On December 1, 2002, a much talked about news item was published in India’s well-known newspaper, The Telegraph. It was the story of the historic iron chest belonging to India’s greatest scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose that was kept in Giridih, Jharkhand. The personal chest of the world-renowned scientist was about to be opened by the then President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, who himself was a scientist of great renown.

This much-appreciated report was the first news story that carried the byline of Shahnawaz Akhtar.

Shahnawaz’s shining journalistic career started from a small town, Giridih, which is also his native place.

In his two-decade-long journey so far, Shahnawaz has not only reported on the activities of the dreaded CPI-Maoist from the hotbed of Naxals, he has also written extensive human interest stories as well as political reports from GiridihBhopalJaipurKolkata and China.

He has worked with some of India’s finest media houses including The Telegraph, IANS and DNA and has also spent time in China where he worked for one of its largest media houses, China Daily Website.

Shahnawaz’s thousands of bylines also include Al Jazeera, Rediff and several other news outlets where he worked as an independent journalist.

The 42-year-old scribe has the rare distinction of working in print, agency, video, online and digital media. An alumnus of the International Center for Journalists is also trained in Data Journalism, and Google trained fake news debunking experts.

Having gained the experience of reporting from the ground in the world’s largest democracy — India, to subbing copies at the desk for the world’s second-largest economy — China, Shahnawaz decided to take a leap of faith in 2017.

He, his wife and friends founded eNewsroom India, a multimedia independent news organization in January 2017. Since then the portal, under the able leadership of Shahnawaz as its editor, has done some groundbreaking stories and exclusive reporting. With a unique approach towards the profession and dedication to the interests of the masses, eNewsroom has been doing stories that often go viral.

For Shahnawaz this is just the beginning of a much-cherished journey to serve the nation and its people by upholding the values enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Watch this space to know more about this fearless journalist who stands with the oppressed and speaks truth to power.

photo by Jacob Hoo