Nidhi Razdan

Nidhi Razdan
Razdan in March 2016
Born (1977-04-11) 11 April 1977 (age 47)[1][2]
Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Alma materLady Shri Ram College
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
OccupationJournalist
Years active1999–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2005; div. 2007)​

Nidhi Razdan (born 11 April 1977) is an Indian journalist and television personality. She was the executive editor of NDTV and the primary anchor of NDTV 24x7 news debate show Left, Right & Centre, and the weekly debate show The Big Fight.

Since 1999, Razdan has covered a variety of news events and hosted a series of shows, often reporting live from the news scene. She has reported extensively on a wide range of key political, economic, and social stories from the Indian subcontinent, covering the Indian politics and foreign affairs closely, including the India-US nuclear deal, general elections, several state elections, all major news developments and elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the earthquakes in Gujarat in 2001 and Kashmir in 2005.[3] Razdan has been the diplomatic correspondent of NDTV 24x7, which is an English language television channel that carries news and current affairs in India, owned by New Delhi Television Ltd network.[4]

She has done documentaries from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Tibet and the United Kingdom after the July 2005 London train bombings.[3] Razdan has also authored a book titled Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India, which was published in July 2017 by Penguin Random House India.

She said that in June 2020 she was approached by some people for the job of "associate professor" at a "journalism school" at Harvard University .[5][6] In January 2021, Razdan tweeted that she was a victim of an elaborate phishing attack that had made her quit her 21-year-old job and part with many of her personal details.[7][8]

Personal life

Nidhi Razdan is a Kashmiri Pandit[9] and the daughter of Maharaj Krishan Razdan, the former editor-in-chief of news agency, Press Trust of India.[10][11] She studied at Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, New Delhi. She graduated from Lady Shri Ram College and later pursued a Post-Graduate Diploma in Radio and TV Journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi (1998–99).[12][13] She is from Budgam (Central Kashmir), Jammu & Kashmir.[14]

Razdan married journalist and writer, Neelesh Misra, in 2005.[15][16] The couple divorced two years later in 2007.

Career

Razdan joined NDTV in 1999 and worked till June 2020 for twenty one years.[17] She was the executive editor of NDTV and the primary anchor of NDTV 24x7 news show Left, Right & Centre. The program is normally broadcast live from a New Delhi studio every evening and covers debates and discussions on and beyond breaking news stories and headlines. She also anchored the weekly show, The Big Fight, which pits those on opposite sides of an issue against each other in a debate.

Since the start of her career in 1999, Razdan has covered a variety of news events and hosted a series of shows, often reporting live from the news scene. She has reported extensively on a wide range of key political, economic, and social stories from the Indian subcontinent, covering the Indian politics and foreign affairs closely, including the India-US nuclear deal, general elections, several state elections, all major news developments and elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the earthquakes in Gujarat in 2001 and Kashmir in 2005.[3] Razdan has been the diplomatic correspondent of NDTV 24x7, which is an English language television channel that carries news and current affairs in India, owned by New Delhi Television Ltd network.[4][18]

She has done documentaries from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Tibet and the United Kingdom after the train bombings.[3] Razdan has also authored a book titled Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India, which was published in July 2017 by Penguin Random House India.[19][20]

She had anchored the following shows on NDTV:

In June 2020, she quit NDTV saying she had a job offer of an associate professor in journalism at Harvard University.[23] On 15 January 2021, she announced on Twitter that she had been the victim of a "sophisticated phishing attack", which was exposed when she contacted Harvard.[24] She also announced that she will be pursuing legal action against the perpetrators.[7][25] She returned to NDTV in February 2022 to anchor the primetime show ‘No Spin’.[26] On Tuesday, 31 January 2023 she announced on Twitter that she has resigned from NDTV.[27] As of May 2021, Razdan was a director of strategic programs at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management and was also a visiting member of the faculty at Kautilya School of Public Policy.[28]

