All India Radio station aimed at Bangladesh to be launched next week.

The channel is also unique as it is a terrestrial channel, to be beamed from Chinsurah from a state-of-the-art 1,000 KW DRM high power transmitter which was capable of reaching out to listeners in the entire country (Bangladesh). Officials said AIR was talking to FM stations in Bangladesh to relay the programmes to ensure better service in hinterland Bangladesh.AIR External Services Director Amlan Jyoti Mazumdar had earlier told radioandmusic.com that the most unique aspect was that the new channel would also beam programmes that are either co-productions or made by Bangladesh programmers.He also confirmed that artistes from both sides of the border had arrived in Kolkata for the formal inauguration at Rabindra Bharati auditorium, but said the artistes would come again when a new date is fixed.

He also said that another unique aspect of this channel was that it could be streamed online on airworldservice.org and through Apps from anywhere in the world and would therefore prove popular among people who spoke Bengali anywhere in the world.This is not the first time that an attempt has been made to reach out to audiences across the border in Bangladesh as a Bangla radio service had been launched in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and discontinued in 2010.But he stressed that the uniqueness is that this channel will have co-productions and artistes from Bangladesh taking part.

AIR sources said the channel was being re-launched in view of the changed circumstances and the important place Bangladesh occupies in India’s foreign policy.