World Radio Day is celebrated every year on 13 February. There was a time when radio was a very important part of our life. Radio was used as an important medium of entertainment through information, communication and songs. But after the arrival of things like television and mobile, radio is not being used as before but still its importance has not diminished.
Radio has played an important role in information exchange and educating people around the world. It was used to engage the youth in the discussion of topics that affect them. It helped save precious lives of people during natural and man-made disasters. It used to be a platform for journalists through which they would send their reports to the world and tell their story. Even today it is the most powerful but inexpensive means of spreading information. Although radio became an age-old medium, it is still used for communication. Also on this day in 1945, United Nations Radio aired for the first time. Given these importance of radio, Radio Day is celebrated every year. The first World Radio Day was formally celebrated in 2012.
The Spanish Radio Academy first proposed it in 2010. In 2011, on February 13, World Radio Day was declared in the 36th session of the General Assembly of UNESCO. UNESCO’s declaration of World Radio Day on 13 February was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 January 2013.
At the time when radio came into the world, there was no special means of information and entertainment. In such a situation, radio created a revolution and on seeing it spread its footprint across the world. The history of radio in India is even more golden. Radio has also played an important role in making the common Indian special. Many years ago, when TV was not much publicized, then the radio had done the job of running the mainstream news to the far-flung regional people in one stream, and why today also today the radio information in many areas of the country and the world And is the only means of dissemination.
Radio originates from the Latin word ‘radius’, meaning ‘ray’. The term was used in the 20th century to separate radio from other wireless technology.
The history of radio broadcasting in the world is not very old. On December 24, 1906, radio scientist Reginald Fensden started the radio broadcast.
In 1918, Lee the Forest started the world’s first radio station in the Highbridge area of New York, but the police stopped it, calling it illegal. If we talk about India, then in the year 1936, the official ‘Imperial Radio of India’ started in India, which after independence became All India Radio or All India Radio. Today AIR has 231 centers and 373 transmitters and its reach reaches 99 percent people. In a multi-cultural, multi-lingual country like India, AIR broadcasts in many languages to its domestic service. The contribution of Indian scientist Dr. Jagdish Chandra Basu has also been important in the expansion of radio.