Navika Kumar is a renowned Indian news anchor and journalist. She works as a Group Editor of Politics at Times Network and hosts the Primetime show “The Newshour” on the TimesNow news channel.
Wiki/Biography
Navika Kumar was born on Saturday, 11 March 1978 (age 44 years; as of 2022) in Sindri, Jharkhand. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She did her schooling at Carmel School, Digwadih, Jharkhand. Later, she attended the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics to pursue her master’s in arts (Political and economics).
Navika Kumar’s youth photo
Navika had always been interested in business and economic topics and aspired to work as a research writer on the subject since she was a child.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Navika Kumar belongs to a Hindu family.
Parents & Siblings
Navika Kumar with her father
Navika Kumar with her mother
Navika Kumar’s mother’s name is Anju Chander.
Navika Kumar with her elder sister
She has an elder sister named Surina Kapila.
Husband & Children
Navika Kumar with her husband
Navika is married to Sunil Marwah, a member of Bharat Soka Gakkai.
Navika Kumar with her sons, Sidhant and Suchet
The couple has two son named Sidhant Kumar Marwah and Suchet Kumar Marwah.
Career
Navika began her career as a business writer for the Economic Times newspaper. After working for a while with Economic times, she resigned from her position at Economic Times and joined The Observer.
In 1995, Navika started working for the Indian Express in Chandigarh. However, after six months, she was repositioned to Delhi, where her husband had been transferred, and she began working for The Indian Express there.
Then, in 2005, she started working as a journalist for the Times Network. She was elevated to the post of Managing Editor after working for 16 years with Times Network. She also hosts the popular primetime show “The Newshour” on the TimesNow news channel.
Controversies
- On January 18, 2021, Navika Kumar was charged with being implicated in the Republic TV TRP scam. According to ARG Outlier Media Private Limited, Republic TV’s parent company, she allegedly utilised the case sheet records of Mumbai Police to smear Arnab Goswami and Republic TV. Seeing her name rising in controversy, Navika responded,
It was difficult for me to fill his shoes, and I had to do The Newshour which was associated with Arnab for 12 years. I wish that Arnab in his quest for commercial success had not forgotten the fundamentals of human value systems. It is an emotional moment for me, because this man, who has followed commercial success and commercial profit to such an extent, is a man I don’t know at all. I worked with him for 12 years but this man is someone I don’t know
- On September 29, 2021, Navika Kumar allegedly used a derogatory term for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a live political debate event on Times Now. The incident took place on 29 September 2021, when Navika was hosting a live talk show soon after former cricketer and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu announced his resignation from the Congress Party. On Times Now, she was hosting a panel titled “Cong Comedy Of Errors,” during which she referred to Rahul Gandhi as “bloody…” He had just returned from a holiday, she was referring to. “And the day he returns bloody…” she added, soon understanding she had said something unacceptable on live air.
Later in the night on Tuesday, September 29, Navika Kumar took to Twitter and apologised for her disrespectful behaviour. She wrote,
The momentary lapse in the flow of conversation in using an unparliamentary word on air was in the context of describing the political situation in Punjab which Shri Rahul Gandhi thought had been addressed before he took a break but persisted ironically at the time of his return. The context was certainly not to describe any person as is being misquoted. As can be seen in the clip, it was unintentional and immediately retracted. Sincere apologies for the lapse.”
- Reportedly, on October 13, 2020, four Bollywood industry associations and thirty-four top Bollywood production houses filed a civil lawsuit against Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami and Pradip Bhandari and Times NOW’s Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar for their unethical reporting. The list of accusers includes the name of renowned production houses such as The Producers Guild of India, The Film and TV Producers Council, Screenwriters Association, The Cine & TV Aritste Association, Dharma Productions, Aamir Khan Productions, and Clean Slate Filmz.
The lawsuit alleged Republic TV’s journalist Arnab Goswami and Times NOW’s Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumari of using disparaging terms and adjectives for film actors and producers such as “scum,” “dirt,” “druggies,” “filth,” and others, such as “it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned.” - According to reports, on June 14, 2022, Navika Kumar’s name has been reported in a First Information Report (FIR) filed in Maharashtra’s Parbhani district against now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who allegedly made objectionable remarks about Prophet Mohammad during a news debate hosted by Ms Kumar. The FIR was lodged at Nanalpeth police station on Monday after a Muslim cleric filed a complaint accusing Ms Sharma and Ms Kumar of attempting to incite religious emotions. The police officials said,
Times Now anchor Navika Kumar and Nupur Sharma are booked under section 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),”
Facts/Trivia
- Navika Kumar follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- Her coverage of the Common Wealth Games and the IPL scandal involving Lalit Modi became well-known.
- In 2018, she interviewed Kuldip Singh Sengar, the accused in the Unnao Rape case.
- Navika in an interview talked about her political leanings. She said,
People may call me pro-BJP because the party frankly represent itself on my channel. I am so happy to take my congress point of view and you can ask anybody how many attempts I have made in the last four years since I have been handling the calling card policy in Times Now. How many attempts I have made for them to bury the hatchet and represent themselves. I have given them the offer of doing one-on-one interaction, and I have requested them to come to debates, putting their views across. But if someone doesn’t want to communicate with me, can you blame me for it?”
- In 2021, during an interview with Tokyo 2020 Olympics gold-medalist, Neeraj Chopra, Navika asked Neeraj Chopra about his relationship status. Later, her question became the subject of memes on social media.
- Navika is an avid dog lover. She also has a pet dog named Google Kumar.
Navika Kumar with her pet dog
- Following the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020, Navika stated during a Times Now show that she had a Whatsapp chat with various Bollywood actors and drug peddlers. Her statement afterwards drew trolls and became the topic of social media memes.
