News Broadcasting
Padm Shri for Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Dua
MUMBAI: The ‘Padm Shri’ award will be conferred to six media personalities this year.
Among the winners of the ‘Padma Shri’ are CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai along with NDTV’s managing editor, Barkha Dutt and Vinod Dua from the news channels.
Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, actor Tom Alter and Hollywood film maker Manoj Night Shyamalan are also on the list.
Rajdeep Sardesai, who entered television journalism in 1994 as political editor of NDTV, was the host of the award-winning talk show The Big Fight, and was particularly appreciated for his coverage of the Gujarat riots. Sardesai has been bestowed with many prizes for journalism including ‘C H Mohammad Koya Journalism Award’ -2007 and ‘Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards’ for 2006-07.
Barkha Dutt has won over 20 international and national awards, including the Commonwealth Broadcasters Award 2002, the ‘Global Leader of Tomorrow Award’ from the World Economic Forum in 2001, and the ‘Broadcast Journalist of the Year’ award from the Indian Express, in 2005.
Vinod Dua has been a prominent face of television for over three decades, known for his distinctive style and informal manner. He has been a producer and anchor for a wide range of programmes, which covered election analysis, political commentaries, documentaries and features. Dua has earlier received the ‘B D Goenka award for excellence in journalism’.
Madhuri Dixit is one of the biggest stars of the Indian film industry. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she dominated Hindi cinema as a leading actress, appearing in many hit films like Tezaab in 1988 Ram Lakhan, Parinda and Tridev in 1989, Dil in 1990, Saajan in 1991, Beta in 1992, Khalnayak in 1993, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in 1994 and Raja in 1995.
Tom Alter is an Indian actor of American origin. He has worked for Satyajit Ray in Shatranj Ke Khiladi and Ismail Merchant. In Sardar, the 1993 film biography of Sardar Patel, Alter portrayed ‘Lord Mountbatten’. He has also played sadistic mob lord Keshav Kalsi in long running series Junoon on Doordarshan .
M. Night Shyamalan is best known for his work on the movies The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village.
Meanwhile, the government has decided not to confer highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna to any politician this year.
For the past six years, the award has not being given to anyone.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
