AIR revives ’71 war memories

Kolkata: The Maitree channel of the All India Radio (AIR) launched by President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday morning revived memories of the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh when the Kolkata station of AIR had played a key role. The channel aims to cater to Bengali listeners of both India and Bangladesh. While launching the channel, the President said it could play a significant role in promoting and preserving the composite Bengali cultural heritage, which is the proud inheritance of all Bengali speaking people irrespective of their geographical location. Akashvani Maitree, which will be on air 16 hours a day, will produce and broadcast programmes as reality shows, music and quiz competitions, discussions where participants from both the countries can take part. The channel will cover whole of Bangladesh and most of South East Asia. TNS