Radio-in-a-box (RIAB) is a portable, economical broadcasting system containing a laptop, mixer, CD/Cassette player, digital audio recorder, microphones and equipment needed to establish a radio station in remote or disaster locations. [1]
In 2005, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), with the assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), began development of an economical, compact, and easily transportable radio system that could be employed in remote areas or in response to disasters. [2] In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) developed a portable radio station in 20 ft shipping container. Due to the long transit time of shipping a container by ship, RNW developed a smaller, rapid response set that measures 80 cm X 70 cm X 70 cm and weighs approximately 15 Kilograms. [3]
RIAB systems differ in sizes. Some RIAB systems measure as small as 55 cm X 50 cm or as large as a twenty-foot shipping container. [4] Once delivered to a designated site, RIAB systems may be operational within one hour. [5] RIAB systems can be transported easily on airplanes or helicopters to reach remote areas or disaster areas to provide information to people on the ground. [6] [7] RIABs have a variety of transmitters that range in power from 30 watt to 1000 watts. [4] RIAB systems may be static or mounted in a vehicle for mobile operations. [5] Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) built a 30 watt radio-in-a-box system for approximately $5000 USD. [4] The approximate annual cost of establishing and maintaining a RIAB in Afghanistan is $27,000. [8]
Radio-in-a-box systems have been employed in disaster areas where broadcasting infrastructure has been destroyed in order to provide those affected with much needed information. [4] Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) delivered one RIAB system to Padang, Indonesia following the September 30, 2009 earthquake, one RIAB system to Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake and two RIAB systems to Chile following the February 27, 2010 earthquake. Additional radio-in-a-box systems have been delivered to eight countries in Africa, Bhutan, India, Jamaica, and Tonga. [3] [5] [6] [9]
Radio is the dominant information tool to reach wide audiences in isolated, mountainous regions. The US military has deployed RIABs throughout Afghanistan in order to communicate with the residents. Due to a 70 percent illiteracy rate and lack of education in Afghanistan radio is a vital communications tool used to broadcast information where radio ownership exceeds 80 percent. [7] [10] The United States military operates approximately 100 RIABs and hire local Afghan DJs in Afghanistan to broadcast information and host call-in shows. [8] [11] The United States Army employed RIAB systems to broadcast anti-Taliban and anti-Al Qaeda messages and countered Taliban propaganda by pushing onto Taliban frequencies in Paktia Province. [12] [13] One advantage of employing RIAB systems is the ability to broadcast vital information immediately to a large audience in the event of a crisis. [11] One Afghan DJ has 50,000 listeners. [8] Nawa District Governor Abdul Manaf uses the local RIAB station to conduct weekly call-in shows and believes the RIAB system is one of his best communication tools to inform a large audience. [14] In Afghanistan's Paktika province, which has a literacy rate of two percent, an estimated 92 percent of the residents listen to the radio every day. [8] [13] Radio programs transmitted using RIAB systems provide beneficial information to Afghan farmers in remote areas. [7] In the isolated, mountainous Wazi Kwah district of Paktika Province, a RIAB system supplies the only source of outside news. [15] Afghan National Army commanders use the RIAB to communicate to villagers and elders and provide thoughts to the community. [16] Afghans trust messages from the United States military that explain important information such as what to do when a military convoy approaches and agriculture programs. For general news, Afghans prefer other outlets of information such as the BBC or VOA because RIAB systems are controlled by the US military. [17] Special Operations first employed RIAB systems in Afghanistan in 2005 which improved their ability to supply information to and communicate with the local population in their areas of operation. [18]
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. According to the World Population review, as of 2021, Afghanistan's population is 40.2 million The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020.
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Paktika is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000, mostly ethnic Pashtuns. The town of Sharana serves as the provincial capital, while the most populous city is Urgun.
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Nāwa-I-Barakzāyi District is an administrative district in Helmand Province, Afghanistan located south of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah along the Helmand River. It is bordered by the districts of Lashkar Gah, Nad Ali, Garmsir, and Rig, as well as the provinces of Nimruz and Kandahar. It falls within the area known as Pashtunistan,, an area comprising most of southeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The dominant language is Pashto and many of the 89,000 residents practice the traditional code of Pashtunwali. Nawa-I-Barakzayi's name reflects the dominant Pashtun tribe in the district, the Barakzai. Prior to the 1970s, it was called Shamalan after a small village at the south end of the district
The Haqqani network is an Afghan Islamist group, built around the family of the same name, that has used asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and US-led NATO forces and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government in the 21st century. It is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United Nations. It is considered to be a "semi-autonomous" offshoot of the Taliban. It has been most active in eastern Afghanistan and across the border in north-west Pakistan.
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The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital.
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A tectonic weapon is a hypothetical device or system which could trigger earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or other seismic events in specified locations by interfering with the Earth's natural geological processes. It was defined in 1992 by Aleksey Vsevolodovich Nikolayev, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences: "A tectonic or seismic weapon would be the use of the accumulated tectonic energy of the Earth's deeper layers to induce a destructive earthquake". He added "to set oneself the objective of inducing an earthquake is extremely doubtful." Though no such device is known to have been built, tectonic weapons have occasionally appeared as plot devices in works of fiction.
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