News Broadcasting
Robin Bhatt re-elected president of the Screenwriters’ Association
New Delhi: Film writer Robin Bhatt was unanimously elected as the president of the Screenwriters’ Association (SWA) for the second consecutive term, here on Monday.
Bhatt debuted as a writer in Bollywood with the movie Aashiqui in 1990 and has penned the screenplay for over 60 films in his 30-year-long career, which includes blockbusters like Koi Mil Gaya, Baazigar, Omkara and Krishh. He will remain the president of the association for the next two years.
The 64th annual general body election meeting of the SWA was conducted virtually amid the Covid2019 restrictions on Sunday, in the presence of the office-bearers, scrutiny committee members, election officer, and other SWA members. Unique e-voting links were sent to all the registered members. The regular/life members and associate members voted online for the 21 posts of the executive committee, and three posts of the executive committee (associate) respectively.
Office bearers elected unopposed for the term 2021-23 are:
Robin Bhatt- president
Preeti Mamgain- vice president
Sanjay Chouhan- vice president
Zaman Habib- general secretary
Danish Javed – treasurer
Satyam Tripathy- joint secretary
Manisha Korde- joint secretary
The new members of the executive committee include writers Abhijeet Deshpande, Abhiruchi Chand, Anjum Rajabali, Debashish Irengbam, Dhananjay Kumar, Hitesh Kewalya, Hussain Haidry, Mitesh Shah, Nikhil Vyas, Puneet Sharma, Rajesh Dubey, Sagar Pandya, Saiwyn Quadras, Saket Chaudhary, Sameer Javed Siddiqi, Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh, Satyanshu Singh, Shailender Singh Sodhi (Shellee), Sumit Arora, Sweksha Bhagat, and Vinod Ranganath.
Deepanjan Roy, Gaurav Patki, and Persis Chirag Sodawaterwalla were elected as the associate members of the executive committee.
A trade union of screenwriters and lyricists who work for films, TV and digital media in India, SWA completed 60 years of its incorporation in 2020. It also includes authors, novelists, playwrights, journalists who aspire to diversify or join full-time the mediums of films, TV, or digital entertainment.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
