple in Bhubneswar, is one such occasion to celebrate the richness and originality of Indian classical music. Evening concerts by great maestros of Indian Classical music fill the air with enchanting chimes. The Festival will showcase mandolin exponent U. Srinivas from Chennai, legendary Carnatic vocalist M. Balamuralikrishnan, celebrated couple – violinist L.Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurti.

     

  • Republic Day; Choreographer Narendra Sharma & author R K Narayan brought to life by DD

    Republic Day; Choreographer Narendra Sharma & author R K Narayan brought to life by DD

    NEW DELHI: Even as preparations are in full swing for the Republic Day parade, DD Bharati has commenced telecast of ‘Gantantra Diwas Samaroh Ki Gaurav Yatra’ at 4 pm every day, which comprises the archival footage of the parade till 2013.
     
    In association with Vigyan Prasar, DD Bharati has commenced daily telecast of ‘Vigyan Ke Pathik’ from 9 January at 5 pm, repeated next day at 1 am and 9 am. Each episode is devoted to one great scientist work and his or her contribution. Some of the scientists include JC Bose, KS Krishan, PC Ray, Charles Darwin and S Chandrasekhar.
     
    Earlier this month on 1 January, the channel commenced the lively environment series ‘Wild Adventure’ at 10 pm every Thursday, repeated next day at 6 am and 2 pm. The series combines the adventures of ballooning with the art of wildlife filmmaking. In the series, they spanned the length and breadth of the sub-continent, covering as they go an entire array of wildlife, nature and the impact of humans on the environment. The series was shot with a large crew with support from the government of India and the Forest Department.
     
    DD Bharati presented a special programme on contemporary dancer and choreographer Narendra Sharma from 11 January at 10:00pm, repeated next day at 6 am and 2 pm to mark his 90th birth anniversary. This is a specially curated programme about his contributions and will be aired from 11 – 14 January. The programme is a tribute to this great master who extended the horizons of movements and beyond with his choreographies and artistic vision. The programme compiled and curated by Dr Arshiya Sethi schedules some of his master works like “Antim Adhyay”, “Flying Cranes”, “The Awakening”, “Conference” etc and also shares a conversation with this great art visionary.
     
    In a conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Dr Sethi says, “Narendra Sharma died on 14 January, 2008. Had he been alive, we would have been celebrating his 90th year. The immense body of his work in a pioneering language of dance needs to be saluted. This is our salute to him.”
     
    The popular Malgudi Days based on the works of R K Narayan is being telecast starting 12 January at 7 pm, repeated next day at 3 am and 11 am.  Narayan describes how in India ‘the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story’. Malgudi Days is the marvelous result. Narayan portrays an astrologer, a snake-charmer, a postman, a vendor of pies and chappatis – all kinds of people, drawn in full colour and endearing domestic detail. And under his magical touch the whole imaginary city of Malgudi springs to life, revealing the essence of India and of human experience.