Pratima Puri was the first television newscaster in Dordarshan, India. In 1965, she became the first female newscaster in the history of Indian television. She paved the way for many aspiring female journalists who wanted to join the television industry. She died in 2007.
Wiki/Biography
Vidya Rawat was born in Lalpani, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. She graduated from Indraprastha Women’s College, Delhi.
family
Pratima Puri belongs to the Gurkha family. The Gurkhas are considered to be warrior aborigines who live mainly in northeastern India.
Parents and siblings
There is not much information about her parents and siblings.
husband and children
Not much information is available about her husband, but she has a son named Raja Puri.
Profession
news reader
Pratima Puri started her career at All India Radio in Shimla in 1958. On September 15, 1959, All India Radio began pilot broadcasting of “Doordarshan”. In 1965, Pratima Puri moved to Delhi where she became a newscaster in the first five minutes of news broadcast on Doordarshan. She became the first female reporter to read news on television. During her career as a news anchor, she interviewed Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel to outer space. According to some sources, Salma Sultan replaced Pratima Puri as newscaster on Doordarshan in 1967. However, Salma Sultan revealed in an interview that she was appointed as the news anchor of DD after the then popular news anchor Gopal Kaul resigned as the news anchor of Doordarshan , so she was asked to take his place. Later, she began training probation newscasters at DD.
Pratima Puri (far right) interviews Yuri Gagarin
die
On July 29, 2007, she breathed her last.
Facts/Trivia
- In a scene from the TV series Rokect Boys (2022), a character briefly appears as Pratima Puri.
- She interviewed many celebrities, including Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education