An Islamic television channel has been launched with the joint efforts of the Public Service Media (PSM) and the Islamic Ministry. The channel, called 'Munnaaru' was officially launched Thursday by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
The channel will run on resources from both the Islamic Ministry and PSM. The channel would also offer live broadcasts of prayers from certain mosques and efforts are ongoing to make the channel run 24 hours.
Speaking at the ceremony held to launch the channel, Islamic Minister Dr Ahmed Ziyad said that the channel will be used to share religious knowledge with the public in the future, adding that Islamic culture would be introduced to future generations through this channel.
"It is important that such channels are present in the Maldives, it is difficult for religious experts to visit some islands under certain circumstances, however, through this channel the public can get continuous religious information to their home island no matter how bad the weather," the Minister said.
The Minister said that this channel was launched due to the forethought of President Abdulla Yameen, and he called religious scholars in the Maldives to utilize the channel and use it to spread religious information to the public.
A religious radio channel named 'Dheenuge Adu' was launched exactly a year ago from the day 'Munnaaru' was launched.
Three new channels have been introduced after the formation of PSM. They are 'Majilis TV', 'Yes TV' and now 'Munnaaru'. Radio channel 'Dheenuge Adu' and magazine 'Maldheeb' were also introduced. PSM has also started efforts to launch an international channel, named 'Maldives TV', and to introduce cable news.
