Vishnu Som


Vishnu Som is an Indian prime-time news anchor and media personality. He is a senior editor and principal anchor with New Delhi Television, India's first 24-hour news network. Som has reported extensively on war, environment, conflict, aviation and natural disasters. He has covered the Kargil, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as the 2004 Asian tsunami, 2001 Bhuj earthquake and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. In April 2012, he was awarded best Television Presenter in India by the News Television Awards.
Som has interviewed major world leaders and personalities including Vladimir Putin, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, and Shinzo Abe, among others.
His father Himachal was an IFS officer and former Indian Ambassador to Italy and his mother Reba is an academic, historian, writer and classical singer from India. Som attended St. Paul's School, Darjeeling.
Som has completed a multi-part documentary series called Great Battles, on the role of Indian soldiers in some of the greatest battles of the last century from Monte Cassino in the Second World War to the Siachen high altitude conflict. His documentary series, India's Underwater Treasures, which looked at the impact of global warming on India's coral formations won the best series award at the Indian Telly Awards, 2008 and a special commendation at the Commonwealth Broadcasting Awards. Som's programme, The Jet Set, looked at the experience of flying along with pilots on fighter aircraft such as the F/A-18, F-16, Mikoyan MiG-35 and Saab JAS 39 Gripen. He has also flown in the Dassault Rafale of the French air force, and the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Indian Air Force and Navy.
Som anchors the 9 pm news and The Buck Stops Here and writes extensively for NDTV 24x7.