Last updated March 2005
Printable versionBBC Hindi
For over 60 years, BBC Hindi has been one of the
most credible and respected sources of news in India, providing timely
and reliable coverage of important events in the world and across South
Asia.
BBC Hindi broadcasts four times a day at 6.30am, 8.00am, 7.30pm and
10.30pm IST. It is available on shortwave and medium wave radio transmitters
and via cable television.
BBC Hindi programmes are produced in the service's London and New Delhi
studios. Millions of Hindi speakers across the world can also access
BBC Hindi programmes in text and in audio at bbchindi.com.
BBC Hindi broadcasts two morning and two evening programmes live from
the BBC's new studio in Delhi.
Aaj Ke Din is the
morning programme broadcast in two half-hour editions. The 6.30am IST
edition covers news and current affairs stories and analysis, as well
as reports on a wide range of topics. It also includes a regular sports
update and a daily Indian press review.
The 8.00am IST edition has a style of its own - featuring a new guest
every day, and mixing celebrities and politicians such as V.P.Singh,
Shubha Mudgal, Jatin Das, Ravi
Shankar, Meghnad Desai, Ajit Wadekar,
Fazal Mehmood, Dev Annand and Shashi
Kapoor.
It also covers news in sports and entertainment and holds discussions
on various topics.
Aaj Kal,
the evening news programme, updates the audience with live reports,
expert opinion and analysis of current affairs, business and sports
stories as they unfold. It broadcasts two 45-minute editions at 7.30pm
and 10.30pm IST.
The 7.30pm edition includes the daily
Aapki Rai, which is dedicated to listeners'
letters. This is followed on Mondays by Career
Kya Karoon, which deals with career-related queries
and information. On Tuesdays, Humse Poochiye answers
listeners' questions on general topics, and on Sundays there is a live
half-hour interactive programme, Aapki
baat: BBC ke saath, in which listeners can put their
questions to the guest.
The programme has featured the cabinet ministers of
India, opposition leaders, politicians from Pakistan (including the
President), historians, Bollywood stars and celebrities from different
walks of life.
The 10.30pm IST edition sums up the headlines and major
news items for the day, covering politics, business and sports.
Both Aaj Ke Din and Aaj Kal broadcast stories told by
listeners.
In February and March 2004, the BBC Hindi team visited
15 towns and covered thousands of kilometres in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
with an interactive Voice of the People roadshow.
The aim of the roadshow was to promote Aaj Ke Din and
Aaj Kal, and introduce the real face of its programme makers to radio
listeners in the cities and towns.
More than 140,000 people met the BBC team, made up of
journalists based in Delhi and London, at over 200 forums.
In September 2004 BBC Hindi continued its interactive
efforts when it visited audiences in Bihar, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan.
BBC Hindi has won numerous awards. A programme it aired
within hours of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi
was awarded "Best News and Current Affairs programme in 1991" by the
Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU).
In 1997, BBC Hindi won The Population Institute's Global
Award in Media Excellence for its programme Indian Population - A Continuing
Crisis; and in 2003, BBC Hindi service head, Achala Sharma, was honoured
for her contribution to Hindi broadcasting and literature at the Seventh
World Hindi Conference in Suriname.
