What Else Do We Know About Radio Nepal?

 

Their Venture into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Before we begin this another story about Radio Nepal in our program today, we present an item of international interest regarding Mt. Everest.  During the month of December (2020), Nepal and China issued a joint news release indicating that Mt Everest is now 13 feet taller than it was before.

As a result of discussions between the governments of China and Nepal, both countries have agreed that the official height of Mt. Everest is now 29,031 ft 8½ inches.  The reason, they state, why Mt. Everest is now taller than it was before, is because the rocks, snow and ice on the top of the mountain are now included in the total figure.  

The opening music in our program today was recorded in one day in a Kathmandu studio of Radio Nepal on Thursday, May 19, 2016.  A total of 365 singers were organized into 26 groups representing all areas of the Natural Environment, and they sang the song Melancholy in the Nepali language.  The 365 singers represented one per day for a whole year, and the 26 categories in the Natural Environment represented one for each letter in the English alphabet.  

The words and music for the song Melancholy were composed by Nipesh Dhaka and the day's events were inaugurated by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli.  This musical event, which was specifically planned as a world-first for Guinness World Records, began at 8:00 am and concluded at 6:00 pm.  

The total duration of the assembled recording lasts for 33 minutes and 49 seconds.  The version we presented at the opening of this edition of Wavescan was specially shortened for use as an introduction.  Two years after the recording was made (2018), Guinness World Records officially accepted Melancholy from Radio Nepal as the most soloists in a single song recorded in the one day.

The original studio building (1951) for Radio Nepal was a two-storey building in the Royal Campus at Singha Durbar that was earlier used as a school for the children of government officials.  Thirty two years later (1983) a new studio building was constructed, adjacent to the original building, and the older building was simply abandoned. 

However as time went by, the older building was renovated and new electronic equipment was installed, so that a total of 15 studios in the two buildings became available for Radio Nepal, including one with a 24 track console for the recording of music.  Up until the recent Virus time, Radio Nepal employed 600 personnel throughout Nepal for all of its events and activities.  

In addition to the capital city studios, additional production and on air studios have been installed in the radio stations at three country locations; Pokhara, Surkhet and Dipayal.  Radio Nepal broadcasts daily news bulletins in a total of 19 different languages, including 16 local languages, and also English, Hindi, and Urdu.

The first FM station in Nepal was installed in Kathmandu itself in 1995, and these days 17 FM relay stations are on the air.  In total, including all of the independent FM stations throughout the entire nation, around 450 FM stations were on the air until very recently.  Originally the program feed to the   country relay stations of Radio Nepal was via shortwave, though these days a six channel program feed is provided via satellite.

Back nearly 40 years ago (1983), Miss Mohini Shepherd acted as an offsite Honorary QSL Secretary for Radio Nepal.  Miss Mohini would prepare the QSL cards which were then delivered to Radio Nepal where they were signed, stamped, and posted.  

Back at that stage, Mohini was also preparing a regular monthly Nepal DX Report for broadcast in the old AWR DX program, Radio Monitors International.   Unfortunately, we have since lost contact with Mohini.  Does anyone out there know what happened to Mohini Shepherd as the years went by?  Did she and her family migrate to England?  We would really like to know.

Over the years, there have been many occasions when programming from the BBC in London in Nepali and English has been heard on the radio in Nepal.  For example, at the turn of the century, BBC programming in Hindi, Urdu and English was on relay from all radio stations in the network of Radio Nepal.  In addition, Radio Sagarmatha FM also carried BBC programming for many years around the same era.    

Then subsequent to those relay broadcasts from the BBC, there was a daily BBC relay in Hindi and English via the regional mediumwave station of Radio Nepal at Surkhet on 576 kHz.  Then in more recent time, the BBC installed their own FM relay station at suburban Khumaltar around 2005 which is still on the air, on 103.0 MHz.

Back around 30 years ago, Radio Nepal announced that a shortwave transmitter would be installed with the new mediumwave station at Surkhet in the far west of Nepal.  The mediumwave transmitter at  Karnali Raj Marg, Birendranagar operated with 100 kW (10 kW standby) on 576 kHz and the planned shortwave unit would also operate with 100 kW.  However, this planned shortwave transmitter was never installed.

