Special Urdu bulletin by AIR to counter 'distorted' news aired

A special Urdu news bulletin on the subcontinent has been introduced by the All India Radio (AIR) to present India's point of view in the "right perspective" in the wake of "distorted" news emanating from other countries, the public broadcaster said here.
The AIR's External Services Division (ESD) has begun airing the 10-minute bulletin "Khabrein barr-e-sagheer se (News from the subcontinent)" at 11 pm daily from December 3.
"In the face of distorted news often emanating from some countries inimical to India's interest and also from outside the region, this special news bulletin is designed to put India's points of view in the right perspective to the listeners in the subcontinent and also to the world at large," the AIR said in a release.

This initiative is also in sync with the present government's "neighbourhood first policy", it added.
It said the western media often presents news emanating from the subcontinent in a way which is not keeping with the "ethos and realities" of the region due to lack of "domain" knowledge.
"This special news bulletin shall help in overcoming such aberrations also," it said.

The Urdu service of ESD has a huge following in Pakistan, countries in the gulf region and western Uttar Pradesh.
The service is also live streamed to the entire world through airworldservice.org and also through two mobile applications airworldservice and allindiaradiolive.

The EDS's 'Akashvani Maitree' channel currently airs a special news bulletin for 15 minutes daily which has become popular among listeners in Bangladesh and the large Indian and Bangladeshi diaspora living elsewhere in the world, the release said
The bulletins also carry developmental news and success stories regarding common problems and issues, it added.