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Shekhar Gupta (Journalist) Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Shekhar Gupta (Journalist) Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

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Age: 61 Years

Caste: Vaishya (Bania)

Hometown: Palwal, Haryana

Bio/Wiki
Profession Journalist
Famous For Hosting the NDTV talk-show; Walk The Talk
Awards/Achievements
Awards, Honours, Achievements • Honoured with the 1984 American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Fellowship at the Tufts University and The New York Times
• He received the Inlaks Young Journalist of the Year Award in 1985
• The GK Reddy Award for Journalism in 1997
• The Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration in 2006
• He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2009 for his contribution to journalism
Personal Life
Date of Birth 26 August 1957
Age (as in 2018) 61 Years
Birthplace Palwal, Haryana
Zodiac sign Virgo
Nationality Indian
Hometown Palwal, Haryana
School • Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Palwal
• Vidya Mandir School, Punjab
College/University School of Communication Studies, Panjab University
Educational Qualification Bachelor of Journalism
Religion Hinduism
Caste Vaishya (Bania)
Food Habit Vegetarian
Controversies • In 2010, Shekhar Gupta closed down his company, Greenpine Agro, after he was accused by the former Indian Army General V.K. Singh
of tax evasion, fraud, and being involved in the Commonwealth Games Scam; as Gupta had not filed tax for many years and then he filed 8 years of balance sheets on a single day on 18 January 2010. Gupta closed down the company on 30 August 2010 by filing for EES (Early Exit Scheme)
• In May 2012, Shekhar sued the founder of Outlook India magazine, Vinod Mehta, when in an interview to the Open Magazine, Mehta said that Shekhar had written an article earlier in 2012 deliberately to damage the reputation of the former Army Chief General V.K. Singh
. In reaction to this, Gupta sued Vinod Mehta and Open magazine. This issue was hyped a lot as many people stated that Gupta reacted immaturely to this whole situation.
• In 2017, the renowned Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen accused Shekhar of changing the headline of one of her articles to create a rift between communities. The heading of the article, after being published, offended many people in India. The headline, after Shekhar changed it, was- Why are Hindus Trying to prove that they can become ISIS like extremists. She also posted a screenshot of her conversation with Shekhar Gupta regarding this issue

• In a leaked document in April 2019, he was named in the Enforcement Directorate's supplementary charge sheet, which stated that the main accused of the Augusta Westland Scam, Christian Michel, paid Shekhar Gupta through a broker to tone down the Augusta Westland Chopper Scam news and influence the public opinion
Relationships & More
Marital Status Married
Affairs/Girlfriends Neelam Jolly
Family
Wife Neelam Jolly (Social Worker)
Children Not Known
Parents Names Not Known
Money Factor
Salary
(As the Editor-in-Chief and the CEO of Indian Express)		 INR 10 crores per annum

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shekhar Gupta

  • Shekhar Gupta is a renowned Indian journalist who was the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of the Indian Express for 13 years. He switched over to India Today as the Editor-in-Chief in 2015. In August 2017, he founded his own digital media news company, The Print, and is also its Editor-in-Chief.

  • His father was a Punjab Government Employee. As his father was a government employee, he got transferred a lot and had to move often, and so, he did his schooling from a lot of different places.

  • In an interview, he revealed that in his student life, he had no interest in science and technology but he was interested in arts. Once, when he went to Punjab University to get the spelling of his name in his mark sheet corrected, he saw the notice for the admission tests of journalism, he filled out the form and got selected.

  • In 1977, he started out his career as a cub reporter at The Indian Express in Chandigarh. He joined India Today in 1983, where he covered many important and big stories such as the Operation Bluestar from inside The Golden Temple and the Nellie Massacre of Assam in 1983.

    Shekhar Gupta In Assam

  • He covered the Gulf War of 1991 in Baghdad, through which he got popularity as a journalist; as he was among one of the few Indian journalists who had covered the War.

    Shekhar Gupta In Baghdad During The Gulf War

  • He rejoined The Indian Express in 1995 and eventually became the Editor-in-Chief and the CEO of The Indian Express.

    Shekhar Gupta With Arun Shourie

  • His wife, Neelam Jolly, owns and runs an NGO, Vishwas, which is supported by a lot of renowned people in the media industry such as Arun Shourie, Lord Meghnad Desai, among many more.

  • He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the UPA Government in 2009 for his contribution to journalism. He was presented the award by the former President Pratibha Patil .

    Shekhar Gupta Receiving The Padma Bhushan From The Former President Pratibha Patil

  • In 2014, Shekhar Gupta compiled all the famous writings from his column, National Interest, in a book titled Anticipating India.

    Shekhar Gupta At The Launch of Anticipating India

  • He resigned from The Indian Express in 2015. He was the Editor-in-Chief for 19 years and the CEO for 13 years. He also had a weekly column in the Indian Express called National Interest.

  • After resigning, he joined the India Today Magazine as its Editor-in-Chief but left within two months of his joining.

  • Shekhar had also hosted a weekly talk show on NDTV 24×7- Walk the Talk; which went on to become quite popular. The show was on air for more than 15 years with more than 600 guests being invited to the show.

  • In 2017, he launched a book, which had 25 of the most impactful political interviews from his show, Walk The Talk.

    Shekhar Gupta’s Book Walk The Talk

  • In 2017, he started his own digital media company with Barkha Dutt  called, The Print. Although they announced the venture jointly on Twitter on 7 January 2016, Barkha Dutt’s name was not mentioned in the company’s records as Director. After 6 months, Barkha’s name was even dropped from the company website as a co-founder.

Shekhar @ShekharGupta and I are thrilled to roll out the first small steps in the launch of ThePrint @theprintindia which we are co-founding

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 7, 2016

Barkha @bdutt and I are thrilled to roll out the first small steps in the launch of ThePrint @theprintIndia which we are co-founding

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) January 7, 2016

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Do You Know?

Do you know Shekhar Gupta started his own digital media company The Print in 2017, and Barkha Dutt's name was initially listed as a co founder but later dropped from the records?

He launched The Print in 2017 with Barkha Dutt, but Barkha Dutt’s name was not mentioned in the company’s records as Director and was removed from the site as a co founder after six months.

Do you know Shekhar Gupta covered the Gulf War in Baghdad in 1991, making him one of the few Indian journalists to report from the war zone?

He reported from Baghdad during the Gulf War, which helped boost his reputation as a journalist.

Do you know Shekhar Gupta spent 19 years as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Indian Express before resigning in 2015?

He served as Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Indian Express for 19 years and resigned in 2015.

Do you know in 2014 Shekhar Gupta compiled a book called Anticipating India, collecting 25 of the most impactful political interviews from his National Interest column?

The book Anticipating India, published in 2014, gathers notable pieces from his National Interest column.

Do you know Walk The Talk, Shekhar Gupta's NDTV 24x7 talk show, ran for more than 15 years with over 600 guests and has since been renamed Off The Cuff?

The show enjoyed a 15+ year run with 600+ guests and was later renamed Off The Cuff with a revised format.