(AWR Wavescan)

Radio Nepal Hindi Morning Signature Tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtuawTRYVhk&list=RDNtuawTRYVhk&start_radio=1&t=11

Radio Nepal 1950

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87fcv0yi-V4

Radio Nepal Morning Shankka Dhun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ0umWIm8lA

Breaking News: Radio Nepal back on shortwave

Victor Goonetilleke just wrote on the Union of Asian DXers Facebook page
13 September 2018

1 hr
BREAKING NEWS

Radio Nepal is back on short-wave after six years by adding 5005 kHz to augment its national transmission grid broadcasting on MW and FM.

According to a station official, Radio Nepal resumed short wave broadcasts from 02.00 – 5.00 p m Nepali time using a 10 kw transmitter at Khumaltar, Lalitpur in Kathmandu . The same source said the station is applying very low power.

By all accounts, 5005 kHz is a difficult DX catch for listeners outside of Nepal. Nepal is 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead of UTC. [ Sarath Weerakoon, 11 Sep 2018 ] 0815-1115 UTC.

Picking up on this both Sarath and I (GVG) started looking for it and here in Sri Lanka on my Perseus SDR there is a faint line and further checking with the IBB/VOA Run Perseus SDR in Delhi, there is even a stronger line which left at 1120 UTC more or less confirming.

Even though the station is running its old 10kW power can't be more than a 1 kw or so.But the greater news is that Nepal is now available on shortwave for DXers and it took UADX to tell the DX community.

Sarath thanks again for your Investigative DX Journalism. This is what UADX is all about.
Mike Terry/BDXC Newsgroup)

(WRTH FB)

The Radio Scene in Nepal - Regional Radio in the Himalayas

We come now to the fifth topic in this mini-series of presentations on the radio scene in the high mountainous kingdom of Nepal, and on this occasion, we look at the regional radio stations throughout their country, as well as the information regarding QSL cards from Radio Nepal.

            Beginning in the early 1980s, a whole new network of regional radio broadcasting stations was installed throughout Nepal, with financial aid and technical assistance from Japan.  Initially, the program feed from new studios in Kathmandu was by shortwave to the regional locations, though a higher quality program feed became available subsequently when a system of microwave units originating in Kathmandu and fanning out to the regional stations was inaugurated.    

            The first new facilities were officially inaugurated in a special ceremony on May 9, 1983, with a new suite of studios in Kathmandu, new mediumwave and shortwave transmitters on the edge of Kathmandu, and a new regional mediumwave station, complete with studios and a 100 kW transmitter at Pokhara, 85 miles north west of the capital city.  The operating channel for this new regional station was 684 kHz and its signal was heard quite widely in the subcontinental areas.  An additional 10 kW transmitter was installed as a standby unit.

            Two  more 100 kW regional stations with their own studios and an emergency 10 kW transmitter were constructed in Dhanakuta in eastern Nepal (648 kHz), and at Surkhet in the midwestern area of their country (576 kHz).  Two additional smaller stations at 10 kW each were installed at Dipayal in the far west (810 kHz), and Bardibas, 40 miles south east of the city (1143 kHz).  This latter station was originally intended to operate as a second program stream for the Kathmandu Valley, though these days it seems to be off the air.

            Interestingly, Radio Nepal announced some time around the turn of the century that they planned to erect a regional shortwave station, in addition to the main stations on the edge of Kathmandu.  This new station was to be co-located with a mediumwave station that was already on the air; it was intended to give coverage to the western areas of the country; and it would be a safety backup facility if any event should take the main Kathmandu station off the air. 

            The location for this intended new shortwave station would be near Surkhet, cosited with the 100 kW mediumwave station already on the air on the western side of the country.  However, nothing more has been heard about this projected station during the past 15 years.

            It is true, that there are many QSL cards from Radio Nepal in the collections of international radio monitors in various parts of the world.  However, obtaining a QSL from Radio Nepal could always be quite difficult.  The Heritage collection in Indianapolis holds many such cards, though most of them were obtained during personal visits to the station.

            For a couple of years, an onsite volunteer did issue QSL cards on behalf of Radio Nepal.  This was back around 1983 and 1984 and the Honorary QSL Secretary was Miss Mohini Shepherd.  During this time, Mohini was also providing uptodate news and information about Radio Nepal for broadcast in the old AWR DX program, Radio Monitors International.

            The early QSL cards from Radio Nepal were generally plain text cards with occasional printing variations, though in the 1990s, a full color country snow scene was featured on their regular QSL card.

            Back around half a century ago, it was thought that there was a small BFBS British Forces Broadcasting station on the air at the British Army Gurkha base at Dharan in eastern Nepal.  However, it was said subsequently that this broadcast facility was simply a cable radio service over the camp amplifier system.  These days though, BFBS is on the air on FM in Kathmandu itself.

