Shekhar Gupta is a famous Indian journalist. He served as editor-in-chief and chief executive of The Indian Express for 13 years but resigned in 2015. He subsequently founded his own digital media news company, The Print, where he served as editor-in-chief.
Wiki/Biography
Shekhar Gupta was born on 26 August 1957 in Palwar, Haryana (age 61 in 2018). He received his education in many places including Palwal, Rohtak and Punjab.
Shekhar Gupta at school
Although he was interested in liberal arts in college, in an interview he said he was forced to choose science or engineering. Incidentally, when he went to Punjab University to change the spelling of his name in his mark sheet, he saw the notification for the entrance exam for the journalism department, filled the form and got selected.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′10″
Weight (approximately): 80kg
Hair color: gray
Eye color: black
Shekhar Gupta
Family, caste and girlfriends
Shekhar was born into a Hindu family. Not much is known about his family other than the fact that his father was a government employee. He is married to Neelam Jolly.
Shekhar Gupta and wife Neelam Jolly
Profession
In 1977, Shekhar started working as a junior reporter with The Indian Express in Chandigarh. He worked there for six years before resigning in 1983 to join India Today as a reporter. There, he covered many major stories like Operation Blue Star, the 1991 Gulf War and the Nellie massacre in Assam, among others. In 1995, he rejoined The Indian Express and eventually became Editor-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer. He has a weekly column in The Indian Express titled “National Interest”. He also does a talk show called “Walk The Talk” with NDTV 24×7. The show was so popular that it ran for about 15 years and had more than 600 guests watching the show.
Shekhar Gupta and Rajkummar Rao perform “Walk The Talk”
In 2015, he quit the “Indian Express” and joined “India Today” as editor-in-chief, but his tenure was short-lived and he left after only two months. In 2017, he co-founded a new digital media company, The Print, with Barkha Dutt. Although Barkha Dutt and Shekhar Gupta jointly announced the venture, Barkha was never involved with The Print, her name did not even appear in company records, and six months after The Print was founded, her name was removed from the company website deleted.
Barkha Dutt tweets about collaborating with Shekhar Gupta to launch this print
His talk show “Walk The Talk” was renamed “Off The Cuff” but is still aired on NDTV 24×7, although the ownership is owned by Shekhar’s company The Print. The program format has been modified; instead of one-on-one interviews, the program is now filmed in front of a live audience, with live interaction with the audience also introduced after the interviews.
Shekhar Gupta improvisation
dispute
- In 2010, Shekhar Gupta shut down his company Greenpine Agro after being accused by former Army General VK Singh of tax evasion, fraud and involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam after failing to file tax returns for many years. The company’s eight-year balance sheet was submitted within one day, March 18th. Gupta closed the company on August 30, 2010 by applying for EES (Early Exit Scheme).
- In May 2012, Shekhar sued Vinod Mehta, the founder of Outlook India magazine. In an interview with Open Magazine, Mehta said Shekhar wrote an article in early 2012 to deliberately damage the reputation of former army chief VK Singh. In response to this statement, Gupta sued Vinod Mehta and Open magazine. The issue was hyped as many said Gupta’s reaction to the entire situation was immature.
- In 2017, Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen accused Shekhar of changing the title of one of her articles to create a rift between communities. The title of this article offended many Indians. The revised title is – “Why Hindus are trying to prove they can become ISIS-like extremists”. After the title change, she posted a screenshot of a conversation with Shekhar Gupta regarding the issue.
Screenshot of conversation between Shekhar Gupta and Talisma Nasreen
- He was named in the Enforcement Directorate’s supplementary charge sheet in a document leaked in April 2019. Christian Michel, the main accused in the Augusta Westland scam, allegedly paid Shekhar Gupta through an agent to downplay the “Augusta Westland chopper scam” news and influence public opinion.
Awards/Achievements
- In 1984, he was awarded the Tufts University and New York Times American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Fellowships
- In 1985 he won the Inlaks “Young Journalist of the Year” award
- GK Reddy Journalism Award 1997
- Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration 2006
- In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the UPA government for his contribution to journalism
Shekhar Gupta receives Padma Shri from former President Pratibha Patil
salary
As Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express (2015), he earns an annual salary of INR 100 million.
fact
- His wife Neelam Jolly owns and runs Vishwas, an NGO. It has the support of many eminent personalities in the media industry such as Arun Shourie, Lord Meghnad Desai and others.
- In 2014, Shekhar Gupta compiled all his famous writings in the National Interest column of The Indian Express into a book titled Envisioning India.
Shekhar Gupta looks ahead to India at his book launch
- In 2017, he published a book containing 25 of the most influential political interviews from his talk show “Walk The Talk,” which marked political change not just in India but around the world.
Shekhar Gupta’s book “Practice Your Word”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education