Speaking at a press conference in the city on Tuesday, she said that the first broadcast was held on September 10, 1935 by late Dr M V Gopalaswamy.
The platinum jubilee celebrations will be inaugurated by Wing Commander M G Premkumar, who is the son of Dr Gopalaswamy. Retired Director of Prasaranga, Dr Prabhushankara will release a souvenir on the occasion.
Cultural programmes include Carnatic classical vocal recital by R K Srikantan and R S Ramakantha, Sapthaveena recital by Mysore S Rajalakshmi, light music by Nithin Rajarama Shastri. Folk programmes such as Beesukamsale, Tamboori Pada and Yuva Ranjani will also be held on the occasion.
Dr Vijaya said that Akashvani was started by Dr Gopalaswamy as a private venture. During the 1940’s the Government of Mysore gave the land to construct the existing Akashvani buildings in the city. She said that during the ‘40s around 350 radios were distributed to villages surrounding the city so that farmers could benefit by listening to the programmes on agriculture.
Despite the influx of commercial radio channels, Dr Vijaya said that Akashvani is still popular among people. Transmission executives S Subramanya and M Keshavamurthy were present.
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