By Tricitynews Reporter
Chandigarh
04th October:- BBC News today began a major expansion
in India, launching news services in four Indian languages–Gujarati, Marathi,
Punjabi and Telugu – and relaunching a nightly TV news bulletin in Hindi, BBC
Duniya, to be broadcast on India News.
The new services are available online and on social media, with a
Telugu TV bulletin, BBC Prapancham, also starting tonight.
This will be broadcast on Eenadu TV Andhra Pradesh and Eenadu TV Telangana.
This forms part of a significant BBC
investment in India, including an expanded news bureau in Delhi with 2 new TV
studios. The Delhi bureau is now the BBC’s largest outside the UK. It will
become a video, TV and digital content production hub for the whole of South
Asia.
This follows a huge talent drive in
India, with the BBC recruiting more than 150 new journalistic staff from across
the country.
Director General of the BBC, Lord Hall
of Birkenhead, is in India for the launch of the services. Speaking from Delhi,
where he was officially opening the BBC Bureau, he said that he is delighted to
be in India to mark such a significant milestone for the BBC. For decades,
audiences in India have trusted the BBC to bring them impartial, independent
news, and today millions more have the chance to access the BBC in their own
languages. He added that we know the BBC is already held in great regard and affection
across India, and we want to bring BBC News to new audiences, particularly the
next generation of news consumers. We’ve recruited amazingly talented new
journalists from across India, and it’s been an honour to meet many of them
today.
He is also pleased the BBC is working
with new TV partners in India News and Eenadu TV.
K.Bapineedu, CEO of Eenadu TV Network, said that the BBC has
established its brand name as a credible news channel across the globe. The
initiative from the BBC to produce international stories with a global
perspective, in the Telugu language and to be broadcast on the ETV Network,
will add value to our existing endeavor of reaching the Telugu audience with
the highest reach and authenticity.
Kartikeya Sharma, Founder and Promoter
of iTV Network, the owner and operator of India News, said that the BBC is
known for its well-researched and unbiased content, which will now reach our
viewers in a language and format them, can easily comprehend. India News is
acknowledged as a channel that captures the pulse of the nation and promotes a
brand of direct and responsible news coverage. With the coming together of the
two, our viewers can look forward to getting a global perspective on stories of
international significance from networks they can trust.
BBC News already broadcasts to 28m
people in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil and Urdu, as well as English.
The investment in India comes as part of the BBC World Service’s biggest
expansion since the 1940s, made possible by £291m investment from the UK
Government. The BBC has already launched news in Pidgin, Afaan Oromo, Amharic,
Tigrinya and Korean, with services in Yoruba, Igbo and Serbian to follow.
BBC Duniya is broadcast Monday-Friday at
1800 IST on India News. BBC Prapancham is broadcast Monday-Friday at 2230 IST on Eenadu TV
Andhra Pradesh and Eenadu TV Telangana. Both bulletins will be fast-paced
programmes giving audiences original journalism and a global perspective on the
international and national stories of the day.
TV news bulletins in Marathi will be
broadcast later this year, with Gujarati following next year.
Downloadable English language learning
modules will also be available via our sites.
News in the four languages is also
available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.