Sunday, September 7, 2008

Aizawl gets first indpendent FM station

Aizawl, Sep 7 : Mizoram capital Aizawl got its first independent FM station on 15 August. Named ‘Zoawi‘(meaning celebrating Aizawl), the station, launched by Prasar Bharati, is positioned ‘for the masses’. This is the second time Mizos get to sample FM, as AIR has been running Lunglei, which airs All India Radio content in the FM band in the city of Lunglei.

‘Zoawi’ will operate only for five hours a day, from 5 pm to 10 pm. The FM station has been made operational using a 3×2 KW old transmitter which was lying unused, say sources. RJs from Mizoram’s main AIR station have been roped in to service the new radio station as well. The AIR main station was set up on year 1966.
Commenting on the public response, AIR’s deputy director of north east region 2, C Lalrosanga said, “People here are very open to a medium like radio. We have received good response from our audience and advertisers as we are the only FM station functioning here. As a medium, we want to do more than just keep it as an entertainment segment in the society.”

The station plays English, Hindi, western and Mizo music for its listeners. The library of the station consists of its own old stock of recordings, new recordings and regional music. The station also telecasts 10 minutes of news at 6.30 pm, sourced from AIR’s main station of Aizawl.

The programming format on the station only changes on Sunday when the station plays devotional songs, as a majority of Mizos visit the church on the day.

According to Lalrosanga, the tiny hilltown state, with a population of less than one million, is full of talent and finding talent for the station for the station would not be a problem. Nor is power supply a problem, since Mizoram is exempt from the power cuts that plague other north eastern states.

The State’s AIDS control society will be the first advertiser on the FM station. The station plans to broadcast for 24 hours a day after a proper infrastructure set up.

15 injured in Assam police firing

Karimganj, Sep 7 : At least 15 people have been injured when police here opened fire to quell a clash between two groups in the district, police said today.

A clash took place late last night at Neelambazaar, 15 km from here, over a land dispute, police said.
Police first fired tear gas shells and then were forced to open fire as some indulged in stone pelting injuring one police official, they said.

The injured were rushed to the civil hospital at the district and at Neelambazaar.

The situation has been brought under control, a senior police officer said.

Special NF Rly trains for Puja rush

Maligaon, Sep 7 : The Northeast Frontier Railway will run a total of 29 pairs of Puja specials from September 28 to November 2. Five pairs each will run between Guwahati and Calcutta and between New Cooch Behar and Sealdah. Ten pairs of trains will run between New Jalpaiguri and Sealdah and also between New Jalpaiguri and Howrah.

Four pairs of trains will be run between New Jalpaiguri and Howrah. All these trains will be run as superfast Puja specials, according to a North East Frontier Railway press release.
The 0218 Guwahati-Calcutta Superfast Puja trains will leave Guwahati at 9pm every Sunday and Thursday from September 28 to October 12. The trains will reach Calcutta the next day at 3pm. The 0217 Up Calcutta-Guwahati Superfast Puja special will leave Calcutta at 9.40pm every Monday and Friday from September 29 to October 13. It will reach Guwahati at 3.40pm the next day.

The 0204 Down New Jalpaiguri-Sealdah superfast Puja special will start from New Jalpaiguri at 10am every Thursday from October 2 to 30 and reach Sealdah at 7.40pm the same day. The 0203 Up Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri special will start from Sealdah at 9.05am every Sunday from October 5 to November 2 and reach New Jalpaiguri at 6.50pm the same day.

The 0244 Down New Jalpaiguri-Sealdah weekly superfast special will start from New Jalpaiguri at 6.50 pm every Wednesday from October 1 to October 29 and reach Sealdah at 5.15am. On return journey, the 0243 up Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri weekly superfast special will start from Sealdah at 11.40pm every Thu-rsday from September 30 to October 28 and reach New Jalpaiguri at 10am the next day.

The 0204A Down New Cooch Behar-Sealdah superfast special will start from New Cooch Behar at 7.20am every Saturday from October 4. The 0203A Up Sealdah-New Coochbehar superfast special will start from Sealdah at 9.05am every Friday from October 3.

The 0258 Down New Jalpaiguri-Howrah weekly superfast special will start from New Jalpaiguri at 6.50pm every Sunday from October 5 to October 26 and arrive at Ho-wrah at 4.50am the next morning. The 0257 Up Howrah-New Jalpaiguri weekly superfast special will start from Howrah at 11.55pm from October 4.

AC special: The 0358A Down New Jalpaiguri-Howrah weekly air-conditioned superfast, running with Rajdhani Express rake, will start from New Jalpaiguri at 6.50pm every Friday from October 3.