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India Today to honour champions of ‘Clean India’ cause
MUMBAI: The India Today Group announces the third edition of the India Today Safaigiri Awards and Singathon, a platform that will showcase and felicitate the pioneering efforts of those who are leading the change in cleanliness. This is in continuation to the launch of 1st edition in 2015.
The event will be held October 2nd, on the third anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launch and the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This year the theme around which the campaign is focused on “Gandgi Dehan Safaigiri ke Sang” which aims to demolish one the major evils that our nation is facing today and honouring the clean champions of the nation.
India Today Safaigiri Awards & Singathon will be a day-long event and will get musicians together to celebrate the Safaigiri movement. The biggest names in the music fraternity will join hands to spread the message of Safaigiri. Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar will be presenting awards to women champions who have made Swachhata hi Seva their message. This special category of awards has been introduced this year in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to observe September 15 to October 2 as Swachhata hi Seva fortnight. The focus is on women because if you teach a woman, you teach a generation.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will be presenting awards to 16 cleanliness champions selected by a process which involves shortlisting by Nielsen and selection by an eminent jury. The event will have singers performing throughout the day. The singers attending the day-long event include – Ankit Tiwari, Armaan Malik, Jasleen Royal, Amit Mishra, Shashaa Tirupati, Tulsi Kumar, Nakash Aziz and Mohit Chauhan’.
India Today Safaigiri Awards and Singathon is a key initiative of the Group’s efforts in realising the vision of Swachh Bharat and in recognising Clean Champions across the country. The Clean Champions are selected in 16 categories through a process of fieldwork and selection by a jury of eminent citizens. The jury members are Mr. Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group; Mr. Shashi Tharoor, MP; Ms. Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust; Mr T.V Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Global Manipal Education; Mr.Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Infra; Mr. Shubhagato Dasgupta, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research & Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.
The awards will be given in different categories such as Garbage Guru, Toilet Titan, Tech Icon, Water Saviour, Corporate Trailblazer and Cleanest Religious Place.
The India Today Group has already started the war for cleanliness in a unique style at Ram Lila ground this year. Dirt/Filth, the major concern of the country was offered to fire in the form of Ravana this time.
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Devika Prabhu joins Sony Pictures Networks India as business head – Hindi movies
Former Disney Star executive returns to SPNI to steer the network’s Hindi movie business
MUMBAI: Devika Prabhu is heading back to familiar turf. The veteran media executive has joined Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) as business head – Hindi movies, marking a return to the broadcaster where she began her early leadership journey.
Prabhu announced the move on LinkedIn, calling it both a new beginning and a homecoming. Earlier in her career, she spent several years at SPNI—then Multi Screen Media—working on strategic planning for Sony Entertainment Television.
The appointment brings to SPNI a media strategist with more than 25 years of experience across content, programming, brand strategy and platform growth. Most recently, Prabhu served at Disney Star as vice-president and business head – kids, youth and infotainment TV, where she led the Disney Kids and National Geographic portfolios following the Disney–Fox merger.
During her tenure, she oversaw a Rs 400-crore P&L while pushing digital expansion, partnerships and operational efficiencies. Earlier roles at Disney Star included leadership across programming, acquisitions, marketing and product strategy for multiple networks, including the UTV movie channels and youth brands.
Prabhu’s career has also spanned building cross-platform intellectual property, developing kids and family content ecosystems, and forging international format partnerships. She was closely involved in bringing global formats and franchises to Indian audiences and is widely credited with helping shape India’s anime fandom into a mainstream youth phenomenon.
At SPNI, she will now lead the Hindi movies business at a time when film channels are rethinking their role in a fragmented viewing landscape. With audiences discovering cinema across television, streaming and digital platforms, the challenge is not just programming films but reimagining how they reach viewers.
Prabhu believes movies still hold a unique cultural power, sparking conversations and creating shared moments long after the credits roll.
Now back where part of her journey began, she is set to write the next act, this time from the business seat of Hindi movie television. Lights, camera, strategy.
