News Broadcasting
BBC World to extensively cover Johannesburg ‘green’ summit
LONDON: BBC World has announced that it will dedicate a large portion of its schedule this month and early September to special programming and news reports related to The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
For BBC World News David Loyn, Hilary Anderson and Nik Gowing will be among the team reporting live from Johannesburg from 26 August. For World Business Report, Mike Sergeant and Richard Scott will be turning the spotlight on the business issues.
In addition to BBC World’s daily news coverage during the World Summit, the channel has commissioned a series of news features and programmes. News presenter Nisha Pillai will be co-hosting a two-part debate, Earth Summit: The Debate filmed at the UNESCO heritage site, ‘The Cradle of Humankind’ outside Johannesburg. Together with Bill Moyers of PBS America, Pillai will lead the discussion between a panel of world leaders and campaigners from all sides of the debate.
Regular BBC World programme, Earth Report, is also featuring a series of specials dedicated to the summit. The Children of Rio will look at the lives of some children all over the world ten years on from the last Summit in Brazil and I Wish offers a unique look at what 21 people from a cross section of global society wish the World Summit would achieve.
The popular interview show, HARDtalk with Tim Sebastian, will run a special week of interviews starting on 26 August with Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexico City Environment Minister. The monthly magazine show, Africa Direct, will offer a local African environmental perspective when it airs 28 August.
The three-part documentary series, State of the Planet presented by David Attenborough attempts to answer some of the big questions about our planet, assessing the gravity of the environmental crisis and asking what lies ahead at this point in human history. Developing World is a magazine series which takes viewers from Armenia to Zanzibar, Nepal to Peru showing what is possible when people work together, while Life is a five-part award-winning series looking at how the newly globalised world economy is affecting ordinary people across the planet.
News bulletins in August and September will include specially commissioned reports from BBC correspondents around the world highlighting the tension between small projects and government-level statements of intent which have been the product of world summits. Tim Hirsch will be looking at Green capitalism in Brazil and some Micro initiatives using solar power in South Africa.
Jonathan Head follows the course of a river to Bangkok looking at various pollution problems and ending in an environmental project which offers a solution. Ian Bruce follows a scheme in Brazil which gathers local people together to decide how government money should be spent in their area. He also looks at a trade union in Colombia which dared to challenge the powers that be and reports the story of a boy from rural India who will be one of the youngest delegates at the World Summit. Mike Donkin reports on one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in the Amazon which is under threat, despite international agreements to protect them and their environment. Finally, Shirin Wheeler looks at clean power in Iceland as it becomes a global guinea pig by aiming to be the first fully-fledged hydrogen-powered, eco-friendly economy in the world.
World Summit – Johannesburg 2002 Times in GMT
Earth Summit: The Debate
PART 1
31 August 2:10 pm, 9:10 pm
1 September 9:10 am, 5:10 pm
PART 2
7 September 2:10pm, 9:10 pm
8 September 9:10 am, 5:10 pm
State of the Planet, 3 programmes (NOT AVAILABLE IN PAS 2 REGION)
17, 24 August 2:10 pm, 9:10 pm
18,25 August 9:10 am, 5:10 pm
In addition ‘I Wish’ vignettes will air throughout the schedule in August and September. In the lead up to the earth summit in Johannesburg, 21 individuals from a cross-section of global society were given a unique platform to send their messages to the world leaders and decision-makers attending the summit.
News Broadcasting
Kamlesh Singh receives Haldi Ghati Award from MMCF
India Today Group editor honoured for three decades of journalism at Udaipur ceremony.
MUMBAI- Kamlesh Singh just turned a lifetime of sharp words into a shiny shield because when journalism wakes up a society, even the Maharana of Mewar wants to pin a medal on it.
The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) conferred its prestigious Haldi Ghati Award on Kamlesh Singh, a senior editor at the India Today Group, during a ceremony in Udaipur on 15 March 2026. The national award, instituted in 1981-82, recognises “work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism.”
Singh, who leads several editorial initiatives including Aaj Tak Radio, the Teen Taal community and The Lallantop, was presented the honour by Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, Managing Trustee of MMCF. The citation highlighted his three decades of contributions to Indian media, innovations in digital journalism, mentoring young reporters, and his popular podcast persona “Tau” on Teen Taal, which fosters thoughtful public discourse.
The Haldi Ghati Award, named after the historic Battle of Haldighati symbolising valour and resilience, is one of four national awards given annually by MMCF. Past recipients include Tavleen Singh, Piyush Pandey and Raj Chengappa.
Other honourees this year included Padma Vibhushan Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Vedamurti Devvrat Rekhe, Treeman of India Marimuthu Yoganathan, Vir Chakra Capt Rizwan Malik, and US-based researcher Molly Emma Aitken, who received the Colonel James Tod Award for contributions to understanding Mewar’s spirit and values.
In an era where headlines often shout louder than substance, the MMCF quietly reminded everyone that real journalism isn’t about noise, it’s about the quiet, persistent work that stirs society awake, one thoughtful story at a time.
