India’s Radio Moscow clubs alive and kicking

The Russian Centre of Science and Culture in New Delhi is hosting the 7th all-Indian conference of listeners of The Voice of Russia. Delegates from over 150 local listener clubs are taking part, representing most of India’s states.

Mr Chunnilal Kaiwart, 40, is President of the Green Peace DX Club. He hasn’t missed a single national conference of Voice of Russia listeners. His club works in a location some 1,200 kilometers from New Delhi. 

"My club has 30 members. They include students, teachers and doctors. At least once a month, we gather together to discuss the most interesting programmes of The Voice of Russia and the most interesting articles posted on the station’s website." 

Mr Krishna Muriri Singh Kisan heads one of the many VOR listener clubs created in Bihar State: “My club was founded in 1995. It now has 60 members. We are all friends and sympathizers of Russia and take great interest in developments in your country. With the help of your radio station, we track your reforms in every field and study the Russian culture. We also have another source of information about Russia, FEVER 104 FM. This radio station is an Indian partner of The Voice of Russia.”

"The members have raised some $50,000 to construct a building for the club’s meetings. We want to make our club an important centre of exchanges between Russia and India." 

Senior FEVER 104 FM executive Mt Vinay Manik said programmes prepared in cooperation with The Voice of Russia boost the rating of his radio station. Many of the older Indians, he said, love the Russian culture, particularly literature. By airing programmes about it, FEVER 1034 FM instills this love in the young. These programmes are a treasure trove of knowledge about Russia.

The honorary guests of the New Delhi conference included Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin:

"The secret of such ever-growing popularity is quite simple, radio station’s team does not stand idle, but matches in step with time. Our Indian friends can now listen to the voice of their favorite anchor through a cell phone, the company’s internet site is working in full swing, and a special application is available at the AppStore. A free programme installed on a smart phone allows listening to the latest news. Today the Voice of Russia is actively expanding broadcasting using razoredge communication means and opportunities provided by digital technologies. The Voice of Russia’s portal can be deservedly considered a unique Runet database. The radio station’s sites in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and English are especially popular and enjoy an ever-increasing number of visitors."

On the conference’s second day Sunday, the delegates will discuss the content of the VOR’s webpages in India languages. The conference has already attracted great attention from the Indian media.

VOR listener clubs (our station was known at the time as Radio Moscow International) sprang up in India in the 1960s, as Soviet-Indian cooperation was picking up. Moscow Radio was beaming programmes in as many as 12 Indian languages.

(Source : Voice of Russia)