(AWR Wavescan/NWS 350)

Tribute to Nepal: The Early Radio Scene

As would be expected after such a massive earthquake that occurred recently, the Himalayan country of Nepal is still in recovery mode in a slowly progressive move towards normalcy.  Crumbled buildings are still yielding the dead, and during the past week a few living though injured survivors have been rescued. 

            Massive aid has been brought in to Nepal, and the need for just as much further aid is still required.  It is indeed additionally requisite that a monumental endeavor on the part of the Nepali government as well as its citizens will need to be implemented in order to piece together again the regular routine of family and business life throughout their nation.

            The mountainous country of Nepal lies as a buffer state between its hugely larger neighbors, China and India. The country itself is 500 miles long and 150 miles wide.  The northern areas are composed of rugged and high mountain ranges, and the southern areas are made up of farmlands and villages, though in many locales it is still quite hilly.  The total population is in the range of 27 million, and their capital city is Kathmandu with around ¾ million inhabitants.

            From the very earliest times, people have lived in the Nepali areas of the Himalaya Mountains.  It is thought that the earliest known society in Nepal were the Kusunda people, who lived in what is now western Nepal. 

            According to a feature article broadcast by the BBC London three years ago, there was only one person left who still speaks the Kusunda language.  Subsequently however, a few other people who are fluent in the language have been discovered, and the known total now stands at seven or eight.  There are several different theories regarding the Kusunda language, including that the Kusunda people and their language are related to the Andaman Islands, and to Irian Jaya, western New Guinea.

            A national census in 2011 listed 123 spoken languages in Nepal, though the regional language of Kathmandu, Nepali, has become the official national language.  The Nepali language is closely related to Hindi and Bengali, and it is written with the Devanagari script, as in Hindi.

            Around 500 BC, small kingdoms and clan confederations began to grow in the southern more hospitable areas of Nepal.   A prince in one of these small kingdoms renounced his royal privileges; he led an ascetic life, and developed a new religion.  The young prince is better known in our era as Gautama Buddha. 

            However, Buddhism is not the dominant religion in Nepal these days.  Around 10% are Buddhist, and around 80% are Hindu.  Both Islam and Christianity are minority religions in Nepal.

            Towards the end of the 1700s, the various communities in Nepal began to come together as one nation, though this was accomplished in several bloody battles.  British influence came to Nepal with the growing encroachments of the British East India Company in Calcutta, and this included another war.

            The Royal family in the Kingdom of Nepal provided top government leaders, including Prime Ministers, for more than two centuries, though these days, Nepal is considered to be a Federal Parliamentary Republic.

            It was back in the year 1929 that the first radio receivers were imported into the country of Nepal.  The royal family imported from England half a dozen already assembled receivers that were made available to family members and top government officials.  It is stated that Mr. Dev Mani Dixit in Kathmandu imported the seventh radio receiver independently from England and when he received it, he staged a celebration party to honor the occasion. 

            It is probable that the imported English radio receivers back then were housed in ornate wooden cabinets and that they were capable of receiving radio stations that were broadcasting on the mediumwave and longwave bands.  However, at that stage, there were no radio transmitters in Nepal, and the only radio broadcasting stations on the air anywhere nearby were located in India.  At that time, the broadcasting stations in India were transitioning from the experimental era to the early era under what later became AIR, All India Radio.

            During the earlier part of World War 2 in Asia, the government of Nepal confiscated all radio receivers throughout Nepal and they were taken into storage at Singha Durbar in suburban Kathmandu.  At the time, it is estimated that there were just 500 receivers in Kathmandu itself.  However in 1946, many months after the war was concluded, the receivers were returned to their owners.

            Available information would indicate that the first radio transmitter in Nepal was a low powered unit that was installed for official communication purposes in 1939.  This transmitter, rated at just a ¼ kW we would suggest, was heard in the United States in December on a communication channel 14780 kHz with the identification announcement “Radio Kathmandu”.  For a couple of months, this station was heard occasionally in the United States at 4:00 am and 9:30 pm, eastern.

      

      During the era before the official government radio broadcasting station, Radio Nepal, was established in 1951, there were at least four separate occasions when radio broadcasting was attempted.  However, none of these attempts resulted in establishing a permanent station.

            In April 1945, the American radio journal Radio News carried a news item stating that a shortwave station that identified as “The Voice of the Himalayas” was on the air from 3:00  am to 9:00 am American eastern time.  The operating frequency was 11790 kHz in the standard 25 metre band. 

