Navika Kumar awarded for excellence in political reportage

Mumbai, 9th May: Navika Kumar, Political and Economy Editor with Times Now was awarded the prestigious Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust award for 2006, for her exemplary political reportage on major Indian developments in the past year, capped by her disclosure of the Navin Chawla Trust scam. Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust award was instituted in the memory of former Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune.

The award was presented at a function at the India International Centre on May 8, 2006 and was presided over by Mr K. Subramaniam, Chairman, Task Force on Global Strategy Development. Mr K.S. Bajpai, Chairman, Delhi Policy Group, former Ambassador to Pakistan, China and USA delivered the Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture on the topic ‘India Engages with the World’.

Navika’s extensive knowledge on Indian politics and its mighty entwines are well displayed in the kind of stories she has broken so far, such as the report on former civil minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy’s Goa jamboree, even the Office for Profit story that was broken by her, led to the resignation of Sonia Gandhi. While accepting the award, Navika Kumar said, “I am truly honoured to receive this prestigious award. It not only recognizes my effort, but motivates me to work even harder the next time. I’d like to thank my team at TIMES NOW for the all the support and faith that they have shown in me.”

Further commenting on her success and recognition, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief, Times Now said, “We are delighted by Navika’s achievement. The Navin Chawla story was an excellent piece of journalism and the watershed for TIMES NOW. At TIMES NOW we regard reporting on policy and powerplay in New Delhi to be very important and in that sense this award is recognition of the channel’s competence in that field.”

Navika is well respected for her outstanding range of contacts in politics and among policy makers, she has reported extensively on budget, economic policy, etc. Navika was one of the top investigative journalist, with a leading newspaper prior to joining TIMES NOW.

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