News Broadcasting
India TV honours nations bravehearts with Salaam India Awards
MUMBAI: As a part of its effort to honour the bravehearts of the nation with the first edition of the “Officer’s Choice Salaam India Awards”, India TV also instituted a bravery award in the memory of Jyoti Singh, the brave girl who lost her life after fighting the gruesome gang rape in a bus in Delhi but awakened the society and the nation on crime against women.
Jyoti Singh Bravery Awards were also presented at a gala ceremony in New Delhi on Saturday. Other categories for which the Awards were given away included Bravery, Gallantry & Special Awards etc.
The 13 winners included Shareef Ibrahim Kutty for risking his life to save many innocent lives, Late Barun Biswas (posthumous) for his crusades against anti-social elements & eventually putting up his life for the cause he lived for, Captain Bikramjeet Singh for his exemplary display of valour during the recent Uttarakhand crises. Lakshmi for her decisive fight against the menace of acid attacks was one of the three winners of the Jyoti Singh Awards.
India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, in his address, congratulated the winners and dedicated the awards as a salute to Bravehearts of the nation who through their selfless & altruistic acts have kept the trust running into humanity. He also said that such deeds inculcate a spirit of courage and humanity among fellow citizens.
The winners were decided on the basis of a stringent process that included call for entries, short-listing by a high-power editorial board and final winners’ selection by a Grand Jury headed by noted Jurist Ram Jethmalani. The Jury included India TV Chairman and Editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma, first Woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Retired Army Chief, Gen. V.K. Singh and Retired Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Querashi.
Amongst the powerful battery of dignitaries present included personalities like L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, Meenakshi Lekhi, Gulam Nabi Azad, Harish Rawat, Vijay Bahuguna, Shakeel Ahmed, Farooq Abdullah, Gen. VK Singh, KC Tyagi of JDU, Maninderjit Singh Bitta, Sudhindra Bhadoria, BSP and Gulshan Grover etc.
Senior BJP Leader, L.K. Advani said, “I am glad that Rajatji initiated Salaam India Awards to honour the extraordinary courage displayed by ordinary citizens. As proven by the exceptional individuals here, bravery should not only be a characteristic to the Defence personnel. For the cause of the great nation, that India is, individuals from every walk of life need to embody bravery and courage. This initiative by India TV is will act like a catalyst.”
Union Health Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad, observed, “Unlike other awards, Salaam India Awards have the genuine potential to inspire individuals to step forward and replicate such exemplary acts of bravery. A great benchmark initiative by India TV.”
Ritu Dhawan, MD and CEO, India TV stressed upon the need of such initiatives as humble but necessary steps towards a safer & cordial India. She also promised that India TV as a responsible news channel will keep on working on such initiatives that not
only felicitate the extraordinaire but also at the same time motivates the country at large.
Officer’s Choice packaged drinking water is the sole presenting sponsor on the initiative.
List of Winners:
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.
