S.R Madhu, a resident of Besant Nagar, was on Dec.10 presented with a Lifetime Achievement award for Distinguished Journalism by the Tag group and Ramu Endowments.
At a well-attended meeting at Tag Centre, R.K Raghavan, former Director of CBI, presented the award to Madhu. Raghavan lauded Madhu’s flair for well-researched writing and the meticulous manner in which he approached every subject he wrote about.
R.T Chari, Managing Director of Tag group and Managing Trustee of Ramu Endowments, said Madhu had helped the Tag group to organise more than 350 lectures and cultural events for the South India Heritage Programme (SIHP) for 18 years. He wrote detailed circulars in advance about the events and anchored them.
Madhu, 82, has been a journalist for more than 60 years, beginning his career with the Economic Weekly (later known as Economic and Political Weekly or EPW) in 1963, he served the Times of India in Bombay, the American consulate in Bombay and Delhi and the United Nations in India and Africa.
He has also served as a consultant to UN agencies and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation. He has helped Tag Corporation, Rotary International and the Madras Book Club in an honorary capacity for many years,
Mr Madhu has published nearly a thousand articles in newspapers, magazines and specialist journals, and brought out many reports and booklets for the UN. His quarterly pictorial newsletter Bay of Bengal News, for the FAO’s Bengal Programme, was hailed by the FAO headquarters in Rome as a model for field projects of the FAO. He has created a record in Rotary International by organising speakers for weekly meetings of the Rotary Club of Madras South for 25 years.
Speaking on the occasion, Madhu highlighted some events in his professional career, including coverage of the visit of US President Jimmy Carter to India in 1978 for SPAN magazine. He also interviewed top film stars and playback singers for Filmfare magazine.
At the event, Mr Madhu made a 70-minute presentation of songs from Dev Anand’s films as a tribute to the famous actor on the occasion of his 100th anniversary.
