NDTV's Ravish Kumar wins 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award
NEW DELHI: NDTV's Ravish Kumar has been named for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for "harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless". Ravish Kumar is among the five recipients of the 2019 Magsaysay award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel, which recognises the "greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia".
The citation describes Ravish Kumar as a sober, incisive and well-informed anchor who has been most vocal on insisting that the professional values of balanced, fact-based reporting be upheld in practice. "If you have become the voice of the people, you are a journalist," it says.
The four other winners are Ko Swe Win from Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea.
"In electing Ravish Kumar to receive the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his unfaltering commitment to a professional, ethical journalism of the highest standards; his moral courage in standing up for truth, integrity, and independence; and his principled belief that it is in giving full and respectful voice to the voiceless, in speaking truth bravely yet soberly to power, that journalism fulfills its noblest aims to advance democracy," says the citation by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
Referring to Ravish Kumar's news programme "Prime Time", the foundation says it deals with real-life, under-reported problems of ordinary people.
"Striving for a people-based journalism, he calls his newsroom 'the people's newsroom'. He is most vocal on insisting that the professional values of sober, balanced, fact-based reporting be upheld in practice," it says.
Ravish Kumar, who has been with NDTV since 1996, has often faced threats for his fearless plain-speak.
Raised in Jitwarpur in Bihar, Ravish Kumar pursued his early interest in history and public affairs at the Delhi University.
"He does not balk at calling the highest officials to account or criticizing media and the state of public discourse in the country; for this reason, he has been harassed and threatened by rabid partisans of one kind or another," acknowledges the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation.
Other notable winners of the Magsaysay award in the past are RK Laxman, P Sainath, Arun Shourie, Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal. "Welcome Ravish to the club of Magsaysay awardees and hope to see his brave journalism go from strength to strength in these difficult times," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
These are the five recipients of Asia’s premier prize and highest honor, the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Awardees. #RamonMagsaysayAward pic.twitter.com/HrLG1qVt6L
— Ramon Magsaysay Award (@MagsaysayAward) August 2, 2019
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Voting begins for Assam's 126 assembly seats
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Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
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