The Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) has launched its interactive live web radio from a studio in the sprawling 150-acre campus in Nashik, an official said on Saturday. The brainchild of R Shreedhar, the former director of Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), thousands will be able to interact with each other via the live web radio.”We had earlier tried this technology in Maldives which surprisingly had a better bandwidth than India, but then only 20 people could interact with experts as we faced cost constraints. Now, in case of YCMOU, the number will be in thousands,” Shreedhar said.

He also pointed out that the technology used in this facility had been developed in India, and that YCMOU would be the first of the country’s 406 universities to make this facility available to students. “Now even Sunita Williams can log in to this web facility if she wishes,” Shreedhar said, in a ligher vein. “We shall further enhance the technology. Soon, it will be available on cell phones as well,” Shreedhar said. Vice-Chancellor of YCMOU R Krishnkumar said that the web-radio facility would initially be available only for an hour, between 12 noon and 1pm.

“It will, however, be available for all 24 hours later in the archive format. Students from anywhere in the world will be interacting with experts of various subjects, listening to lectures, discussions and interviews,” he said. The facility was inaugurated by the divisional commissioner of Nashik, Ravindra Jadhav. Also present on the occasion were registrar of the university Prakash Atkare, head of the audio-visual centre Rajendra Vadnre, directors of all schools, teachers, officers and other university staff.