ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash gets eminent people from different walks of life to talk about issues that impact you and society at large. Join Smita Prakash as she brings important voices from the field of politics, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. Dive in for a great listening experience brought to you by India’s largest news agency.
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Chhaya Sharma is a senior IPS officer, currently serving as Joint CP-Eastern Range in Delhi. With over 23 years of experience, she has served as DGI at the National Human Rights Commission and as the director of the Central Vigilance Commission. She is widely recognised for her pivotal role in apprehending the perpetrators of the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case. In the latest ANI podcast with Smita Prakash, IPS Chhaya Sharma shares insights into how she achieved the first breakthroug...
Lt Col Pavithran Rajan (R) is a Military Veteran, Tech Entrepreneur, and Academic. He has served as an Advisor at the Ministry of Home Affairs and holds the position of Adjunct Faculty at the Cyber Security Research Centre at Punjab Engineering College. Additionally, he serves as an Advisor for the Cyber Peace Foundation. He is also the author of the book "Engaging China: Indian Interests In The Information Age". In the latest episode of the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, he provides insights i...
Karnal Singh is an IPS officer from the batch of 1984, who headed the Enforcement Directorate from 2015 to 2018. In his impressive 34-year career, Singh led the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and as ED Chief, Singh also took charge as the Director of India's Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), playing a key role in shaping the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. During his tenure, Singh led investigations related to white-collar crimes and was the driving force behind the Batla House encounter, a...
Adil Hussain hails from Assam’s Goalpara, is renowned for his critically acclaimed performances in theater and movies like ‘Mukti Bhawan’ and ‘Othello - A Play in Black and White.’ Adil has worked in more than 80 films, including a standout role in Ang Lee's Oscar-winning ‘Life of Pi,’. He won National Award for his lead roles in ‘Mukti Bhawan’ and ‘Maj Rati Ketaki.’ He studied at the National School of Drama from 1990-1993, followed by a brief stint at the Drama Studio London through the Charle...
Manoj Tiwari has worn many hats throughout his life, transitioning from an actor, singer, music director to becoming a Member of Parliament representing the North East constituency for the BJP. Regarded as one of the most successful and prominent stars in the world of Bhojpuri cinema, Tiwari gained recognition with a series of hit songs in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Fans of Bhojpuri music fondly remember his songs like ‘Rinkiya Ke Papa’ and ‘Bagalwali Jaan Mareli.’ From 2016 to 2020, Tiwari ...
Hardeep Singh Puri embodies a unique blend of technocratic expertise and political acumen. Over the course of 39 years as a civil servant, he held diverse roles, including Permanent Representative to the UN and Chair of the UN Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. In 2014, Hardeep Puri joined the BJP, marking the onset of his political journey. In Sep 2017, he became the Minister with Independent Charge for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He also served as the Minister of St...
Kalvakuntla Kavitha is a member of the Legislative Council from Nizamabad and the daughter of Telangana's Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao. Before returning to India, she worked as a software engineer in the USA. Her political journey began when she joined her father's movement for a separate state of Telangana. From 2014 to 2019, she served as the first woman parliamentarian from Telangana, representing the Nizamabad constituency. In this edition of the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Kavit...
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is a minister in PM Modi's cabinet currently heading the department of Jal Shakti. He is a two-time parliamentarian representing Jodhpur constituency in the Lok Sabha. Shekhawat, like many other BJP leaders, started his political journey as a karyakarta of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad during his student days and was elected as student union president at JNVU University, but he formally joined BJP in 2014 and went on to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jodhpur wh...
Tensions between Israel and Palestine continue to escalate with the conflict entering its sixth day, which started after militants from the Hamas group infiltrated southern towns of Israel last Saturday. The terrorists, which came on motorcycles, SUVs and paragliders, have claimed over 1500 lives and taken hundreds of hostages whose fate remains uncertain. While Israel is committed to ending Hamas once for all and is getting international support from superpowers like the US and the UK among oth...
