Indian journalist Ravish Kumar wins 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award

Indian journalist Ravish Kumar on Friday (August 2) was awarded this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

Kumar, 44, who is NDTV India’s senior executive editor, is one of India’s most influential TV journalists, the award citation said. He is among five individuals who were declared winners of the award.

Kumar’s ‘Prime Time’ programme “deals with real-life, under-reported problems of ordinary people”, it added. “If you have become the voice of the people, you are a journalist,” the citation added.

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The four other winners of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award are Ko Swe Win from Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines, and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea. Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour.

It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named, and is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled the life of the late and beloved Filipino leader.