Gaurav Sawant is an Indian journalist and author. He is the Senior Executive Editor of India Today TV.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Gaurav Chitranjan Sawant was born on 28 February. His zodiac sign is Pisces. Gaurav Sawant did his schooling at various Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country. He attended the St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. He has a B.A. in History. [1]LinkedIn
A young Gaurav Sawant
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Gaurav Sawant’s father’s name is Chitranjan Naresh Sawant. He is a retired Brigadier of the Indian Army. After retirement from the Army, he became an Advocate in the Supreme Court, a filmmaker, a TV producer, an author, and a commentator. His mother’s name is Sudha Sawant. Gaurav has two sisters, Dr. Richa Sawant, who is a lecturer at Delhi University, and Shikha Sawant, who works in Germany.
Gaurav Sawant’s father Brigadier Chitranjan Naresh Sawant, and mother Sudha Sawant
Wife & Children
Gaurav Sawant is married to Aditi Arora Sawant, who is a journalist and news anchor. Aditi Arora is the lifestyle correspondent of ABP News. They got married on 15 January 2004. Gaurav and Aditi have a daughter named Vidushi.
Gaurav Sawant with Aditi Arora Sawant and daughter Vidushi
Religion
Gaurav Sawant follows Hinduism.
Career
Journalist
Gaurav Sawant started his career as a crime reporter with The Indian Express in 1994. He joined the Indian Express as a trainee. In 1999, he was assigned to cover the Kargil War. While reporting on the Kargil War, he stayed on the battlefield for over 2 months. He worked in The Indian Express until 2002, where he was promoted from trainee to reporter until he became a special correspondent. He then joined Star News, which was later named ABP News after being acquired by the ABP Group. He started working there as a TV journalist. In 2003, he reported on the Iraq War. In 2008, Gaurav started working at the TV Today Network, where he went on to become the senior executive editor. Gaurav Sawant has covered war events such as the Libyan Civil War, the Jasmine Revolution of Tunisia (aka the Tunisian Revolution) in North Africa, United Nations operations in Sierra Leone and Lebanon, the Russian invasion of Ukraine etc.
Gaurav Sawant covering the Libyan Civil War
Gaurav Sawant is the first journalist to do a live report from the Darbuk–Shyok–Daulat Beg Oldi Road (DS DBO road) during the India-China conflict in 2020, and also the first to do skydiving free fall twice, tandem jump and parachute jumping six times at the INS Dega (a naval air station), Visakhapatnam, along with the Indian Navy. He also hosts a segment on the Tez channel named Desh Ka Gaurav. Gaurav Sawant travels all around India and the world to report on events such as Bastille Day in Paris, France, the Turkey-Syria earthquake of 2023 and so on.
Gaurav Sawant reporting from Turkey on the 2023 earthquake
Books
Gaurav Sawant is the author of the book Dateline Kargil: A Correspondent’s Nine-week Account from the Battlefront (2000). The book outlines the experience while reporting from the Kargil war zone in 1999.
Gaurav Sawant at a signing event for his book Dateline Kargil: A Correspondent’s Nine-week Account from the Battlefront (2000)
Gaurav Sawant has also written a comic series named Veer Gatha: Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees. Gaurav Sawant wrote the script that follows the stories of Major Somnath Sharma, Major Shaitan Singh, CQMH Abdul Hamid, Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal and Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey who have received the param Veer Chakra award, India’s highest military award.
The cover for Gaurav Sawant’s comic Veer Gatha: Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees (Manoj Kumar Pandey)
Controversies
Sexual Harassment Allegations
Two journalists accused Gaurav Sawant of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement. Vidya Krishnan, formerly the health and science editor at The Hindu newspaper and a regular contributor to The Caravan magazine, made the first allegation. In the November 2018 issue of The Caravan, Krishnan detailed an incident from 2003 when she was working for The Pioneer. She claimed that during a reporting assignment in Beas, Punjab, Sawant harassed her. Kanika Gahlaut, another senior journalist, revealed that Sawant had targeted her during a day-long conference. Sawant put out a tweet dismissing Krishnan’s allegations as baseless and asserting his intent to take “full legal action.”
The article published by Caravan is irresponsible, baseless, and completely false. I am talking to my lawyers and will take full legal action. So grateful to my family, friends, and viewers for their support.
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) November 12, 2018
According to The Caravan report, Krishnan alleged that Sawant inappropriately touched her while they were travelling in a jeep with a group of journalists. Despite her discomfort, he persisted. Later that night, Krishnan claimed that Sawant texted her, expressing a desire to visit her room. Despite her refusal, Sawant entered her room and sexually harassed her. Sawant reportedly left the room when she screamed. Krishnan confided in her boyfriend about the incident, and he corroborated her account. India Today, Sawant’s employer, released a statement to NDTV on The Caravan article stating they couldn’t comment or investigate the matter because Sawant wasn’t with the organization when the incident occurred. They mentioned that they had requested Sawant to provide them with an explanation. Gaurav Sawant filed defamation notices against Vidya Krishnan and Caravan magazine.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Gaurav Sawant was the first journalist to be honoured with ‘wings’ from the Indian Navy in 2007.
Finally found it! An old picture of my para jump in Dec 2007. Did 5+1 with Indian Navy at INS DEGA, Vishakhapatnam pic.twitter.com/EorqGMokWF
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) December 26, 2015
- Gaurav Sawant won the Best Current Affairs Programme Award with Shiv Aroor for their show “Inside Libya” at the National Television Awards, 2012.
- Gaurav Sawant won the award for Best News Coverage – National (Chandrayaan 2) and International (Howdy Modi) at the ENBA 2019.
The announcement for Gaurav Sawant’s awards at the ENBA 2019
- Gaurav Sawant won the Best Late Prime Time Show Award at the ENBA 2020.
The announcement of Gaurav Sawant’s Best Late Prime Time Show award at the ENBA 2020
- At the ENBA 2022, Gaurav Sawant won the awards for Best Anchor, Best Late Prime Time Show, and Best In-depth Series, all in the English division.
Bike Collection
Gaurav Sawant owns a Suzuki V-Strom and a Royal Enfield Classic.
Gaurav Sawant riding his Royal Enfield Classic
Car Collection
Gaurav Sawant’s first car was a Toyota Qualis.
Gaurav Sawant with his Toyota Qualis
Facts/Trivia
- Gaurav Sawant goes to the gym and posts his efforts on his Instagram account.
Gaurav Sawant working out in the gym
- Gaurav Sawant enjoys reading and reads all genres of books in English and Hindi.
- Gaurav Sawant loves travelling and is grateful to his journalism career for helping him travel often.
- Gaurav Sawant is active on his Twitter account (@gauravcsawant) and has 1.4 million followers.
- Gaurav Sawant is a part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) bloc’s TV Anchor Boycott List. He is on the list with anchors such as Anand Narasimhan, Ashok Shrivastav, Prachi Parashar, and Shiv Aroor.
