Pandas, Holi, and High Life … all good!
This week on The Sound Kitchen,
you’ll hear the answer to the quiz about the giant panda. There’s the
listener mailbag, some great music, and of course … the quiz. Just click
on the arrow in the photo and enjoy!
Hello everyone!
Welcome to The Sound Kitchen. You can catch the programme on-the-air every Saturday at
6:15, 7:15, 14:45 and 16:45 universal time.
You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question,
along with all the other ingredients you have grown accustomed to: your
letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews,
and great music … so be sure and tune in every Saturday.
For our DX enthusiast friends: Our shortwave
frequency is 9675 kHz on the 31m band, from 06.00 to 07.00 UT every day.
We’ve had reception reports from Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh,
Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia,
Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru,
Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Arab
Emirates, the UK and the US, and although the frequency is “aimed” (or
however that works) towards the African continent, give it a try. You
never know … and be sure and send us your reception reports. Maybe we
can get more time, which would be wonderful.
You can also hear our programs on WRMI (
http://www.wrmi.net/) and WRN (
http://www.wrn.org/listeners/).
These broadcasters diffuse our programs out of the goodness of their
hearts, but unless you tell us how you heard us, we have no way of
knowing … so do write and tell us how you listen to us.
A hearty welcome to two new official RFI Listeners Clubs:
the RFI Sungat Listeners Club with Malik Allah Bachaya Khokhar as
president, in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan (the fourth club in that city!
Thanks Muzaffargarh!), and the RFI Peace Fan Club in Bogra, Bangladesh.
Dr Shahinur Alam is the president.
If you would like to create an official RFI club, or transform your
existing listeners club into an RFI club, click on the link at the
bottom of this page for information on how to get started.
This week’s quiz: On 7 January, I asked you about a
giant panda who had died just a few days before at a conservation center
in China’s Sichuan Province. The big old guy was the world’s oldest
male giant panda in captivity, and he was especially famous for his
virility – he has more than 130 descendants. This is quite an
accomplishment, as female giant pandas are only fertile for two or three
days a year. His offspring and their cubs account for nearly a quarter
of the more than 420 captive pandas alive worldwide today.
You were to write in with his name, and how old he was when he died.
The answer is: Pan Pan, which means "hope" or "expectation" in Chinese. He was 31 years old, which is the equivalent to about 100 human years.
The Chinese government has been so successful at preserving the
natural habitats of the giant panda that last September the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature removed pandas from
its “endangered” list.
The group now lists giant pandas as “vulnerable”, but China’s State
Forestry Administration told The Associated Press that “giant pandas
could still suffer irreversible loss” if conservation efforts were
relaxed. China wants giant pandas to remain on the “endangered” list.
The winners are: Adita Prithika from Tamil Nadu
State, India; Royse Cramton from Illinois, U-S; Saleem Akhtar Chadhar,
the president of the RFI Seven Stars Listeners Club in Chiniot District,
Pakistan; Morakami San of the Karatoa Radio Listeners Club in
Sirajganj, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Rachid Dahmani,
from M'sila, Algeria.
Congratulations winners!
This week’s question ... you'll have to listen to
the show to participate. You have until 10 April to enter this week's
quiz. The winners will be announced on the 15 April program. When you
enter, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if
you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.
Send your answers to:
english.service@rfi.fr
or
Susan Owensby
RFI – The Sound Kitchen
80, rue Camille Desmoulins
92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
France
or
By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen
mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”,
then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in
your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership
number.
