Sangeeta Pisharoty elected first woman President of Press Club of India
New Delhi: Senior journalist Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty was elected President of the Press Club of India on Sunday, becoming the first woman and the first journalist from the Northeast to head the prestigious body.
Pisharoty’s panel registered a clean sweep in the elections, winning all office-bearer and managing committee positions with a decisive 21–0 margin. She secured 1,019 votes, defeating Atul Mishra, who polled 129 votes, and Arun Sharma, who received 89 votes.
Afzal Imam was elected Secretary-General with 948 votes, defeating Gyan Prakash, who secured 290 votes. Jatin Gandhi was elected Vice-President with 1,029 votes, defeating Prahlad Singh Rajput by a margin of over 900 votes. Aditi Rajput was elected Treasurer and P R Sunil Joint Secretary, both unopposed.
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In the elections to the 16-member Managing Committee, Niraj Kumar topped the list with 932 votes, followed by Abhishek Kumar Singh with 911 votes, Jahanvi Sen with 903 votes, Ashok Kaushik with 892 votes, Kallol Bhattacharjee with 882 votes, Praveen Jain with 878 votes, Agraj Pratap Singh with 865 votes, Manoj Sharma with 861 votes, Nyanima Basu with 851 votes, P B Suresh with 838 votes, V P Pandey with 833 votes, Prem Bahukhandi with 831 votes, Sneha Bhura with 829 votes, Javed Akhtar with 823 votes, Rezaul Hasan Laskar with 781 votes, and Sunil Kumar with 780 votes.
Reacting to her election, Pisharoty said the result reflected the collective confidence of Press Club of India members in her panel’s vision and its commitment to free, fair, and responsible journalism.
Outgoing President Gautam Lahiri thanked the members for their support and said the new leadership would continue efforts to make the Club more inclusive, responsive, and relevant to the changing challenges faced by journalists.
Outgoing Secretary-General Neeraj Thakur said the election of the first woman President marked a significant moment in the history of the Press Club of India and reaffirmed its commitment to equality, diversity, and democratic values.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
