Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has expressed confidence that Doordarshan will soon regain its lost glory and prove itself as the best channel in the country.

       Soni said that while DD News was considered the best news channel for those interested in genuine news without unnecessary editorial comment or gimmicks, the upgradation of the Doordarshan Direct-to-Home DD Direct Plus to telecasting 200 free-to-air channels will provide tough competition for the private channels.

Soni was speaking at the function held to present the tenth Annual Doordarshan Awards.

The event was a musical extravaganza with Bollywood singers Jassi, Shruti Pathak, Javed Ali and Sankevnmi, apart from a heart-rending dance programme by Ability Unlimited Foundation, an organizstion of disabled performers headed by Guru Salahuddin Pasha who performed on wheelchairs or danced despite having lost the ability to hear.


There was also a very engaging laser show to the accompaniment of the lyric ‘Mile sur mera tumhara’ which has been popularized as a vehicle of national integration by Doordarshan.

Prasar Bharati Chairperson Mrinal Pande,Doordarshan Director General L D Mandloi, and DD News Director General S M Khna were also present.

Soni in a brief address announced the introduction of a new category of award, ‘Innovative Idea and its Innovative Television Adaptation’, to be given from next year. She said the idea had to be innovative and the TV adaptation had to be ingenious.

Soni admitted that the achievements shown by various persons were in an atmosphere of lack of resources and facilities. The quality of such programming had created an impact in the minds of the masses, standing out in the rush for market driven programmes which dominated television sets today.

The programmes which bagged the awards included Turnaround of DD Archives under the category of DG’s Special/DD Archive presented to the now-retired head of Archives Kamalini Dutt. Awards were given in 32 categories.


Other awards included Bhagan Walian under the category of Animation/Graphics/Promo/Spot category, Republic Day Parade under the category of Live/Sports event, Ras Baras Agle Baras under the category of Art Direction/Set Designing/Costume, Eti Shaponave Pam Khedi under the category of Women, Pachim Taal under the category of Dance/Dance-Drama/Ballet, Farmer’s Pride under the category of Agriculture, and Meri baat under the category of Reality/TV Show.

The health programme Kalyani won an award for the Lucknow Kendra and the award under the category Children was given to the programme ‘Udaan’ by Delhi Kendra’s Saroj Sharma. Emergency Action by Chennai Kendra was awarded under the category of Cinematography and editing.

Doordarshan Kendra, Hyderabad, was awarded the Best Doordarshan Kendra. The award for the Best News Producer was given to Ashok Budhiraja and Kapil Bhatia while Kanta Rani and M Z Alam received the best news editor Hindi and English awards respectively, all of DD News. Sakal Bhatt and Songum Vashum were named best news anchors. The Thiruvananthapuram Kendra was awarded for the Best Regional News Unit.


 

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