Awards

  • Teacher's Achievement Award (TAA) for Communication (Electronic Journalism), 2011.[29]
  • Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism for reporting from Jammu and Kashmir and north-eastern India.[17]
  • The Jammu and Kashmir State government award for excellence in journalism.[30]
  • News Show Host of the Year 2010 – English at the Indian News Broadcasting Awards.[31]
  • Best Anchor at Exchange4media Awards, 2011.[32]
  • International Press Institute award for excellence in journalism for Kathua rape and murder case expose.[33]

List of works

  • Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India (2017)[34] ISBN 9780670089703

References

  1. ^ @Nidhi (11 April 2018). "Happy Birthday" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ @Nidhi (7 June 2019). "I am 42 years old. How old are you? 12?" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 June 2019 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c d "NDTV The Company". NDTV. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b Manchanda, Rohit (25 November 2011). "TV journalist Nidhi Razdan speaks about her life and success". The Weekend Leader. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. ^ Bhattacharya, Jaijit (17 January 2021). "Nidhi Razdan, Phishing, And Three Hard Lessons". Outlook (Indian magazine). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  6. ^ Nair, Meera S.; Wang, Andy Z. (17 January 2021). "Indian Reporter Claims 'Phishing Attack' Duped Her Into Believing She Had Been Hired As Harvard Journalism Professor". The Harvard Crimson.
  7. ^ a b "Nidhi Razdan says her Harvard University job offer was a 'phishing attack'". The Indian Express. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Journalist Nidhi Razdan says Harvard teaching offer was an online fraud". Hindustan Times. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. ^ Razdan, Nidhi (28 July 2017). "Kashmir and a flawed India". Rediff. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  10. ^ "No Skirting Of Issues". Verve Magazine. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Saluting the Kashmiri spirit". Society Magazine. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2021.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Radio & TV Journalism Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
  13. ^ "The Next Stage Of Human Evolution". Outlook. 12 January 2004. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. ^ Left, Right and Centre: 'Nitish Kumar Should Head The Congress': Ramachandra Guha. NDTV. 12 July 2017. 18 minutes in. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Actual romance blooms in small towns: Neelesh Misra". IndiaGlitz.com. 29 November 2005. Archived from the original on 5 May 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Nidhi Razdan". in.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "Nidhi Razdan in EMMRC and MERC". EMMRC University of Kashmir. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  18. ^ "NDTV's Nidhi Razdan to conduct workshop for media students". 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Book Review 'Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India'". Deccan Chronicle. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  20. ^ "National discourse on Kashmir damaging, says Nidhi Razdan at Kasauli Litfest". Hindustan Times. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  21. ^ "The Big Fight". NDTV. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  22. ^ @Nidhi (19 April 2019). "Starting today, I will also be anchoring one of NDTV's original flagship shows, 'The Big Fight'. It's an honour to be doing a show that was anchored first by @sardesairajdeep and then by @vikramchandra , both my mentors. Wish me luck :) 7pm and 9 pm tonight, 8pm Saturday" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Nidhi Razdan quits NDTV to teach journalism at Harvard University". Scroll. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  24. ^ Razdan, Nidhi (16 January 2021). "Blog: I Am Nidhi Razdan, Not A Harvard Professor, But..." NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Journalist Nidhi Razdan says her Harvard University offer was fraudulent, calls it a phishing attack". Scroll.in. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Journalist Nidhi Razdan Resigns from NDTV". The Wire. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  27. ^ "Journalist Nidhi Razdan quits NDTV". Scroll.in. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Nidhi Razdan On Board Kautilya And GITAM, New Credentials". Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Ronnie Screwvala & Nidhi Razdan among Teacher's Achievement Awards winners; 11th edition of awards were given away at ITC Maurya, New Delhi." Best Media Info 14 February 2012. General OneFile. Gale Document Number: GALE|A308550308
  30. ^ Vijay Kumar (25 January 2010). "J&K Government announces 28 State Awards 2010 for bravery, literature, arts, Journalism, crafts". Scoop News. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014.
  31. ^ "List of Award Recipients from NDTV". NDTV. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  32. ^ "NDTV". Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  33. ^ "NDTV wins award for Kathua coverage". The Hindu. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  34. ^ Razdan, Nidhi (24 July 2017). Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India. S.l.: Penguin Random House India. ISBN 9780670089703.