DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2025, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 RAMNATH GOENKA EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS If citizens not well informed, democratic processes lose meaning, says President THE WINNERS Print/ Digital Hindi Mridulika Jha, Aaj Tak Regional Languages Jisha Elizabeth, Madhyamam Environment, Science and Technology Reporting Splashdown after nine months: Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore are back Sibu Kumar Tripathi, India Today Uncovering India Invisible Satyasundar Barik, The Hindu Business & Economic Journalism Twesh Mishra, The Economic Times Reporting on Politics And Government Maitri Porecha, The Hindu Sports Journalism Shahab Ali & Amarnath Kashyap, Hindustan Winners of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for 2023 with President Droupadi Murmu, The Indian Express Group Chairman and Managing Director Viveck Goenka, Executive Director Anant Goenka, CEO George Varghese, jury members Rohini Nilekani, Justice B N Srikrishna (retd) and Professor K G Suresh in New Delhi on Wednesday. Renuka Puri Investigative Reporting Nihal AP Koshie, Mahender Singh Manral & Mihir Vasavda, The Indian Express Feature Writing Shubhajit Roy, The Indian Express Foreign Correspondent Covering India Nilesh Christopher, Rest of World Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award for Civic Journalism Jeet Mashru & Somita Pal, Hindustan Times Photo Journalism P Ravikumar, The New Indian Express Books (Non-Fiction) A R Venkatachalapathy, Penguin Random House Broadcast/ Digital Hindi Siddhant Mohan, The Lallantop Environment, Science & Technology Joel Michael & Rohini Krishnamurthy, Down To Earth Uncovering India Invisible Vishnukant Tiwari & Athar Rather, The Quint Sports Journalism News media plays vital role in state, all of us have stakes in health of this sector: Murmu NEW DELHI, MARCH 19 EMPHASISING THAT the importance of free and fair journalism for democracy cannot be overestimated, President Droupadi Murmu said Wednesday that “if citizens are not well informed, democratic processes lose their very meaning”. Delivering the keynote address as Chief Guest while presenting the Ramnath Goenka ExcellenceinJournalismAwards for work done in 2023, the President said, “These awards recognise and celebrate the best of our journalism. With this, we also honour the legacy of RamnathGoenka,thefounderof Mandar Gonjari, ABP Majha Politics and Government Ashutosh Mishra, India Today TV Investigative Reporting Anurag Dwary, NDTV MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA), MARCH 19 STUCK IN space no more, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and ButchWilmorereturnedtoEarth on Tuesday, hitching a different ridehometocloseoutasagathat President Droupadi Murmu speaks at the event. Renuka Puri the Indian Express group, and a great icon of Indian media. He stoodupforthefreedomof press before Independence as well as afterIndependence.Hisnewspaper refused to buckle during the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Manipur to deepfakes, oil spill: A celebration of good journalism NEW DELHI, MARCH 19 Regional Languages IF JOURNALISM is both about stories that are in the headlines and stories that become headlines, the Ramnath Goenka ExcellenceinJournalismAwards onWednesdaywasacelebration of just that — the ability to pursue a story and stay on it. On Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu, who graced the function as Chief Guest, gave away the nation’s most prestigious journalism awards that showcased 20 outstanding contributions from print, digital and broadcast journalists across categories, including investigative journalism, sports, politics and government, books, feature writing and regional languages. From good old-fashioned ground reporting to breaking new ground with advanced technologies,winnersusedavariety of methods to dig deeper into stories that needed telling. Among the winners was NileshChristopher,whowonthe award in the Foreign Correspondent Covering India category. HisreportforRestofWorldfocusedonthesocialimpactof one of the biggest talking points — AI CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NAGPUR VIOLENCE FIR Accused molested woman cop, made obscene gestures 20/03/2025 110 135 ANKITA DESHKAR BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Eight VHP & Bajrang Dal workers surrender before court, granted bail 82 60 NAGPUR, MARCH 19 A MAN accused of taking part in the violence in the old city area of Nagpur on Monday allegedly inappropriately touched an onduty woman police officer, according to one of the FIRs filed in connection with the violence. Theaccused,accordingtothe FIR,alsoallegedlymadeobscene CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Global health philanthropist Bill Gates is guest at Express Adda in Mumbai today EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE NEW DELHI, MARCH 19 IN AN era where technology shapesourconversationsandBig Tech wields unprecedented political influence in the US, what liesahead?Howwillthedeepening connections between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., reshape the global landscape? Meanwhile, Trump’s trade wars have unsettled markets, and the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NASAastronautSunitaWilliams onboardtheSpaceXrecovery shipMEGANoff thecoastof Tallahassee,Florida,Tuesday. NASA DIVYA A DEVANSH MITTAL & UDBHAV SETH Tejas Vaidya & Enakshi Rajvanshi, BBC Hindi AssociatePartners Co-presentedby AssociatePartners Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Wednesday. PTI began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in theearlyevening,justhoursafter CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS PAGE 8