KVRI (branded as Radio India) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed to

Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canada–U.S. border; the Peace Arch international monument straddles the border of both countries. The population was 5,884 at the 2020 cens ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, serving

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

with a combined

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

News/

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

Music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1600 kHz and is under ownership of

Multicultural Broadcasting Multicultural Broadcasting is a media company based in New York City founded by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. It caters mostly to the Asian American community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets in mult ...

. The station was operating under a LMA with Radio India, Ltd., and was broadcasting from its studios in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

until November 13, 2014, when the CRTC forced Radio India to end the LMA due to rules that prohibit a Canadian company from operating, leasing, or owning, a radio or television property in the United States solely for broadcasting to Canadians, and for operating without a license within Canada. Radio India Ltd. is a radio station with its offices in Surrey in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed ...

. As of 2015, Maninder S. Gill serves as the managing director of the station, and his sister, Baljit Bains, is the owner.O'Neil, Peter.
Surrey’s Radio India to cease broadcasting

. ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

''. October 15, 2014. Retrieved on April 13, 2015. Maninder Gill is the brother of the mother-in-law of Tom Gill, a Surrey city councillor,Matas, Robert.
Defamation suit pulls Surrey councillor into feud dividing Sikh community
" '' The Globe and Mail''. Sunday November 21, 2010. Updated on Thursday August 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. and

Robert Matas The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

of '' The Globe and Mail'' described Maninder Gill as "a prominent figure" of Vancouver's

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of S ...

community. As of 2004 Radio India has a clientele of first and second generation Indo-Canadians. Its shows discuss the culture, politics, and religion of India. In 2014 Gill stated that the annual advertising revenue was $2 million to $3 million.O'Neil, Peter.
CRTC orders Surrey’s Radio India to cease operations by midnight

Archive
. '' Vancouver Desi''. Retrieved on April 13, 2015.

History

On August 3, 2010,Youssef, Marten.
Radio India managing director faces five charges after shooting
" '' The Globe and Mail''. Monday August 30, 2010. Updated Friday November 12, 2010. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. building contractor Harjit Atwal and two associates of Harjit Atwal, Jaspal Atwal and Harkirat Kular,Matas, Robert.
Indo-Canadian radio host's life threatened
" '' The Globe and Mail''. Tuesday September 21, 2010. Updated Thursday August 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. filed a lawsuit against Maninder Gill, 11 other employees, and the radio firm itself, accusing the channel of having defamatory material about them on a Punjabi-language broadcast aired on Radio India in May of that year. This lawsuit was filed in the

British Columbia Supreme Court British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

.Chan, Cheryl.
Bullets rain on home of Radio India manager; Maninder Gill says he’s worried for the safety of his family

Archive
. ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's onl ...

'' in '' Vancouver Desi''. Retrieved on April 14, 2015. Violent altercations involving the lawsuit and disputes occurred in August and September of that year. Maninder Gill faced five criminal charges after Harjit Atwal sustained gunshot injuries to his leg during a wedding held at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey; the police accused Gill of being responsible for the shooting. A

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

occurred at Maninder Gill's residence the following month. Maninder Gill stated that the conflict resulted from political differences regarding the

Khalistan movement The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cu ...

. For years Radio India operated as a "

pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...

" station which did not get a license from the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC); therefore it avoided paying copyright tariffs and license fees and complying with rules regarding the station's content. The CRTC decided to act against the pirate stations in 2014. Radio India initially stated that it had political connections; Managing director Maninder Gill had mailed photographs of himself socializing with Canadian politicians. In a presentation in October of that year Maninder Gill said that the station was going to be shut down and asked the CRTC to give him 120 days to make the shutdown; he mentioned the connections to politicians in the same presentation. The CRTC ultimately decided that the deadline to close Radio India was Midnight Pacific time on November 14, 2014.

References

External links

*
Radio India Ltd.
- Live Stream Radio {{coord, 48, 57, 15, N, 122, 44, 36, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title VRI Indo-Canadian culture Multicultural Broadcasting stations

History

See also

References

External links