Manipur Engineer Wins International Broadcasting Excellence Award

Imphal: Nongmaithem Nandakumar Singh, Director of Engineering at Akashvani Imphal, took home the Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award 2026. The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union handed him the honor in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on November 1. It is a big win. Singh led the development of several cost-effective broadcast solutions, such as remote transmitter monitoring, efficient live-streaming workflows, and low-cost automation. He also built Virtual News Automation software and a hardware-controlled slow-motion replay system.

The ABU Technical Committee screened a video of his work on October 30. Singh, who grew up in Sagolband Salam Leikai, Imphal West, is the son of the late Nongmaithem Ibotombi Singh and Nongmaithem Ongbi Binodkumari Devi. After graduating from NIT Raipur in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, he joined the Indian Engineering Services in 1998. He does more than just radio. He brings local culture to screens by coding Android apps for traditional Manipuri board games.

Industry peers across the Asia-Pacific region praised his focus on resource-efficient public service broadcasting. According to the union, the award recognizes "engineering excellence, grassroots technical innovation and resource-efficient solutions for public service broadcasting, particularly under challenging conditions." This marks his third major accolade. He previously earned the Broadcast Engineering Society's Padmavati Ganeshan Award in 2013 and the Dr Vassumal Hazarimal Merani Award earlier this year.