New Delhi: In an effort to facilitate the differently abled people to access President’s speech on eve of Republic Day and the Republic Day Parade commentary, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has made the provision for sign language interpretation to accompany the telecast.

For this purpose, the feed of DD News and DD Bharati would be made available free of cost to all television channels.

The ministry said it had taken the decision to help connect the differently-abled people more meaningfully with such significant national events.

DD Bharati will carry sign language interpretation of the President’s address to the nation on their channel from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM on January 25.

On January 26, DD News will carry the sign language interpretation of the Republic Day parade commentary on their channel from 9:00 AM till the end.

Meanwhile, the ministry, with a view to promote and showcase the Best of Indian cinema, would be lending support to the 2nd Jharkhand International Film Festival in Ranchi, to be held from February 1 and February 3, 2019. The objective of promoting the festival, the ministry said, was to encourage states that have shown the will to promote cinema.

The aim of the scheme of is to promote good films reflecting the changes in and challenges and opportunities of society and to provide an opportunity of exposure to regional films to new trends in cinema, cinematic technology etc.

Through this initiative, local budding filmmakers and film enthusiasts will get an opportunity of seeing the best of Indian cinema. It will also promote Jharkhand as a filming destination, while simultaneously giving a fillip to tourism in the region.