NEW DELHI: Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism will be held on 16 January, and will be presented in 17 categories including the Journalist of the Year.

The awards ceremony will cover the entire gamut of Indian media - Print and Broadcast - in English and Indian languages.

The Ramnath Goenka foundation was set up in 1992 in the memory of late freedom fighter Ramnath Goenka, founder of The Indian Express, to encourage and propagate high-quality, objective journalism. Apart from working towards raising the issues of national interest, the foundation also organises training programmes and scholarships for young journalists and holds a national award for journalism every year.

The awards were instituted by the Express Group as part of the centenary year celebrations of its founder Ramnath Goenka to recognise courage and commitment and showcase outstanding contributions and individuals every year.

The 10-member jury includes filmmaker Shyam Benegal and jurist Fali S Nariman, apart from agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan and former diplomat Naresh Chandra.

Other members are Dr Bakul Dholakia (advisor, Adani Group); HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh; Mahindra & Mahindra chairman Keshub Mahindra; Infosys chairman emeritus NR Narayana Murthy; Rama Bijapurkar (marketing consultant and author); and Shobhana Bhartia (HT Group chairperson and editorial director).

The other categories include: Reporting from Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast; Hindi; Regional languages; Environmental reporting; Uncovering India Invisible; Foreign correspondent covering India; Business and economic journalism; Reporting on politics and government; Sports journalism; Film and Television journalism; Books non-fiction; Excellence in reporting on HIV/AIDS (English and Marathi); Civic journalism; Investigative reporting; On-the-spot reporting, and Commentary and interpretative writing.