Technology

The ‘New Heights’ channel

Bringing good news and a ray of hope to over two crore people with disability in India, the Rehabilitation of Council of India (RCI), launched a joint venture satellite channel dedicated to disability rehabilitation and education.

The channel was launched in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Media Labs, which is run by the Ministry of Communication and Technology. It will also link 300 study centres committed to disability rehabilitation education. The EDUSAT uplinking station and studio will be located at the RCI building in New Delhi.

The channel seeks to not only provide a medium by which persons with disability can be audience to pertinent discussions on the issue, but it also aims to transform the way they are being educated in the country. The channel – which will be linked via satellite to various centres – will also help disseminate information to people who desire to be trained in the field of disability rehabilitation and special education.

The channel will be called “Nav Shikhar” in Hindi and “New Heights” in English and will also be available in different regional languages for the benefit of different viewers across the country. The channel will begin its programme schedule from October 9.

Speaking at the inauguration of the channel on Friday at RCI, minister of social justice and empowerment Meira Kumar said, ”This is a unique initiative between the ministries of social justice and empowerment, ministry of communication and technology and department of space. Out of the two crore disabled persons in India, around 1.6 crore live in rural India and hence, the aim of this channel is to reach out as many people as possible.”

The channel will be used to telecast lectures, teleconferences and classes by having one way video or two way audio interactions. Most of the programmes will be interactive in nature.

“It will uplink around 100 RCI study centres in the first phase and 237 in the second,” said Major General (Retd.) Ian Cardozo, Chairman, RCI.

Source: Kishore Sharma. Rehabilitation tips on ‘New Heights’ channel. Televisionpoint.com, New Delhi, 5 October 2007.

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