By NewsGram Staff Writer
With English becoming the global language, Sanskrit, the mother of all languages, has been gradually fading away from the mainstream.
Doordarshan, however, is spearheading the move to preserve the language as our cultural heritage. It plans on taking steps to popularize Sanskrit among the masses. Starting July onward, the national broadcaster will present a weekly 'Sanskrit News Magazine,' aiming to present events from every corner of the world.
The much awaited programme will be divided into news, features and debates and will be conducted entirely in Sanskrit. As of now, the DD officials are studying trends and patterns regarding the use of Sanskrit across the country in preparation of the magazine.
Speaking on the upcoming project, Akshay Rout, Additional Director General (News), Doordarshan told a newspaper, "We are putting in the best efforts to get reporters, editors and anchors fluent in Sanskrit, on contractual basis. The half-an-hour program will be telecasted on weekends. We will finalize the name in the next few days."The project comes in the backdrop of the success of a special half hour bulletin in August 2014 during the Sanskrit Week 2014.
Every morning, at precisely 6.55 A.M., 'Varta,' (also spelled as Vaarta) a news bulletin in Sanskrit has been broadcasted by DD for the last many years. Plans are underway to extend the duration of the program by at least ten minutes.
"We are examining the feasibility of the existing bulletins. Right now, it is a five-minute bulletin, which I think is too short. It is neither here nor there. We may extend the time once we have the necessary staff," told A Surya Prakash, Chairman Prasar Bharati to The Economic Times.
"The Sanskrit program will look at showcasing not just current affairs but also stories of interest from around the world, and more features will be added, depending on the interest it generates," said a DD official.
The first Sanskrit bulletin on All India Radio (AIR) was broadcast in 1974, almost four decades after the national radio service started in 1936.
Remarkably, Sanskrit was the last language to be taken up by AIR's news service division, much later than even Sindhi and Nepali.
'Good News India,' a weekly program, which showcases the transformation of the lives of people in the country, is also expected to be broadcasted soon, according to DD officials.