Govt working to expand media: PM

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said the government has been working to expand the media both in the public and private sectors to ensure the free flow of information.
‘Then free flow of information is very much essential to develop an improved and time-befitting social system in the country,’ she said while formally inaugurating the expansion of programme hours of the BTV’s Chittagong station through a videoconference from her official residence Ganobhaban.
The prime minister launched its new 6-hour telecast time increasing it from its previous one and half hours one.
‘Bangladesh Television always tries to discharge its responsibilities to people rather making profit,’ she said adding that education-oriented programmes can be telecast through BTV which might not be possible through private television channels.
Sheikh Hasina said the government has taken necessary steps to continue the expansion of electronic media, particularly televisions and radios, in both the public and private sectors.
She, however, put emphasis on broadcasting more programmes to create mass awareness about education and other pro-people issues.
Hasina said various organisations in the public sector like Bangladesh Betar, BTV, NIMC, PIB, DFP, Bangladesh Films and Television Institute and BFDC are working to provide information and entertainment to people as well as flourish the country’s own culture and tradition.
The prime minister said with the expansion of telecast-time of Chittagong BTV, it would be possible to flourish local culture of Chittagong region in an easier way.
Referring to her government’s effective role in flourishing private sectors like TV channels and mobile operator companies, the prime minister said such move created huge employments and opportunities to flourish talents of youths.
She mentioned that the government has so far given approval to 32 TV channels and of them 23 are currently in operation.
About BTV’s expansion, she said, its Chittagong centre began operation from December 19 in 1996 during the Awami League-led government and during that time the broadcast time was only one and half hours.
Expatriate welfare and overseas employment affairs Minister Nurul Islam BSc, shipping minister Shajahan Khan, railways minister Mujibul Haque and prime minister’s media adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, among others, were present at Ganobhaban.
At the function, information minister Hasanul Haque Inu said BTV’s Chittagong station has been upgraded considering special features of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar districts.
The minister said BTV is always with the movement of Bengali nationalism and struggles of establishing the rights of people as well as spreading culture, tradition and history of the country and its people.
Housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain, former mayor of Chittagong City ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and secretary of the Ministry of Information Martuza Ahmed also spoke at the videoconference joining from Chittagong.
Later, the prime minister launched the much-awaited dot bangla domain.
From now on, dot bangla would be Bangladesh’s own Unicode domain label and the second country code top-level domain for Bangla websites as the International Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers had earlier approved another domain label for Bangladesh as dot bd

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