2401:4900:1CC4:3950:F044:480:18FB:67A2 at 13:22, 24 September 2022

2022-09-24T13:22:31Z

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{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}{{Infobox person
| name = Chitra Subramaniam
| image =
| birth_date = 5 April 1958
| alma_mater = [[Delhi University]], <br />[[Stanford University]]
| occupation = Journalist, Author, Entrepreneur
| website = http://www.csdconsulting.net
}}

'''Chitra Subramaniam Duella''' is an [[Indian people|Indian]] journalist. She is recognized in India for her investigation of the [[Bofors scandal|Bofors-India Howitzer deal (Bofors Scandal)]] which is widely believed to have contributed to the electoral defeat of former prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]] in 1989. She founded CSDconsulting, a Geneva based specialised consultancy working in the area of public health, trade policy, development directions and media. She is also the co-founder and Managing Editor of ''[[The News Minute]]'' – an online news website. She was an Editorial Adviser<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenewsminute.com/node/35|title=About Us|website=The News Minute|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref> for [[Republic TV]] of [[Arnab Goswami]] .<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.rediff.com/commentary/2017/jan/31/chitra-subramaniam-joins-republic-tv/caf33c2863e342ae1365b40bafeefbff | title=Chitra Subramaniam joins Republic TV | publisher=Rediff | date=31 January 2017 | accessdate=13 December 2017}}</ref> In 1989, she was honoured with the [[Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediaperson]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/d1M0PTCpcyxced7WllZtAP/Breaking-new-ground.html|title=Breaking new ground|last=Nair|first=Supriya|date=30 May 2012|work=Mint|accessdate=9 March 2019}}</ref>

==Personal life and education==
Chitra was born in 1958, in [[Sindri, Jharkhand|Sindri]], India. She earned bachelor's degree in English Literature at [[Lady Shri Ram College for Women|Lady Shri Ram College]], [[Delhi University|Delhi]], Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism at [[Indian Institute of Mass Communication]] and Masters in Journalism at [[Stanford University]]. She is married to Dr. Giancarlo Duella, a mathematician and lives in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]]. The couple has a daughter Nitya Duella<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/she-walks-in-beauty/861176/|title=She Walks In Beauty - Indian Express|website=archive.indianexpress.com|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref> and son Nikhil Duella. Chitra is listed in the Who's Who of south Asian women.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.sawnet.org/whoswho/?Subramaniam+Chitra
| title = Chitra Subramaniam
| accessdate = 30 April 2007
| publisher = www.sawnet.org
}}</ref>

==Career==
Chitra joined [[India Today]], an Indian news magazine as a reporter in 1979 and continued to write for it and other Indian publications when she moved to [[Switzerland]] in 1983. She was based in [[Geneva]] as a United Nations (UN) correspondent when the Swedish State Radio reported in April 1987 that bribes had been paid to Indians and others for the sale of [[Howitzers|field howitzers]] to India by the Swedish arms manufacturer, [[Bofors]].

Subramaniam continued to report on the investigations and court proceedings in Switzerland till the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] government handed over secret [[Swiss bank]] documents with additional details of the payments to the [[government of India]] in 1997. In 2017 she joined Republic news channel launched by Arnab Goswami. As a UN correspondent, she has reported on various issues including disarmament, the Bosnian war and peace negotiations, the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations that led to the creation of the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) and human rights.
<ref>{{
| url = http://www.koramangala.com/korabuz/y2k1/jan01.htm
| title = Chitra Subramaniam – Gutsy Woman who exposed the Bofors scandal
| accessdate = 30 April 2007
| publisher = www.koramangala.com
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070418231222/http://www.koramangala.com/korabuz/y2k1/jan01.htm
| archive-date = 18 April 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

For her work she has received several journalism awards including the prestigious [[Ramnath Goenka#Early life|B.D. Goenka]] Award and the [[Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons|Chameli Devi Award]]. She is the author of several books, including; '''India is for Sale''', a [[New York Times]] – India, best seller the cover for which was designed by one of India's best known cartoonists Mr. R. K. Laxman. In April 2012, Columbia University's School of Journalism cited a joint article by N. Ram, who headed The Hindu's investigation, and Subramanian
<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://centennial.journalism.columbia.edu/1989-scandal-in-india/
| title = 1989 – Scandal in India
| accessdate = 12 April 2012
| publisher = journalism.columbia.edu
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120413215725/http://centennial.journalism.columbia.edu/1989-scandal-in-india/
| archive-date = 13 April 2012
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> among 50 Great Stories since 1915.

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 Organization]] (WHO). Dr. Brundtland was elected as head of the WHO and she announced that global tobacco control was one of her priorities setting up a special project called which oversaw multilateral negotiations between 198 countries to conclude the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first treaty entirely devoted to public health. Chitra Subramaniam led the work initially on media and later in policy analysis and communications. "She reframed the debate on tobacco away from being one focused on individual frailties to one that needed to address tobacco corporate abuses and in so doing built a reinvigorated tobacco control movement. Many of her approaches used in tobacco control continue to be adapted to address other threats to health," said Dr. Derek Yacht, Senior Vice-President Pepsi (Health), USA, who worked with Subramaniam at the WHO.

After the successful completion of the FCTC mandate at the WHO, Chitra Subramaniam moved on to set up CSDconsulting<ref>http://csdconsulting.net csdconsulting.net</ref> which has mandates from several companies many of whom are global leaders.

In April 2012, 25 years after L'affaire Bofors came to light, Sten Lindstrom, former head of Swedish police said he was the "deep throat" who explained the modus operandi of the illegal payments when he handed over the documents to Subramaniam. In a wide-ranging interview to her published in The Hoot www.thehoot.org<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=5884|title=The Bofors story, 25 years after|author=|date=4 March 2014|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304093344/http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=5884|accessdate=8 August 2018|archive-date=4 March 2014}}</ref> he spoke about probity in public life, the role of whistle-blowers in a democracy, freedom of information and the role of the media, etc. The interview became a global story.

<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280713
| title = Smoking Guns: Eating Out Of A Foreign Hand
| accessdate = 29 April 2012
| publisher = National/Opinion on OutlookIndia.com
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/the-politics-of-bofors/1/186420.html
| title = Journalist who exposed Bofors reveals the politics behind the scam
| accessdate = 29 April 2012
| publisher = IndiaToday
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://theprobe.in/the-importance-of-goodwill-in-journalism/
| title = The importance of goodwill in Journalism
| accessdate = 10 April 2021
| publisher = The Probe
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://theprobe.in/the-importance-of-goodwill-in-journalism "The importance of goodwill in Journalism"], Column by Chitra Subramaniam ''The Probe'', 11 April 2021.
* [https://theprobe.in/we-will-fight-you-tooth-and-nail/ "We will fight you tooth and nail"], Column by Chitra Subramaniam ''The Probe'', 22 September 2022.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, Chitra}}
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Women writers from Delhi]]
[[Category:Bofors scandal]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Lady Shri Ram College alumni]]
[[Category:Indian women journalists]]
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Journalists from Delhi]]
[[Category:Indian investigative journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Indian women editors]]
[[Category:Indian editors]]
[[Category:Writers from Geneva]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Mass Communication alumni]]
[[Category:People of the Sri Lankan Civil War]]
[[Category:Indian Peace Keeping Force]]

Chitra Subramaniam - Revision history

2401:4900:1CC4:3950:F044:480:18FB:67A2 at 13:22, 24 September 2022