News Broadcasting
NDTV wins international recognition for news feature, engineering advance
MUMBAI: Dr Prannoy Roy’s NDTV has won recognition in two diverse streams of news channel activity.
NDTV’s investigative report “Education For Sale in Maharashtra, India” was Highly Commended in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Broadcasting Awards 2004.
The report was entered in the category for the Award for Exceptional News Feature 2004.
The commendation went to NDTVs Sindhu Manesh, Anand Rao and Srikanth G. Rao who worked on the report. Using a hidden camera the team revealed that seats in top medical colleges were being sold for large amounts of money by state government ministers, politicians, principals and college registrars. The judges were impressed by the teams bravery, their meticulous research and the scale of the corruption revealed on film. A fallout of the report was the Supreme Court of India’s clamping down on the colleges.
The other front where NDTV has won laurels is from the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC).
The IBC Award for Cost Effective Engineering 2004 went to NDTV for a low cost satellite contribution and return path DSNG (digital satellite newsgathering) system. It replaces an existing service supplier, does not rely on third party operators and is resilient to poor power and telecom facilities.
The concept and design were by NDTVs systems manager, Rahul Deshpande and senior broadcast engineer Jay Chauhan and the project was executed by a team led by chief engineer, Jawahar Lal, deputy chief engineer, Dinesh Singh and producer Shayne P Singh among others.
A statement issued by NDTV says this is the first DSNG network relying entirely on MPEG-4 encoding.
The judges were Martin Salter, chairman of the IABM and IBC conference committee, Peter Owen, chairman of IBC Council, Mike Lumley, Royal Television Society, David Woods, EBU and the panel was chaired by Neil Dormand, CBA Technology Consultant.
The judging panel, while announcing the award, said they thought that the quality of the presentation from NDTV was excellent and that the achievement is a model to broadcasters in similar situations.
There was a detailed cost comparison of the chosen techniques against the alternatives, the NDTV statement says. Not only were technical difficulties overcome but also the outcome was very cost effective in terms of capital and operation.
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.
