Voting Station

Aroon Purie

Please vote to see the next celebrity.

Publisher

The Resume

    (1944- )
    Born in Lahore, India
    Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of India Today
    Chief executive of the India Today Group
    Managing director of Thomson Press (India) Limited
    Chairman and Managing Director of TV Today
    Editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest India

Why he might be annoying:

    He looks like President Zardari with his mustache shaved off.
    He called Manmohan Singh 'a failure' as Prime Minister of India, in a scathing article near the end of Singh's third and final term.
    He has been accused of rigging annual India Today Conclave Q&A sessions to boost his colleagues or entrap politicians who disagree with the India Today Group.
    He discontinued India Today editions in the Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam languages for lack of 'viability,' angering subscribers in some quarters (Feb. 2015).
    He was instrumental in launching the Bollywood movie stardom of his daughter, Koel Purie.
    As it is, his prestigious career in magazine publishing has roots in nepotism (his father launched the India Today magazine which he subsequently helped to publish).
    His sister, who also serves as an Editor for India Today, was found guilty on contempt of court charges and has been accused of withholding information about the magazine's ownership to protect him.
    He was accused by social media outlets of plagiarizing Slate writer Grady Hendrix in 2010. The articles were glaringly similar with the only difference being that Purie's version had the word 'superstar' in lowercase letters.
    He elicited a wet apology citing jet lag and claiming that 'a couple passages were sent to me' by embittered staffers. Hendrix didn't buy it, calling his words 'non-apologetic,' but he chose not to pursue the matter any further (Oct. 2010).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is known as the William Randolph Hearst of India.
    He received the G.K. Reddy Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism in two consecutive years (1993–94).
    He received the prestigious Padma Bhusha (India's third highest civilian honour) by Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan (2001).
    He won the Apsara Award from the Film and Television Producers Guild of India (2006).
    He received the ITA Television Icon Award from the Indian Television Academy (2007).
    He received the NT Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Television Dot Com in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian News (2008).
    He received the Managing India Award for Outstanding Contribution to Media from the All India Management Association (2010).
    He and his father founded India Today during the Indian Emergency of 1975, when India's Constitution was suspended for 21 months by President Ali Ahmed and Minister Indira Gandhi.
    He initiated the India Today 'Pledge to Fight Against Terror'/'Pledge to Fight Those who Kill the Innocent' memes in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
    He has been one of the most outspoken voices calling for a peaceful resolution to the India-Pakistan conflict.
    He has been instrumental in modernizing India's media outlets by keeping in step with its economic growth/changing cultural trends and by embracing social media networks.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 28 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 49 Votes: 53.06% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 27 Votes: 55.56% Annoying