Chitra Subramaniam

Chitra Subramaniam

Chitra Subramaniam is an Indian journalist famous for uncovering the Bofors scandal.

Personal life

She was born in Sindri, India. She was educated at Lady Sri Ram College (Delhi University) with a Bachelors in English Literature and received her Masters in journalism from Stanford University, California, USA. Prior to this, she did her PG Diploma in Journalism from reputed Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She is married with two children and lives in Geneva with her husband Dr. Giancarlo Duella.[1]

Career

She was based in Geneva in 1987 working for The Hindu.[2] Working out of Switzerland and Sweden, she got hold of the 300-plus documents which showed that the Swedish arms manufacturer, Bofors, had paid massive kickbacks to Indians, including the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and others for the gun deal. For nearly one year she investigated the scandal, and sent back reports regularly to The Hindu. Due to political pressure, The Hindu finally ceased publication of her story and Chitra resigned and went to the Indian Express.

For her work she has received several journalism awards including the prestigious B.D. Goenka Award and the Chameli Devi Award. She is the author of several books, including; India is for Sale, a New York Times, best seller.

In 1997, Chitra Subramaniam was invited by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway to be part of her campaign team for the post of Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The campaign was successful. Dr. Brundtland was elected as head of the WHO and she announced that global tobacco control was one of her priorities. She set up the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) a cabinet project which led to the conclusion of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first treaty entirely devoted to public health. Chitra Subramaniam led the work on Policy Analysis and Communications for TFI.

After the successful completion of the FCTC mandate at the WHO, Chitra Subramaniam moved on to set up CSDconsulting csdconsulting.net , a business development and marketing company based in Switzerland.

More recently, she assisted in the foundation of Swiss watch company BorgeauD SA borgeaudwatches.com. In a global first, BorgeauD SA has launched La Collection Gravitas, the world’s first watch that incorporates the Rahukaalam, a daily 90-minute sequence which is avoided for the taking of important decisions. The Rahukaalam calculations are part of the Indian Panchang, one of the world’s oldest almanacs.

References

  1. ^ "Chitra Subramaniam". www.sawnet.org. http://www.sawnet.org/whoswho/?Subramaniam+Chitra. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 
  2. ^ "Chitra Subramaniam - Gutsy Woman who exposed the Bofors scandal". www.koramangala.com. http://www.koramangala.com/korabuz/y2k1/jan01.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-30. 


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