Srinagar, Aug 4: The first Kashmiri female announcer of Radio Kashmir, Shanta Koul, passed away on Saturday morning at Jahangir Hospital Pune after a brief illness. She was 83.
 Shanta Koul started her career as the first female announcer in 1950 at Radio Kashmir, Srinagar. She was the wife of Pran Kishore, a renowned broadcaster and writer was working with Radio Kashmir right from its inception.
 Owing to her sweet voice and good presentation, Shanta Koul was a popular female broadcaster and remained associated with Radio Kashmir for more than four decades.
 She was also an eminent writer and her collection of hindi short-stories was released last year by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in a function at Women’s College M.A. Road, Srinagar.
 She was also associated with the making of the first Kashmiri feature film ‘Shair-e-Kashmir Mehjoor’.  Dubbing of the dialogues in Kashmiri for the female lead of the film were done in her voice.
 Numerous literary and cultural forums of Kashmir including Harmukh Kashur Markaz have condoled her demise.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 4 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 4 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 5 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST