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N. Ram

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N Ram
N Ram at a public function in New Delhi
Born(1945-05-04)4 May 1945(age 79)
NationalityIndian
Education
Occupation(s)Chairman of Kasturi & Sons Ltd. & publisher ofThe Hindu(2013 – incumbent)[1]
managing director ofThe Hindu Group(1977–2003)
Editor of Frontline andSportstar(1991–2003)
Editor-in-Chief ofThe Hindu Group(2003–2012)
Known forJournalism, Newspapering, exposing Bofors scandal (1989)
Board member ofThe Hindu Group(2012 – present)
Children1
ParentG. Narasimhan
Relatives
Awards
  • Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award (2018)
  • Asian Investigative Journalist of the Year (1990)
  • JRD Tata Award for Business Ethics (2003)
  • Sri Lanka RathnaAward (2005)

Narasimhan Ram(born 4 May 1945) is an Indian journalist and a prominent member of the Kasturi family that controlsThe Hindu Groupof publications. Ram was the managing-director ofThe Hindusince 1977 and its editor-in-chief since 27 June 2003 until 18 January 2012.[2]Ram also headed the other publications of The Hindu Group such asFrontline,The Hindu Business LineandSportstar,and has been awarded thePadma Bhushanby the Government of India[3]andSri Lanka Ratnaby the Government of Sri Lanka.[4]

Subsequent to changes in the editorial & business sections ofThe Hinduon 21 October 2013, Ram has become chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited and publisher ofThe Hindu.[1]

Early life and education

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Ram was born on 4 May 1945 inMadras,British India.He was the eldest son ofG. Narasimhanwho served as managing-director ofThe Hindufrom 1959 to 1977. Ram is a great-grandson ofS. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar,the patriarch of the Kasturi family that ownsThe Hindu.

Ram did his schooling atMadras Christian College Higher Secondary Schoolin Chennai. He graduated fromLoyola College,with a bachelor's degree in arts in 1964, received a master's degree fromPresidency Collegein 1966, and later an M.S. in comparative journalism from theColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[5]

In college, Ram was active in students politics. He was vice-president of theStudents Federation of India(SFI), which is politically linked to theCommunist Party of India (Marxist)(CPM), when it was founded in 1970.[6]Ram was close friends withPrakash Karat,later the chief of CPM. Ram is also said to be a "card-carrying" member of CPM.[7]

Journalism and career

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Ram began his career inThe Hinduin 1977 under the editorship of his uncleG. Kasturi.He served as anassociate editorof the newspaper till the retirement of Kasturi in 1991. In between, he served as theWashingtoncorrespondent for two years, 1980–1982.[8][5]

Ram became famous as a journalist with hisexposéof theBofors Scandalduring the reign of former prime minister of IndiaRajiv Gandhi.[9]Despite tremendous pressure from the Rajiv Gandhi administration to stop the Bofors series, he refused to cave in. This brought him in loggerheads with G. Kasturi as well as the other members of the Kasturi family. As a result, when Kasturi stepped down in 1991, Ram's younger brotherN. Raviwas brought in as the editor ofThe Hinduand Ram was "shunted out" toFrontline,the fortnightly magazine of The Hindu Group.[8]

Prior to his position as the editor-in-chief ofThe Hindu,Ram had served as the editor ofFrontlinemagazine andSportstarbetween 1991 and 2003.

Towards the end of a bitter family feud, Ram stepped down as editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hindu group on 19 January 2012.[10]Siddharth Varadarajan,editor ofThe Hindu,succeeded him, with effect from 19 January 2012, as editor ofThe Hinduresponsible for the selection of news under the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act of 1867. D. Sampathkumar, editor,Business Line,R. Vijaya Sankar, editor,Frontline,and Nirmal Shekar, editor,Sportstar,took over, with effect from 19 January 2012, as editors responsible for the selection of news under the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act of 1867 in these Group publications.K. Balaji,managing director of Kasturi & Sons Ltd., the public limited company that brings out The Hindu group of publications, succeeded Mr. Ram as publisher of all the group publications. Subsequent to changes in the Editorial & Business ofThe Hinduon 21 October 2013, Ram has become chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited and publisher ofThe Hinduand group publications.[1]

During his younger days, Ram also started a journal calledRadical Review,with his friends,P. ChidambaramandPrakash Karat.[11]

Awards and recognition

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Ram's contribution to journalism has been recognised by a number of awards. These include the Asian Investigative Journalist of the Year (1990) Award conferred by the Press Foundation of Asia at the "One Asia Assembly",Bofors Case,the disciplined application of his journalistic idealism and the impact of his revelations on the Indian political scene "; theB.D. Goenka,1989, shared withChitra Subramaniam;in the interest of the nation "; andXLRI's FirstJRD Tata Awardfor Business Ethics, awarded at the institute's 46th Annual Convocation atJamshedpuron 23 March 2003.[12]The Highest national honour conferred by Sri Lanka on non–nationals is theSri Lanka Rathnaaward. Ram, the editor in chief of four Chennai-based publications, became the first Indian national to be awarded that honour on 14 November 2005.

