Bhubaneswar, Feb 13: The 7th International Radio Fair 2021 was kickstarted at Bhanjakala Mandap Saturday. Around 15 stalls were organized to commemorate the radio day.
Radio Hirakhand 90.8 FM promotes community radio and it’s based on Sambalpuri language and culture. The radio day is based on innovation, evaluation and communication. “Radio must touch the nerves of netizens,” said Bikash Mahapatra, director of Radio Hirakhand Sambalpur. There was also an online app called Radio Bhubaneswar which one can download on smartphones and can listen to various programmes.
Kaliprasad Panda of Radhakrishna Radio and gramophone museum Bastapada Sompur Cuttack said, “Collecting radios was my passion and more than 80 antique pieces of radios and more than 1000 old records have been collected which are on display here. Unfortunately, there has been no special effort from the government to conserve such radios and old gramophone records. The gramophone displayed here was my grandfather’s dowry gift which I had preserved till date.”
Ghanshyam Patnaik, a famous antique radio collector of Bolagarh, said, “I need more than 40 large halls to display my collection of radios and gramophones. There is no government funding to preserve these pieces. People nowadays feel that smartphones are the ultimate method of entertainment, but when everything shuts down it’s the battery operated radio that keeps one news savvy and alert about happenings.”
On day one, around 10 to 15 radios were sold and many radio lovers queued up to get their share.
