'DINESH AKULA' is a Chevening scholar from UK. He is working as Executive Editor for TV9 in Andhra Pradesh (India) and he is also the Chief News Coordinator for the TV9 network. With over 15 years of experience in media-Akula has worked with one of the best broadcast and print media in Europe and India. He has work experience with BBC in Bristol and Sky News in London. He started his career as a contributor for Femina and Times of India and later as senior journalist with Central Chronicle and political reporter with Hindustan Times. He then joined Star News as bureau incharge of central Indian state and later promoted as political and external affairs correspondent in Delhi. As a journalist, he has interviewed some of the country's top newsmakers. From the world of politics, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishen Advani, top politicians in the country and International leaders of USA, Europe, south east asian countries. He has closely covered the Kargil war. He has fearlessly reported the Tsunami, Orissa super cyclone and major floods in north and south of India. During his reporting days he has won several national and international awards for his special stories on Tsunami, child marriages, HIV victims and naxalites.

During his career - he has worked extensively on child marriages and its taboo - women development in rural India, broke the story on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's cash of MLAs story in Raipur in 2003. His other main stories are mercy killing story in Hyderabad and tracing a lone child survivor in the air force colony after the tsunami disaster at Andaman.

Blog: [1] dinesh-akula.blogspot.com