Pranab launches Indo-Bangla radio service

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has launched the Akashvani Maitree, a Bangla radio service, in Kolkata, on Tuesday. In his inauguration address, the president hoped that it would be an important "channel of communication" between India and Bangladesh, reports BSS. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury welcomed the launching of new radio channel Akashvani Maitree. The Bangladesh leaders, in separate messages, hoped that the new channel would act as a "bridge of amity" between the two countries. "The new radio channel will cater to Bengali speaking people of India and Bangladesh," said a statement of an Indian High Commission in Dhaka. "The service will be broadcast in India and Bangladesh on 594 KHz," it added. The proposal to establish the radio channel with content sharing from Bangladesh and India was discussed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in June, 2015.