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Deutsche Welle: New Online-Service in Bengali

April 24, 2003

DW-WORLD.DE/Bengali becomes the first online service in Bengali among the leading international broadcasting organisations

https://p.dw.com/p/3XEB

DW-WORLD.DE - the multilingual and multimedia-based internet address of Deutsche Welle has expanded its Bengali service. The German external broadcasting organization is now offering news, reports and background information at its website http://dw-world.de/bengali. Information on the Bengali Service of DW-RADIO is also available in this site. The radio programme itself can be accessed round the clock through the Audio-on-demand service.

According to Guido Baumhauer, Head of the Online Section, the new Bengali online service is the first of its kind offered by any leading international broadcasting organisations.

The expansion of DW-WORLD.DE/Bengali was made possible by a special font suitable for the complex nature of the DW-Online framework. This font was developed by - Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), which is the R & D institution of the IT-Ministry of Government of India. Sanjiv Burman - an editor of DW - has been instrumental in the search for a Unicode-based Bengali font. On the basis of this effort DW is currently preparing the launch of its online services in Hindi and Urdu.

As Guido Baumhauer points out, "With the launch of the new online service DW has created the best prerequisites to successfully establish itself in the growing Internet market in Bengali language". The target user groups of DW-WORLD.DE/Bengali are the internet users in Bangladesh and Eastern India as well as the Bengali-speaking Diaspora around the world.

According to Dr. Friedemann Schlender - Head of the Bengali, Hindi and Urdu Service of DW-RADIO - "The significance of this target area is constantly increasing. Bangladesh is a country with a Muslim majority. Moreover, the Bengalis have a strong sense of affinity towards the German culture. One of the major thrusts of DW is to promote dialogue between different cultures - which can play a very important role in this case."

Dr. Schlender also thinks that the Indian state of West Bengal is a major centre for Industry and science. At the same time the whole region remains a major source of crisis. The Kashmir conflict, the nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan, militant separatist movements in the North-Eastern part of India are some of the major causes of concern to the entire world.

April 24, 2003
079/03

* The new online service can be accessed at
http://dw-world.de/bengali
* Photos of the editorial staff of DW-RADIO/Bengali can be sent on request - Contact: fotos@dw-world.de