AIR launches 'WhatsApp' number for overseas audience

In a bid to stay connected with overseas audience, All India Radio (AIR) has launched a 'WhatsApp' number for its Urdu service.
The new service was launched on the occasion of Diwali on October 23, a statement here said.
Listeners can send in their song request for 'Suraj Ke Sath Sath' and 'Shaam Suhaani' programmes on the number 8130913554, it said.
Each of these two shows is of two hours and is aired from 8 to 10 AM and from 6 to 8 PM respectively.
"Both the programmes are prime time music request shows and listeners' requests are being taken through SMS and WhatsApp. After getting an overwhelming response to our programmes, we were prompted to launch a WhatsApp number which brings compatibility and makes it easy to send request from anywhere in the world," an official said.

AIR will be celebrating Sardar Vallabhai Patel's birthday on October 31. AIR hosts the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture every year. The topic of the lecture would be 'Marxism, Socialism and Integral Humanism', the official said.