Hartosh Singh Bal
{{short description|Indian magazine editor}}
{{lead rewrite|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hartosh Singh Bal
| image = Hartosh Singh Bal.jpg
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| caption = Hartosh Singh Bal at the Press Club of India in New Delhi
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| nationality = Indian
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| occupation = Journalist
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| alma_mater = BITS Pilani & NYU
}}
Hartosh Singh Bal is currently the political editor of The Caravan magazine{{Cite web|url=http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/307|title=Bal home page in Caravan|access-date=2015-06-16|archive-date=2016-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201192644/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/307/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioblnFIXx68|title=#MediaRumble: Role of journalism in speaking truth to power|last=newslaundry|date=12 August 2017|publisher=|accessdate=15 March 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/HartoshSinghBal/status/897691286798512128|title=Suggestion on 35 A. Let's remove it but ensure twitter brahmin hawks are first to go settle. & let's not waste state security on them|first=Hartosh Singh|last=Bal|website=twitter.com|accessdate=15 March 2018}} He is also an adjunct faculty member at Jindal School of Journalism & Communication at the O. P. Jindal Global University.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Jindal School of Journalism & Communication|url=https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/completejusticepodcast/JSJC+Brochure.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=18 December 2020|website=}}{{Cite web|title=Hartosh Singh Bal -|url=https://jgu.edu.in/jsjc/faculty/hartosh-singh-bal/|access-date=2020-12-18|language=en-US}} He had been the political editor of OPEN magazine.{{cite web |date=2 November 2011 |title=Bal on Niira Radia |url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/the-radia-of-the-tapes |accessdate=9 June 2015}}
Education
Bal pursued his undergraduate education in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani.{{Cite web|title=Freedom of Expression, the Business of Media, and Society: Connecting the Dots|url=https://asiasociety.org/india/events/freedom-expression-business-media-and-society-connecting-dots|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Asia Society|language=en}} He then went on to pursue an MS in mathematics from New York University, USA.{{Cite web|title=Hartosh Singh Bal|url=https://harpercollins.co.in/author-details/hartosh-singh-bal/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=HarperCollins Publishers India}}{{cite book|author=Various|title=THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF TRUTHS|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--9LDwAAQBAJ|date=25 February 2018|publisher=Hachette India|isbn=978-93-5009-349-8}}
Career
{{Expand section|date=April 2023}}
In November 2013, Bal was controversially fired from his position of political editor of OPEN magazine.{{cite web |date=14 November 2013 |title=New York Times conversation with Bal |url=http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/a-conversation-with-former-political-editor-of-open-magazine-hartosh-singh-bal/?smid=tw-nytindia&seid=auto&_r=1& |accessdate=11 June 2015}} In an interview, OPEN's former Editor Manu Joseph revealed that the magazine's proprietor, Sanjiv Goenka, had told Joseph that Bal's views, expressed in his writings and in television appearances, were resulting in him "making a lot of... political enemies."{{cite web |title=Bal fired from Open magazine |url=http://scroll.in/article/655950/why-cnn-ibns-sagarika-ghose-can-no-longer-criticise-modi |accessdate=9 June 2015}}
Books
Bal has co-written a novel called A Certain Ambiguity which won the 2007 Association of American Publishers award for the best professional/scholarly book in mathematics. His second book--"Waters close over us"—is part-travelogue and partly a sociological, political, artistic, historical, and anthropological commentary.{{cite web|url=https://harpercollins.co.in/author-details/hartosh-singh-bal/|title=HarperCollinsPublishers India - Hartosh Singh Bal|website=harpercollins.co.in|accessdate=15 March 2018}}{{cite web|title=Waters close over us review by Avtar Singh|url=http://www.outlooktraveller.com/travel-books/travel-classic-waters-close-over-us-1006462|accessdate=9 June 2015|archive-date=10 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610085933/http://www.outlooktraveller.com/travel-books/travel-classic-waters-close-over-us-1006462|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/along-a-river/article5643091.ece |title=Along a river |work=The Hindu |date=26 May 2014 |accessdate=30 October 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/LMyjhRaaTOQ0eoABRMyocM/Excerpt--Down-the-river.html |title=Down the river |publisher=Mint |date=14 December 2013 |accessdate=24 November 2016}}
Awards
The Caravan was awarded the 2023 Shorenstein Journalism Award. Bal delivered a keynote address at Stanford in California. The award committee had specifically spoken of Bal’s achievements, “The award also recognizes the contributions of The Caravan’s executive editor, Hartosh Singh Bal, who formerly worked as the magazine’s political editor for ten years. An incisive commentator on Indian politics and society, Bal was the political editor of Open magazine and has worked with The Indian Express, Tehelka and Mail Today. He is the author of Waters Close Over Us, A Journey Along the Narmada and co-author of A Certain Ambiguity, A Mathematical Novel. He is trained as an engineer and a mathematician.”{{Cite web |title=Caravan Magazine Wins 2023 Shorenstein Journalism Award |url=https://m.thewire.in/article/media/caravan-magazine-wins-2023-shorenstein-journalism-award |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=thewire.in |language=en}}
Controversies
He was invited to participate in the Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program at the University of British Columbia, where he was invited to speak on the Farmer's Movement in India.[https://asia.ubc.ca/events/event/harjit-kaur-sidhu-memorial-program-2021/ Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program 2021, UBS 2021] However the UBC Sikh Students’ Association objected to his inclusion because he is a nephew of the KPS Gill and has spoken in support of Gill's role in the suppression of the Punjab disorder.[https://www.straight.com/news/ubc-sikh-students-association-why-we-opposed-hartosh-singh-bals-inclusion-in-harjit-kaur-sidhu UBC Sikh Students' Association: Why we opposed Hartosh Singh Bal's inclusion in Harjit Kaur Sidhu Memorial Program, The Georgia Straight, April 17th, 2021]
Ujjal Dosanjh, in a letter to UBC president said that he's recycled his UBC degree to protest what he perceived as an attack on academic freedom.[https://www.straight.com/education/indian-journalist-will-speak-at-sfu-and-ubc-event-but-not-as-part-of-harjit-kaur-sidhu UBC is denying allegations that it infringed on anyone's free speech, The Georgia Straight, Charlie Smith on April 18th, 2021]
References
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External links
- [http://www.openthemagazine.com/author/hartosh-singh-bal Hartosh Singh Bal articles] OPEN magazine
- [http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/307 Hartosh Singh Bal articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201192644/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/307/ |date=2016-12-01 }} The Caravan
- [http://www.outlookindia.com/people/hartosh-singh-bal/11138 Hartosh Singh Bal articles] Outlook Magazine
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Category:Indian male journalists
Category:Indian male novelists
Category:20th-century Indian journalists
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani alumni