Top Indian editor to talk on ’elections and media’ today in Colombo at SLIMFA forum

India Today Editor  Raj Chengappa

A top award winning Indian journalist Raj Chengappa will deliver a talk on elections and the media at a forum organised by the Sri Lanka India Media Friendship Association (SLIMFA) today at 9.30 a.m. at the Taj Samudra, Colombo.

Chengappa, who is India Today Group Editorial Director (Publishing) and India Today magazine Editor, will share experiences from the recent Indian elections. 

Given the recently concluded General Elections in India, and the upcoming Presidential Elections in Sri Lanka, the topic for the keynote is ‘Indian Election 2024 and Media’. 

Raj has varied interests and is a specialist in political analysis, foreign affairs, national security, nuclear weapons, the environment and development. He also does a weekly podcast and YouTube show for India Today called Nothing But The Truth. 

His keynote will be followed by panel discussion comprising a Sri Lankan journalist, columnist and an election observer further sharing perspectives on the role of media in elections. 

The panellists are People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (Paffrel) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchie, international award-winning investigative journalist, senior editor, trainer, researcher, and rights advocate Dilrukshi Handunnetti, experienced serial entrepreneur, former corporate senior executive, columnist, and public speaker Saliya Weerakoon. 

The event, first by the newly formed Sri Lanka India Media Friendship Association, is part of the Bharat Sri Lanka Maithri Week from 12-18 August 2024 commemorating India’s 78th Independence Day. Strategic partners of the forum are Taj Samudra, Colombo and SriLankan Airlines.

Raj was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1991-92, a Stimson Centre Fellow on Security Affairs in Washington DC in 1995 and a Harry Brittain Fellow (partly at London and Oxford University) in 1985. He has won numerous national awards including the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting (1987), the Prem Bhatia Award for Political Analysis (1998), Karnataka’s Rajyotsava Award 2002, National Award for Rural Reporting (2019), the Haldi Ghati Award (2020), Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Feature Writing (2024) and the ENBA and India Audio and Music awards for the Best Show Host for Nothing But the Truth (2024).