News Broadcasting
NDTV Infrashakti Awards 2024: Honouring India’s visionaries in infrastructure development
Mumbai: NDTV, a trailblazer in Indian TV news and digital journalism, has announced its prestigious NDTV Infrashakti Awards 2024, with knowledge partner Infravision Foundation, that recognises numerous infrastructure initiatives that illuminate India’s true growth story. The awards showcase the pulse of our vibrant country, celebrating infrastructure advancements that have the potential to transform lives and foster community connectivity. The awards will spotlight many remarkable individuals and institutional efforts that inspire innovation and excellence on the road to a Viksit Bharat in the presence of Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari; Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal; and Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
Comprising of six jury-selected categories and one popular choice/viewers’ choice category, the NDTV Infrashakti Awards 2024 categories are Rural Infra Pioneer, Renewable Energy Star, Water Saviour, Urban Infra Hero, Infra Visionary, and Transport Trailblazer. Additionally, the People’s Choice Award under the Inclusive Infrastructure category allows the people of India to cast their votes, and get their voice heard.
The NDTV Infrashakti Awards 2024 will be judged by an esteemed panel of five jury members: Prime Minister’s economic advisory council chairman Dr Bibek Debroy; GSK Pharmaceuticals’ chairperson and HDFC Ltd’s former MD Renu Sud Karnad; Dilip Cherian, an image guru specialising in litigation landscaping and policy analysis; Gul Panag, an actor, sustainability advocate, and social activist; and Professor G Raghuram, former director, IIMB, and professor Emeritus at Gujarat Maritime University.
As an integral component of NDTV’s expansive Infrashakti campaign, ‘INFRASTRUCTURE: INDIA’S GROWTH STORY,’ the campaign showcases how sustainable infrastructure embodies a vital synergy between climate mitigation and economic growth, offering a tremendous opportunity for positive change.
By recognising and celebrating the efforts of those transforming India’s infrastructure landscape, the NDTV Infrashakti Awards aim to inspire further innovation and excellence in the sector. These awards honour the visionaries driving India’s growth story and making significant contributions to a sustainable future.
To watch the awards tune in to NDTV 24×7 and NDTV Profit on 2 July 2024, 4 pm onwards. For more information and updates, visit Infrashakti Awards 2024 .
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
