Indian Express, The Week journalist win IPI-India Award

New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) The Indian Express newspaper
and a journalist of The Week were Thursday declared joint
winners of the International Press Institute-India Award for
Excellence for outstanding journalist work.

The award, which carries a cash bag of Rs one lakh, a
trophy and a citation, was constituted in 2003 to recognise
and honour the best work done by an Indian media organisation
or a journalist.

Bidisha Ghoshal of the 'The Week' won IPI-India Award
for Excellence in Journalism-2009 for her "sensitive" reports
on the sexual and other traumas suffered by widows of farmers
in Maharashtra, the IPI-India said in a statement.

"Her reports brought a new awareness of the plight of
the widows. Bidisha sensitively wrote about the helplessness
of the widows and how they were sexually and financially
exploited by relatives and strangers," it said.

The Indian Express was selected for its sustained
investigation of the involvement of a Hindu extremist group
behind the Malegaon and Mudassa terror attacks in 2008.

"The newspaper had investigated the various angles of
the blasts and was the first to report that the police had
identified the nexus between the various people and groups
involved. The newspaper joined the dots of a bizarre plot
which had a strange cast of characters, which included a
sadhvi, an army officer and a sadhu," the statement said.

The awardees were selected by a five-member jury
headed by former Chief Justice of India A S Anand. PTI