News Broadcasting
Russian communication satellite launched
Russian communication satellite, Express-A1R was launched from Baikonur over the weekend.
The satellite replaces a sister satellite that was destroyed in a failed launch in October 1999. Express A1R is the third of the next-generation Express A series to reach orbit, after two successful launches in 2000. The craft’s 12 C-band and five Ku-band transponders are to be used for television and radio broadcasting services, mobile telephony, data transmission, video conferencing and high-speed Internet, according to reports. The 5,700-pound satellite will operate in orbit for at least 10 years, its footprints covering the European part of Russia, the CIS countries, the whole of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Northern Africa.
Express A1R is designed to relay government radio and television programs to Russias central regions and CIS countries. The satellite was manufactured at the Siberian Prikladnaya Mekhanika (Applied Mechanics) scientific production association with the participation of Alcatel. Russian space troops and Rosaviakosmos, the Russian space agency, carried out the launch. The Russian Satellite Communications Company and the Intersputnik organization will both use parts of Express A1R’s capacity and capabilities, splitting the satellite’s services between the Russian government and the commercial market.
The satellite bus was developed by Russia’s Krasnoyarsk-based NPO PM, while Alcatel Espace of France supplied the payload.
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.
