With the message, ‘Ab telegram nahi ayega, News nation har khabar pahunchayega’ (Now, News Nation would take up the role of the telegram), News Nation bade farewell to the iconic telegram services by setting up a record of sending 400 telegrams in a single day.
Telegrams were sent to famous personalities such as Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi and more than 100 key political figures in India. The Indian armed forces, various NGOs and Bollywood celebrities such as Hema Malini, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan were also made a part of this historical record.
For more than 130 years after being launched by India’s former rulers, the British, in 1850, the telegram made for the urgent form of communication in India.
Its terse messages announced momentous events: the death of a family member, birth of a child, news of a soldier on the warfront. It is thus believed to have played a momentous role in India history. State-run telecom firm BSNL decided to put an end to the usage of telegram following a shortfall in revenue.
By setting a record on telegrams demise, News Nation not only paid a tribute to the service but reiterated its message of providing news in the most accurate and innovative manner.