UNI celebrates 46th anniversary of commencement of operations

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) United News of India (UNI) celebrated the 46th anniversary of commencement of its operations today.

The main function was held here at the News Agency's Headquarters where, in a message on the occasion, UNI Chairman Manoj Kumar Sonthalia wished the News Agency success on all fronts in the coming years.

The contribution of 29 employees who had completed 25 years of service in the organisation was lauded on the occasion. While 12 of these employees are currently posted at Head Office, others are at stations outside Delhi.

UNI General Manager Mahinder Kumar Laul encapsulated the 46 years of the agency's existence as "eventful and glorious" and outlined the roadmap for the future. Mr Sonny Abraham, Editor, UNI, Mr Neeraj Bajpai, Joint Editor, UNI, Mr Ashok Sharma, Editor, Univarta and Sheikh Manzoor Ahmed, Editor (UNI Urdu Service) also felicitated the employees and shared their views on News Agency's future, which, according to them, offered immense possibilities.

Similar functions to commemorate the occasion were held at the agency's other offices across the country.

Those who completed 25 years of service this year are: H.S.

Bedi, Ms.Ritambhara Shastri, A.K. Banerjee, Surinder N. Chandna, Vijay Kumar Chopra, N.D. Naudiyal, Shailendra K. Sharma, H.S.

Tripathi, Suresh Chand, Ved Prakash, Mahabir Singh (all from Delhi); S. Gobi (Bangalore); P.A. Benny (Puducherry), Amarendra Singh, Subrata Dasgupta, Subhash Roy Choudhury (Kolkata); Gauri Dass (Jabalpur), Vasudeva Gandhi (Ahmedabad), Suresh K. Karkera, Parsuram L. Chafe (Mumbai); G. Prabhu (Hyderabad); Bishan Lal (Jalandhar); Sri Kant, Satish Kumar (Kanpur); B. Vijaya Kumar (Chennai); B.B.

Puri and Man Mohan Singh (Chandigarh); V.D. Datir and H.N. Ghawade (Nagpur).

Major UNI milestones after commencement of its operations in 1961 include launching of its Hindi Service, Univarta in 1982, commencement of computerisation in 1985, launching UNI Scan and UNI Photo Service in 1987, UNI Graphics Service in 1991, UNI Urdu Service in 1992, its websites in English (http://www.uniindia.com) and Hindi (http://www.univarta.com) in 2002, completion of computerisation of branch network in 2002 and adoption of satellite technology for gathering and distribution of news in 2003.

With many firsts to its credit, UNI today offers its entire spectrum of services on the internet or through VSAT to any subscriber anywhere in the world. UNI Urdu Service, the only one of its kind in the world, is also available to subscribers now on VSAT.

One of Asia's largest news agencies, UNI, a multilingual, multi-media news company, was registered by a group of leading Indian newspapers in December 1959.

During the four and a half decades of its existence, UNI has scaled enviable heights of popularity among its client subscribers and the reading public by providing a news service that is recognised as competitive, vibrant and innovative, fulfilling the objectives of its promoter share holders.

The agency had humble origins when it started its operations on March 21, 1961 in a single room office at New Delhi with five staff members, its first reports being hand delivered to subscribers in the city.

UNI