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The daughter of Kannada poet P. Lankesh, Gauri Lankesh began her career as a journalist for The Times of India. She also worked as an editor of Lankesh Patrike. Later, she was known for her firebrand left-wing activism against Hindutva and was eventually shot dead by three men near her Bengaluru home.
Barkha Dutt is an Indian journalist and author. She is best known for her association with The Washington Post and The Hindustan Times where she works as an opinion columnist. Dutt achieved national recognition in 1999 for covering the Kargil War between India and Pakistan. Barkha Dutt is the recipient of many prestigious awards, such as the Padma Shri.
Known for her firebrand anchoring on NDTV 24x7, journalist Nidhi Razdan is the daughter of former PTI editor-in-chief Krishan Razdan. She made headlines when she claimed to have been fooled by a phishing attack and made to believe that she had secured a teaching job at Harvard.
Renowned journalist Sagarika Ghose was an Oxford Rhodes scholar before she joined media giants such as The Times of India and CNN-IBN. Apart from being the daughter of Indian civil servant and theater personality Bhaskar Ghose, she is also the wife of popular journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
Apart from being the daughter of legendary Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle’s daughter, Varsha Bhosle was also a singer and journalist in her own right. She wrote for The Times of India and The Sunday Observer, among other publications. Four years after a failed suicide attempt, she shot herself to death.
A leading columnist for The Indian Express and India Today, Tavleen Singh has also been a reporter for leading publications such as The Statesman, The Telegraph, and The Sunday Times. A firebrand political commentator, too, she has also penned books such as India's Broken Tryst and Lollipop Street.
Gwangju Prize-winning human rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila, also known as the Iron Lady of Manipur, made international headlines with her 16-year hunger strike to urge the Indian government to repeal the AFSPA Act. She later married British citizen Desmond Coutinho and is now a mother to twin daughters.
Apart from being a bestselling novelist and a popular columnist, Shobhaa De is also former model and a prominent socialite. The founder of the magazine Stardust, she writes regularly for publications such as The Times of India and Asian Age and was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in India.
Shereen Bhan began her career as Karan Thapar’s news researcher. The journalist now heads CNBC-TV18 as its managing editor. She has anchored several popular shows such as Young Turks and India Business Hour and has won honors such as the FICCI Woman of the Year Award.
Social activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad is best known for establishing the Sabrang Trust, aimed at peace-building after the 1992 Mumbai riots, and the CJP, aimed at seeking justice for the 2002 Gujarat riot victims. The Padma Shri awardee has also successfully obtained 117 convictions against the Gujarat rioters.
Madhu Trehan is an Indian journalist best known for co-founding a digital media portal named Newslaundry where she also works as the editor-in-chief. She is also credited with founding the popular news magazine, India Today. In 1986, Madhu Trehan earned a reputation as a pioneer of investigative journalism when she produced and anchored India's first video news magazine, Newstrack.
Initially known for her current affairs programs on Doordarshan, Nalini Singh soared to fame with her show Aankhon Dekhi. The sister of journalist and politician Arun Shourie, she has also written for publications such as The Indian Express. She has had a troubled relationship with her daughter, author Ratna Vira.
Kamala Markandaya, also known as Kamala Taylor after her marriage, was one of the most significant Indian writers of English. Known for novels such as Nectar in a Sieve and A Silence of Desire, she was known to portray Western ideals as materialistic. She moved to England after India’s independence.
Malini Parthasarathy is an Indian journalist and the current chairperson of THG Publishing Private Limited, the official publishing company of The Hindu Group. Between 2015 and 2016, Parthasarathy also worked as an editor for the popular Indian daily newspaper The Hindu. Over the years, Malini Parthasarathy has played an important role in the overall development of The Hindu Group.