            Nothing else is known about this purported ‘Voice of the Himalayas”.  Was it an unsuccessful attempt at program broadcasting via the ¼ kW communication transmitter?  I guess we will never know!

            However, during the following year (1946) there was another beginning for radio broadcasting in Kathmandu.  Prime Minister Padma Shamsher Rana, a member of the royal family, had a radio transmitter assembled from radio receivers that were brought back into the country by soldiers returning home after the end of World War 2. 

            This radio station was placed on the air so that the Prime Minister could address the nation on important issues.  It was on the air for only a few months at the most.

            Two years later in January 1948, the same prime minister assembled a hybrid carrier current style system at Bijuli Adda in suburban Kathmandu.  The equipment was transferred from Bojhpur in eastern Nepal where it had been in use locally under a company style title, Mohan Aakashbani.

            This hybrid telecommunication system consisted of a low power transmitter with programming that was distributed over the telephone system, as in cable radio.  However, the signal from the transmitter could also be picked up direct on a radio receiver.

            This prime minister resigned on April 30 (1948), and the radio station was closed soon afterwards.  However, the radio station was reopened in August under the new prime minister,

Mohan Shamsher who was another member of the Rana royal family.  He also imported two new radio transmitters, though it does not seem that they were ever installed and taken into usage.

            Then in early 1951, a group of political leaders installed a radio broadcasting station at Biratnagar, in eastern Nepal near the border with India.  This station was on the air for just a few weeks at the most, under the political title, Prajatantra Nepal Radio.

            However shortly afterwards, all of the available radio equipments were assembled in Kathmandu and installed into a two storey building that had been previously in use as a privately operated school.  With the usage of the previous ¼ kW shortwave communication transmitter, Nepal Radio made its inaugural broadcast on 7100 kHz in the 40 metre amateur band, on April 3, 1951. 

            And that’s where we plan to pick up the story again, here in Wavescan next week.

(AWR-Wavescan/NWS 324) 

Radio Nepal to reduce height of Khumaltar transmitter

Radio Nepal is reducing the height of its Khumaltar-based transmitter tower to ensure air safety. The tower stands in the way of planes’ take-off route. “Radio Nepal is reducing its tower’s height to 45 metres from existing 97 metres,” said Mahendra Singh Rawal, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

“The height has been creating trouble as it is on the secondary air route of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA),” he said, adding that CAAN, Radio Nepal, and Qatar Airways have recently reached an agreement to reduce the height of the tower. Aeroplanes are compelled to fly carrying less weight than its capacity since they have to take height within a couple of minutes of take-off due to the tower in their route. The compulsion of reducing its weight is called load penalty.

Qatar Airways has provided Rs 20 million to Radio Nepal to purchase equipment to maintain its quality and CAAN has assured to pay the customs duty for import of equipment, Rawal said. “Radio Nepal is expected to reduce the height of the tower by this month,” he said.

The Radio Nepal Khumaltar transmitting station has three 100 kW shortwave transmitters.
(Source: Himalayan News Service/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

A closer look at Radio Nepal

5005.03, Radio Nepal, Khumaltar (tentative) 0040-0050 UTC, Oct 24, faint vernacular talk, weak modulation, SINPO 15111. (Petersen)

It is already proven that the radio broadcasting is only one effective mass media, which reaches to people instantly. Because of such difficult terrain of Nepal, satellite radio broadcasting is only the means of media to educate, aware and entertains the People.

Today we are in the verge of a revolution in radio broadcasting since digital radio broadcasting is just around the corner. This new digital broadcasting service will ultimately replace the current AM and FM radio services that have filled the airwaves since the 1920’s for AM and the 60’s for FM. But this will not replace in short time, a lot of work has to take place in terms of technology development. Thus this satellite communication is to establish multi-channel radio broadcast network for terrestrial broadcast the means of Studio to transmitter link now later on it has aimed to establish direct satellite broadcast.

The regional station as well as the fill in station of Radio Nepal spread throughout the country are required to relay corresponding programs and news services which originated at the central studio i.e. Kathmandu.Thus to establish studio to transmitter link using satellite communication without any degradation of signal quality. This information includes the over view of system requirement for multi-channel digital radio broadcasting for Radio Nepal to rebroadcast by the relay station in their belonging regional language from the central studio i.e. Singhadarbar. As well as this is very much easy way to reduce the number of staff in the regional station as well as the effective means of media since aired in their own local language.

