Lifetime Achievement Award for “Distinguished Journalism” presented to S.R. Madhu

• Former Director of the CBI, Mr R K Raghavan  presented the award

Chennai, December 10, 2023: Mr S R Madhu was on December 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, Mr R K Raghavan,. formerly  director of the CBI, presented the award to Mr Madhu, in the form of a framed citation. 

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Mr R T Chari, Managing Director of the Tag Group and managing trustee of Ramu Endowments, lauded Mr Madhu’s qualities and accomplishments as a writer, editor and program compere. He said Mr Madhu helped the Tag group to organize more than 350 lectures and cultural events of the South India Heritage Programme (SIHP) over a period of 18 years (2002-2020) by writing detailed circulars and anchoring all the events. His professional experience as writer-editor was invaluable for the success of the SIHP.

Mr 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 as a subeditor, the American consulate in Bombay as English editor, the American Embassy in New Delhi as Assistant Managing Editor of SPAN magazine, and FAO projects in India and Africa as Information Officer. 

Retiring from the UN in 1995, he served as consultant to UN agencies, the World Bank and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation. He has also served Tag Corporation, Rotary International and the Madras Book Club in an honorary capacity for many years. 

In the course of his career, Mr Madhu has published nearly a thousand articles in newspapers, magazines and specialist journals. He has brought out hundreds of reports, brochures, books and booklets for FAO-UN projects. He brought out a quarterly pictorial newsletter Bay of Bengal News, for the FAO project Bay of Bengal Programme, for 12 years (1979 to 1991). It was hailed by the FAO headquarters in Rome as a model for field projects of the FAO. He has brought out two coffee table books for his Rotary club on the occasion of its golden jubilee (2010 and its diamond jubilee (2020).

He has created a record in Rotary International by organizing speakers for weekly meetings of the Rotary Club of Madras South for 25 years.He was recently felicitated by the club for this achievement. Apart from his professional work, he has written or edited five books including a book based on speakers he organized for his Rotary club, a biography of lawyer P V Rama Aiyangar, a biography of industrialist V Vijayaraghavan and a biography of industrialist R T Chari.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Madhu highlighted some events in his professional career, including coverage of the visit of US President Jimmy Carter to India in 1978.

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