Akshay Kumar is an actor and producer with a career spanning over 150 films who also has two national awards to his name. He has also been awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009 for his contribution to the field of arts. He is affectionately known as the 'Khiladi Kumar' of Bollywood due to his fearless portrayal of action-packed roles, often performing his stunts without the use of body doubles. He is a trained martial artist who started his career as a stuntperson in Bollywoo...
Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria (Retd.) is the former Chief of Air Staff and is a decorated officer with a career spanning over four decades. He also served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC) at Southern Air Command. He is the man who spearheaded the Rafale negotiations during his tenure as vice chief of the Air Staff. In his four-decade career, Bhadauria has the distinction of logging more than 4,250 flight hours across 26 different types of fighter jets and transport aircraft. In this ed...
Om Prakash Rawat is a former Chief election commissioner and an IAS officer of the 1977 batch of Madhya Pradesh cadre. He served in Madhya Pradesh as well as at the Centre in various capacities before moving to Election commission in 2015 as an election commissioner and went in to become 22nd Chief Election in 2018 during which he supervised nine state assembly elections took place. In this edition of the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Rawat talks about challenges faced by the Election Commissi...
Jyotiraditya Scindia is a third generation politician currently serving as Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel in PM Modi’s cabinet since 2021. He is a member of the upper house of parliament from his home state of Madhya Pradesh and has also represented Guna parliamentary constituency in Lok Sabha for more than 17 years. Scindia is an economics graduate from Harvard University and has an MBA from Stanford University. Prior to entering politics, Jyotiraditya also worked with Morgan Stanley and ...
Embark on an exhilarating journey of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash as we present to you the 'Best of 100' episodes. Brace yourself for riveting conversations with eminent personalities from various spheres of life, delving into topics that resonate with you and society as a whole. This podcast takes you through thought-provoking discussions with influential voices from the realms of politics, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. With this episode, 'Best of 100', we want to express our heartfel...
Nambi Narayanan is an Indian aerospace scientist who worked for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and headed the cryogenic engine development project at ISRO. Narayanan is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan, for his contribution to space technology. Nambi is also credited for the making of the VIKAS engine, which is a liquid fuelled rocket engine and continues to power most of the space launch missions, including the Chandrayaan-3. Narayanan has lived an extraordinary life and, from b...
Shiv Khera is an author, motivational speaker, business consultant and an educator who is best known for his book You Can Win. Life wasn’t easy for Khera even after being born into a business family. He had to work as a car washer, a life insurance agent before becoming a motivational speaker. Today, he is a much sought after speaker for his inspiring speeches and his clientele include companies like Lufthansa, HP, Mercedes, HSBC, Nestle, Philips and many more, among others. Khera is also a poli...
Sudhanshu Trivedi is an Indian Politician who represents the BJP in the Rajya Sabha as a member from Uttar Pradesh. Trivedi is an engineer by education and holds a PhD. in mechanical engineering. The national spokesperson of the BJP is known for oratorial skills in both English and Hindi. His sharp wit is often enhanced with poetry and couplets. Trivedi is one of the best debaters in the country on Indian history, culture mythology and politics and has a huge fan following in Indian households b...
Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former cricketer and is regarded as one of the most successful and greatest bowlers in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 wickets in test cricket and 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets and continues to hold a record of maximum wickets altogether in international cricket. Muralitharan, who is also known as Murali among friends and colleagues, is the first wrist-spinning off-spinner in the history of the game and his...
A political slugfest erupted soon after Udhayanidhi Stalin, a Tamil Nadu minister and son of Chief Minister MK Stalin, made a controversial statement comparing ‘Santana Dharma’ to diseases like Malaria, dengue and corona as he called for eradication of the faith. The statement by the Tamilnadu minister has led to registration of FIRs against him as well as a seer from Ayodhya announcing a bounty on his head. But the question remains why someone sitting in a high seat of power would say something...