Ram has been chosen for the prestigious Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award, presented by thePress Council of India,for his outstanding contribution towards journalism, the Councils announced on 5 November 2018. The award will be presented on 16 November on the occasion of the National Press Day.[13]

Controversies

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On 25 January 2012, Mr.K.C. Palaniswamya formerAIADMKMember of Parliament registered a complaint against Ram and eight others with the Chennai police, accusing them of a 400-acre land grab scam, worth nearly₹3 billion.[14]Ram filed and received an anticipatory bail in the case[15][16]

In 2012, shortly after Ram was honoured by his alma mater, theGraduate School of Journalism at Columbia University,Chitra Subramaniam alleged that he was responsible for compromising the identity of their source on theBoforsstory and that she had not received her due as the journalist who broke the story. Ram denied the allegations.[17]

Personal life

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Ram's first wife Susan was an English woman who came to India as a research student. Like Ram, she was (and remains) an atheist with a Leftist perspective on politics. After their marriage, Susan worked as a teacher, a freelance journalist, an editor forOxford University Presspublications in India and a television presenter. As a husband and wife team, they published the first volume of a biography onR. K. Narayan,the eminent Indian writer.

Ram and Susan's daughter, Vidya Ram, became a journalist and graduated at the top of the class at her father's alma mater.[18]She also won a Pulitzer fellowship, was an intern atThe New York Times,a reporter atForbesand is the European Correspondent atBusiness Line.[19][20]

After the divorce from Susan, Ram married Mariam Chandy, aMalayaliChristian. It was Mariam's second marriage as well.[21]Mariam comes from a prosperous family that owned the now defunctTravancore National and Quilon Bank,liquidated in 1938.[22][23]She has worked in advertising agencies, HTA and O&M. Mariam Ram is presently the managing director of TNQ Books and Journals, that she founded in Chennai in 1998.[21][22][23]The company does editing, pagination and design for scientific, technical and medical publishers of the US, the UK and the European Union.[22]As of 2008, the company had an annual turnover of₹50 crores and employs 1200 staff.[22]

During his youth, Ram playedcricketand was thewicket-keeperbatsmanfor theTamil Nadustate team in theRanji trophy.[11]

References

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  1. ^abc"Changes at the Helm: Editorial and Business".The Hindu.21 October 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 25 December 2018.
  2. ^"Editorial succession in The Hindu group",The Hindu,18 January 2012, archived fromthe originalon 20 January 2012
  3. ^"Padma Awards"(PDF).Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^Sri Lanka honours Arthur Clarke, Kadirgamar,The Hindu, 15 November 2005. "Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Monday conferred the" Sri Lanka Ratna "— the island-nation's highest honour for non-nationals — on N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, for his 'outstanding, professional contribution towards journalism.'
  5. ^ab"Curriculum Vitae of N.Ram (Narasimhan Ram)".Chennai Online.2 October 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2008.
  6. ^Sridhar, V. (2000)."Towards a progressive educational agenda".Frontline.Archived fromthe originalon 19 February 2014.
  7. ^"Indian Express vs The Hindu, N. Ram vs N. Ravi".IJR.25 March 2010.Retrieved28 June2024.
  8. ^abArun Ram (14 July 2003),"N.Ram's appointment as first editor-in-chief of The Hindu trigger rumors about family rift",India Today
  9. ^"1989 – Scanal in India".Columbia Journalism School. Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2012.
  10. ^"Editorial succession inThe Hindugroup ".The Hindu.18 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 16 December 2013.
  11. ^abRamnath, N.S.; Jayshankar, Mitu; Srinivasan, S. (24 April 2010)."The Hindu: Board Room Becomes Battlefield".Forbes India.Archived fromthe originalon 22 June 2019.
  12. ^"The Hindu Business Line: Business Ethics award for N. Ram".Archived fromthe originalon 31 August 2010.
  13. ^"N Ram chosen for 'Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award' by PCI".5 November 2018.
  14. ^"ரூ.300 கோடி மதிப்பு 400 ஏக்கர் நிலம் இந்து ராம், ரமேஷ் அபகரிக்க முயற்சி".Dinakaran.26 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 13 August 2014.
  15. ^"Ex-ADMK leader files FIR over TN land grab".The Pioneer.29 September 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 2 November 2012.
  16. ^"நில ஆவணப் பறிப்பு வழக்கு... இந்து ராம், ரமேஷ் ரங்கராஜன் கோர்ட்டில் சரண்".Oneindia.in.25 December 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 1 January 2013.
  17. ^Trehan, Madhu (1 June 2012)."CHITRA: THE STORY BEHIND BOFORS".News Laundry.Archived fromthe originalon 6 August 2013.
  18. ^"Vidya Ram tops class at Columbia University's journalism school".The Hindu.21 May 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 23 May 2007.
  19. ^ "Profile – Vidya Ram".Linked In.
  20. ^ "Graduation: 2007 Award Winners".deanstudents.blogsome.15 May 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 10 August 2007.
  21. ^abLuce, Edward (2010).In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India.Knopf Doubleday Publishing.ISBN9780307389534.
  22. ^abcd"What made TNQ hit the headlines".Archived fromthe originalon 5 July 2015.
  23. ^abSunderarajan, P.; Kattakayam, Jiby (4 February 2012)."New era of medicine in the offing, says scientist".The Hindu.Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2012.
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