Hartosh Singh Bal

Hartosh Singh Bal
Hartosh Singh Bal at the Press Club of India in New Delhi
NationalityIndian
Alma materBITS Pilani & NYU
OccupationJournalist

Hartosh Singh Bal is currently the political editor of The Caravan magazine[1][2][3] He is also an adjunct faculty member at Jindal School of Journalism & Communication at the O. P. Jindal Global University.[4][5] He had been the political editor of OPEN magazine.[6]

Education

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Bal pursued his undergraduate education in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani.[7] He then went on to pursue an MS in mathematics from New York University, USA.[8][9]

Career

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In November 2013, Bal was controversially fired from his position of political editor of OPEN magazine.[10] In an interview, OPEN's former Editor Manu Joseph revealed that the magazine's proprietor, Sanjiv Goenka, had told Joseph that Bal's views, expressed in his writings and in television appearances, were resulting in him "making a lot of... political enemies."[11]

Books

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Bal has co-written a novel called A Certain Ambiguity which won the 2007 Association of American Publishers award for the best professional/scholarly book in mathematics. His second book--"Waters close over us"—is part-travelogue and partly a sociological, political, artistic, historical, and anthropological commentary.[12][13][14][15]

Awards

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Caravan Magazine Wins 2023 Shorenstein Journalism Award on October 11, 2023. Caravan Editor, Hartosh Singh Bal, "delivered a keynote address at the Stanford Alumni Centre in California on October 10. The award committee had also specifically spoken of Bal’s achievements, saying, “The award also recognizes the contributions of The Caravan’s executive editor, Hartosh Singh Bal, who formerly worked as the magazine’s political editor for ten years. An incisive commentator on Indian politics and society, Bal was the political editor of Open magazine and has worked with The Indian Express, Tehelka and Mail Today. He is the author of Waters Close Over Us, A Journey Along the Narmada and co-author of A Certain Ambiguity, A Mathematical Novel. He is trained as an engineer and a mathematician.”

Controversies

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He was invited to participate in the Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program at the University of British Columbia, where he was invited to speak on the Farmer's Movement in India.[16] However the UBC Sikh Students’ Association objected to his inclusion because he is a nephew of the KPS Gill and has spoken in support of Gill's role in the suppression of the Punjab disorder.[17]

Ujjal Dosanjh, in a letter to UBC president said that he's recycled his UBC degree to protest what he perceived as an attack on academic freedom.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Bal home page in Caravan". Archived from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2015-06-16.
  2. ^ newslaundry (12 August 2017). "#MediaRumble: Role of journalism in speaking truth to power". Retrieved 15 March 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Bal, Hartosh Singh. "Suggestion on 35 A. Let's remove it but ensure twitter brahmin hawks are first to go settle. & let's not waste state security on them". twitter.com. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Jindal School of Journalism & Communication" (PDF). Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Hartosh Singh Bal -". Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  6. ^ "Bal on Niira Radia". 2 November 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Freedom of Expression, the Business of Media, and Society: Connecting the Dots". Asia Society. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  8. ^ "Hartosh Singh Bal". HarperCollins Publishers India. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  9. ^ Various (25 February 2018). THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF TRUTHS. Hachette India. ISBN 978-93-5009-349-8.
  10. ^ "New York Times conversation with Bal". 14 November 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Bal fired from Open magazine". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  12. ^ "HarperCollinsPublishers India - Hartosh Singh Bal". harpercollins.co.in. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Waters close over us review by Avtar Singh". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Along a river". The Hindu. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Down the river". Mint. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  16. ^ Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program 2021, UBS 2021
  17. ^ UBC Sikh Students' Association: Why we opposed Hartosh Singh Bal's inclusion in Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program, The Georgia Straight, April 17th, 2021
  18. ^ UBC is denying allegations that it infringed on anyone's free speech, The Georgia Straight, Charlie Smith on April 18th, 2021
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