Shri Thanedar is an Indian American business person, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan’s 13th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party in the US, Thanedar also served as a state representative in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. During his recent visit to India as part of a US Congress delegation, Thanedar, along with the delegation, attended the Independence day celebrations at Red Fort and met Prime minister Narendra...
Sheena Bora Murder Case- A mystery that baffled every interrogator and captured the attention of entire country in 2015 continues to remain unsolved to date. The more informed you become, more intricate the story appears. Indrani Mukerjea- one of the prime accused and mother of Sheena, who was in Mumbai’s Byculla jail before getting a bail in 2022 has made some shocking revelations. Watch or listen in to this episode of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash to know what revelations has Indrani Mukerjea...
As elections draw near in the Naxal-affected Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, the third and incumbent Chief Minister of the state, speaks candidly about the state’s distinct politics, its issues and his approaches to tackle them. Bhupesh Baghel keeps a low profile in national politics and maintains his focus on his home state. Among many of his accomplishments he claims to have effectively controlled Naxalism through non-violent means. Watch or listen in to this edition of A...
Prime Minister Modi and President Xi came face to face at the BRICS summit at Johannesburg last week, but there was no bilateral meeting scheduled. The freeze remains. Pakistan could not get into the grouping though it had China’s backing. Battling economic crisis and political instability Pakistan has been offered respite from UAE which has decided to invest in assets of Pakistan. But there are going to be strings attached this time. Former Indian Ambassador to China who has also served as Indi...
Pushkar Singh Dhami is the 10th chief minister of Uttarakhand and also has the distinction of becoming the youngest CM of the state. Dhami started his political career as an MLA after he was elected to Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from Khatima constituency in 2012, which he represented till 2022 and currently represents Champawat assembly constituency. Dhami rose to prominence after he was chosen by the BJP leadership to replace Tirath Singh Rawat as chief minister of the state, six months a...
The election fever has already started in the country with five states going to poll before general elections are held in the country. The high stakes states include Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Apart from that Mizoram too will go to polls by the end of this year. Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh have become interesting as the grand old party in Madhya Pradesh led by veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath is trying to repeat the 2018 performance while incumbent CM Shivra...
In this candid conversation, Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej shares his unique path from a dentistry student to a celebrated musician and environmentalist. He delves into his profound connection to the Indian National Anthem, the influence of his patriotic father, and overcoming dyslexia. Kej highlights the transformative impact of a meeting with Prime Minister Modi, which cemented his dedication to using music for environmental awareness. He also discusses the role of music education, global collaborations, and his unique perspective on spirituality, underscoring music's power as a unifying force and a platform for social change.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the 19th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and also has the distinction of longest serving chief minister of the state. Chouhan started his political career as an MLA after he was elected to Madhya Pradesh state assembly from Budhni Constituency in 1990. However, he was elected to Lok Sabha and represented Vidisha constituency in the lower house of parliament till 2005. He became chief minister of the state for the first time in 2005, replacing Babulal Gaur, after which t...
Punjab is long known for its rich heritage, food, tradition and culture, but in recent times the frontier state has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, from Amritpal Singh (the self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistan supporter who was arrested on April 23 after being on the run for 35 days and is currently lodged in Dibrugarh central jail) to drug menace among youth. This edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash which was recorded in the city of Amritsar, co-hosted by FICCI Flo, Amritsa...
Dharmendra Pradhan is a second generation politician and currently serving as a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet looking after Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He also has the feat of being the longest serving minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, a role which he donned for seven years between 2014-2021. Pradhan is also known as ‘Ujjwala Man’ after he successfully implemented Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana providing LPG connections to over 8 million families from Below Poverty Li...
Yogi Adityanath is the two-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and head seer of the Gorakhnath Math. Prior to this, he also had the feat of becoming the youngest MP at the age of 26 after he was elected to the lower house of parliament from Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency of the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1998 after his Guru Mahant Avaidyanath chose to retire from active politics and declared Adityanath as his successor. He is also termed as an undefeated parliamentarian as he won consecuti...
