The Statesman takes over UNI, appoints Kashmir origin Sheikh Manzoor as consulting editor

New Delhi, March 19: The Statesman, one of India's leading newspaper groups, has taken over the management of United News of India (UNI), the country's renowned multilingual news agency established in 1959. Under its new leadership, UNI is set to undergo a wide-ranging revamp aimed at enhancing its news operations, communication network, and software technology.

The new management has pledged to run UNI on strictly professional lines, with veteran journalist Sheikh Manzoor Ahmed appointed as Consulting Editor (News).

Manzoor having more than nearly four decades experience of working journalist was born and brought up in Kashmir. Manzoor in his new avatar as consulting editor will definitely bring extensive experience to the role.

He previously served as a diplomatic correspondent and Editor of UNI's Urdu news service. He was also Chief of Bureau for Kuwait News Agency and Resident Editor of Greater Kashmir in Delhi. Manzoor is also among the first Kashmiri journalists to have relocated to Delhi, establishing himself as a prominent figure in Indian journalism.

Speaking about the changes, Manzoor emphasized that the primary goal is to restore UNI to its former stature and ensure its English, Hindi, and Urdu services provide credible and comprehensive coverage of both domestic and international events. "Our objective is simple: to rejuvenate UNI and position it as a professionally relevant and leading news service provider in the country," Manzoor said.

The revamped UNI will expand its coverage to include economic, sports, and photo services, ensuring a broader range of content for subscribers.

Vineet Gupta is the director and has expressed a strong commitment to the UNI agency transformation. Vineet Gupta is spearheading ambitious plans to modernise its news-gathering tools and methods with an aim to deliver accurate and unbiased news reports, to bring back UNI to its old glory and position as a trusted source of information in the ever-increasing media landscape.