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W&L Alumna Named CNN Correspondent in New Delhi

Washington and Lee alumna Sumnima Udas, of the Class of 2001, has just been promoted to a correspondent for CNN. She is based in India, in New Delhi.

Sumnima started with CNN in the U.K. as a news assistant in the York bureau, in 2001. She received a master’s degree from Oxford and then moved to Hong Kong in 2006 as a show producer. In 2010, she worked as a producer for CNN correspondent Sara Sidner in New Delhi; after Sidner left for the Jerusalem bureau, she has been filling in as a reporter.

In announcing Sumnima’s appointment, Ellana Lee, CNN International Asia Pacific VP and managing editor, said: “The eyes of the world will be trained on India as the world’s largest democracy and emerging economic powerhouse goes to the polls in 2014. With her new appointment as Delhi correspondent we look forward to strengthening our presence in this diverse and dynamic region.

While she’s been in New Delhi, Sumnima has covered several major stories, including the gang rape case in New Delhi, the Bangladesh building collapse, poisoned school lunches in northeast India, and, most recently, a building collapse that killed 50 in Mumbai last month.

Sumnima won an Asian Television Award as show producer for “CNN Talk Asia,” a weekly show that explores personalities of newsmakers.

You can watch Sumnima’s reports on the CNN website.

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