Shoma Chaudhury is an Indian journalist, currently serving as the managing editor of Tehelka, an weekly news magazine published from New Delhi, India. She has been in the field of journalism for the last 15 years.

Career

Before joining print journalism, Chaudhury was employed at Doordarshan, directing more than 40 weekly television shows on books and writers. Her journalistic career began as Books Editor at The Pioneer later moving to the India Today, and then the Outlook news magazine. In 2000, she left Outlook to join Tehelka, which had just launched the website Tehelka.com. Following a high-profile expose on corruption in India's defence industry, the then NDA government forced the website to close in 2002. Only four of its staff remained to defend the magazine’s legal issues, one of which was Shoma. In 2004, the website was relaunched as a weekly news magazine. Since then, Chaudhury has been Director of Special Projects and Features Editor at Tehelka.

Writings

Chaudhury's writings cover many prominent contemporary issues in India: communal strife, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, and conflicts between the Indian government and dispossessed people.

She has also written for several foreign publications including The Independent and the Financial Times. She appears occasionally in various international media as subject expert on numerous discussions related to contemporary India including an appearance on the Riz Khan show on Al Jazeera English channel in a discussion on Maoist insurgency in India in April 2010. She has featured in panel discussions at various international events including the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum 2010 at New Delhi held in November 2010, the India Europe Forum (April 12–13, 2010) held by the Instituto Cervantes at New Delhi, the World Editor's Forum 2009 , the Jaipur Literature Festival '10 , the Hay Festival in Kerala (November 2010) and various other events.

Views

Shoma Chaudhary is a severe critic of the current state of the Indian media. Speaking on a panel on investigative journalism at the 16th World Editors Forum, she remarked on the state of journalism in India as "pathetic" as it had become "a corporate rather than a political act". She was critical of the "focus on advertisement revenue" rather than public interest, adding that "journalism has thus been undervalued, and this needs to change. On another occasion she was quoted as saying:

India's political, corporate and media establishment sounds like a mobile cocktail party, gliding, champagne glasses in hand, in and out of each others' drawing rooms, television studios, boardrooms and award ceremonies like actors in an elaborate charade.''

She was critical of the nature of the recent Radia tapes controversy calling it a "mistake", noting that the tapes "end abruptly or seem to be missing bits of the conversations (which means)... Someone has carefully edited the tapes". She was also critical of the nature of the debate of the controversy that followed, observing that it had "distracted from the larger question of journalistic ethics... to.. just become a misogynistic, medieval witch hunt.”

Literary critic

She is also a noted literary critic in India and was one of the judges of the Vodafone Crossword Book Award in 2006. She also serves as a literary consultant with the British Council.

Recognition

In 2009, Shoma was awarded the Chameli Jain award for Outstanding Woman Mediapersons. The award recognises journalists for "excellence, impact, social concern, innovation, style and originality of work in the print or broadcast medium".

She also won the 2009 Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism award in the category of Film and Television (Print) for her "unconventional edge in her interviews with Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan engaging them in conversations ranging from journalism to politics to Islam.

References

Category:Indian journalists Category:Indian literary critics Category:Journalism articles by quality Category:Living people Category:Indian women journalists

name	Andimuthu Raja
alias	Kanimozhi
motive	Money
constituency	Nilgiris
allegiance	DMK
religion	Hindu
profession	LawyerPolitician
Conviction status	Judicial custody at Tihar Jail awaiting trial
Conviction penalty	Case for 2G spectrum scam ongoing
date	September 22 |
year	2006 |
source	http://india.gov.in/govt/loksabhampbiodata.php?mpcode344 }}

Andimuthu Raja () (ஆண்டிமுத்து ராஜா) (born May 10, 1963, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian politician from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) political party. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu.

In 2011, ''TIME'' magazine listed him on the “Top 10 Abuses of Power” list. The 2G spectrum scam is listed at No. 2, just behind the Watergate scandal which brought down President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Political Career

Controversial Resignations

On October 17, 2008 he submitted his post-dated resignation to the D.M.K party chief M. Karunanidhi over the killings of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. His resignation was a part of the mass resignation of all the D.M.K ministers forming a parts of the coalition UPA central government.

On November 14, 2010, he announced that he would step down from his cabinet post, over the 2G spectrum allocation scandal.

2G Spectrum scandal

The 2G spectrum financial scandal in the Telecommunications and IT Ministry under A. Raja is noteworthy as the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to a record $40 billion loss from underpricing to the Government of India. The alleged modus operandi was telecom bandwidth being grossly undervalued and offered to a chosen few with vested interests, on a dubious 'First-Come-First-Served' basis. It is alleged that it should have been put under a transparent auction system, purportedly advised by higher office.

The bandwidth-spectrum allocation of 2G bandwidth had later come under criticism for gross irregularities. An FIR filed by the CBI claims that the allocation was not done as per market prices, resulting in a scam worth . However it had been alleged by Arun Jaitley of Bhartiya Janata Party that the scam is worth around . The Comptroller and Auditor General holds Raja personally responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum at 2001 rates in 2008, resulting the previously mentioned loss of up to Rs. 1.76 lakh crores (US$40 billion) to the national exchequer. In August, 2010, evidence was submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) showing that Raja had personally signed and approved the majority of the questionable allocations. Although the political opposition was demanding his resignation over the 2G spectrum scam, Raja initially refused to resign stating his innocence, and this view was backed by his party president M.Karunanidhi.

The financial scam eventually led to Raja's resignation on the 14th of November, 2010. There will be further criminal investigation and action on Raja with reports being filed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In 2011, the results of an investigation by retired judge Shivraj Patil, who was appointed by current telecom minister Kapil Sibal, has also found Raja to have been directly responsible for "procedural lapses" regarding the spectrum scandal. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate estimate that Raja could have made as much as Rs 3,000 crore from the alleged bribes.

In January and February 2011, Raja's homes and offices were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Computers were reportedly seized as part of the evidence that the CBI plans to present against him. Raja and two former associates were arrested on February 2, 2011. The 3 have been taken to Patiala House Courts for enquiries by the CBI on 3 February 2011 After the end of his custody with CBI, Raja was sent to Tihar Jail for judicial custody until March 3, 2011. His stay in the Tihar Jail was then extended, first to March 17 and then to March 31.under judicial custody.

He was later backed by his party DMK after his arrest and in general meeting in Chennai party passed a resolution in favor of Raja stating that until charges are proven he is not guilty.

Arrest and chargesheet

On February 2, 2011, the CBI arrested Raja. The CBI also arrested R. K. Chandolia, Raja's personal aide, and Siddharth Behura, the former Telecom Secretary. Both Raja and R.K. Chandolia are heard in conversation with Niira Radia in the released Radia tapes.

On April 02, 2011, the CBI filed its first 80,000 page chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam before a Special Court in Delhi naming nine individuals and three companies. It said the wrongful acts of the accused deprived the government exchequer of possible revenues amounting to INR Rs 30,985 crore (USD $ 6,983,322,233).

References

See also

List of politicians in India charged with corruption

Sadiq Batcha

M. K. Kanimozhi

Suresh Kalmadi

External links

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Communications and Information Technology | years = 2007-10}}

Category:Living people Category:Indian Tamil people Category:1963 births Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Members of the Cabinet of India Category:Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Category:Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu Category:Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu Category:Indian prisoners and detainees

de:A. Raja ml:എ. രാജ mr:ए. राजा ta:ஆ. ராசா