Vishnu Som | Defenceindia : Achievers 2008

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Vishnu Som

Associate Editor-Defence
NDTV

Vishnu Som, an Associate Editor with NDTV has covered defence and security issues longer than any journalist in the electronic media in

India. He has been with NDTV since 1996 and has covered the Kargil, Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He is the first journalist to broadcast live from the Siachen glacier and has reported from Siachen on at least ten occasions. Som has reported and produced a ten part documentary series called Great Battles which looked at the role of Indian soldiers from the Second World War to the Siachen conflict.

An episode of Great Battles was nominated as one of the 5 best television programmes in Indian television across all categories in the Indian Telly Awards. Som, who has a passion for aviation, has possibly flown more sorties on fighter jets than any other journalist in the world. He was the first non-Russian to fly onboard the prototype of Russia's MiG-35. Som has just completed a five part documentary series on fighter jets competing in the Indian Air Force's tender for 126 Medium multi-role combat aircraft.The winner of the 2002 United Nations award for young journalists from developing countries, Som has also reported on the role of Indian peacekeepers in the Congo.

His documentary from the Congo was awarded best camera-work at the Indian Telly Awards. In covering conflict, Som has travelled through some of the world's deadliest zones and has come under artillery shelling (Kargil) or travelled areas (Afghanistan) where landmines pose a clear danger to those who travel off the beaten track. He has also survived a Stinger missile attack when the Indian Air Force helicopter he was travelling on in North Gujarat came under attack from Pakistani forces shortly after the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani Atlantique maritime reconnaissance aircraft in late 1999.