A brief History and Current Infrastructure of Radio Broadcast in Radio Nepal
The history of Radio Broadcast with the establishment of Radio Nepal on 1st April 1951 with 250Watt transmitter. Initially transmission was about 4.5 hours per day. Over the 43 years transmission Radio Nepal has strength its capacity technically as well as diversified itself in terms of programmed format. It is proved that radio broadcasting is the cheapest and quickest means of mass communication in Nepal and also has proved to be a very effective medium in disseminating information, educating and entertaining the people.

Radio Nepal air’s programs on AM - Short Wave and Medium Wave as well as on FM fill in stations where its signal is low. Radio Nepal transmits 18 hours everyday, which includes 2.15 hours of regional broadcasts 09.45 to 11.00 o’clock in the morning and 16:00 to 18:00 o’clock in the evening. Radio Nepal broadcast news and other awareness oriented programs in 20 different languages.

Radio Nepal transmits on MW frequency from each regional station (648 kHz (ER), 792 and 1143 kHz (MR), 684 kHz (WR), 576 kHz (MWR), 810 kHz (FWR)) and on SW (5005 kHz) from Lalitpur to cover whole nation and neighboring country…

Current coverage area of Radio Nepal is about 85% of total population and 70% of land approximately.

Regional Radio Stations:
No. Location Freq.(kHz) Mode Power Main/Standby On Airtime Region

1 Lalitpur* 5005/3232 SW 100 kW/100 kW 18 hr. Central * SW for National coverage
2 Kathmandu 792 MW 100 kW/10 kW 18 hr. Central
3 Kathmandu 100 MHz FM 1 kW/300 W 18 hr. Central
4 Dharan 648 MW 100 kW/10 kW 18 hr. Eastern
5 Bardibas 1143 MW 10 kW 18 hr. Eastern
6 Pokhara 684 MW 100 kW/10 kW 18 hr. Western
7 Surhket 576 MW 100 kW/10 kW 18 hr. Mid Western
8 Dipayal 810 MW 100 kW/10 kW 18 hr. Far Western…

After the restoration of democracy on 1990, government policy has opened the license for low power FM community as well as commercial transmission. And currently it is about more than 200 FM stations…

Radio Nepal has to broadcast via satellite six different programs, five for regional stations and one for national broadcasting station. The regional stations as well as corresponding fill in stations receive their corresponding programs and rebroadcast it.

All the regional broadcasting stations as well as their satellite FM fill in stations receives their corresponding programs from the central Studio Singhadarbar, Katmandu. (Excerpts from an article written by Krishna Chandra Paudel, Deputy Director, Regional Broadcasting Centre, Pokhara published in "Jhankar" Bi-annual newsletter of Radio Nepal, via Gupta, Oct 14)
(DSWCI/DX Window 388 via Anker Petersen)

Radio Nepal appoints new Executive Director

A veteran broadcaster, Tapa Nath Shukla, has been appointed Executive Director of Radio Nepal. Mr Shukla, who joins from the Ministry of Information and Communications, is a former head of both Radio Nepal and Nepal Television. His appointment was announced after a cabinet meeting in Kathmandu. He succeeds Ram Sharan Karki, who has been Radio Nepal’s Executive Director for nearly three years.

Radio Nepal was established in 1951 and broadcasts on shortwave, mediumwave and FM, as well as online at www.radionepal.org. In recent years it has been seeking to move from a state-run station to a public service broadcaster in the face of stiff competition from many commercial radio stations.
(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Radio Nepal told to "enhance its popularity"

Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, Bhojraj Ghimire has stressed that Radio Nepal should enhance its popularity by upgrading its programmes. In a programme,organized on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the establishment of Radio Nepal, Chief Secretary Ghimire, said Radio Nepal has been losing its credibility in urban areas in comparison to rural areas and added that “listeners still tune Radio Nepal for dependable news and modern songs and it should pay attention to its quality to maintain its number of listeners.
(Source: The Rising Nepal)
Andy Sennitt comments: Radio Nepal is suffering the same problem as state-controlled media in many countries where commercial radio has recently been introduced. These state broadcasters are slow to respond to the competition, which they have never had before. Some of the most talented young broadcasters go to work for the commercial stations, while governments often don’t understand the urgency of investing in new technology to allow the state broadcasters to compete.
Of course, it would be better if the state broadcasters were converted into public broadcasters of the type we have in Europe, which is starting to happen in a few countries in Africa. But in the meantime, governments which want these stations to become more popular must give them the tools to do the job, and interfere less in the programming
(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)