Ritula Harakchand Shah (born 1967) is a presenter on Classic FM. She was formerly a news presenter on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, serving as the main presenter of ''

The World Tonight ''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Previously, Shah presented ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' on Radio 4 and was a launch presenter for '' The World Today'' on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. Shah joined ''The World Tonight'' as Deputy Presenter and also presented the Saturday edition of '' PM''. From the departure of Robin Lustig in December 2012 until 27 February 2023, Shah was the lead presenter of ''The World Tonight.'' It was announced on 13 April 2023 that Shah was to join Classic FM from BBC Radio 4 to present ''Calm Classics'' on weekdays between 10pm and 1am. She made her debut on the music station on 17 April 2023.

Life

Ritula Harakhchand Shah was born in 1967 in Barnet,

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. She was educated at

Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls Haberdashers' Girls' School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The sch ...

, Elstree, before studying history at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

and graduating in 1988. She joined the Radio 4 production team, moved from there to regional television news, and then to ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' in 1991 as a producer. When ''The World Today'' launched on the BBC World Service in 1999, Shah became one of its presenters. She was a presenter on the BBC World Service's ''The Real Story''. In May 2013, she began a series of eight episodes in the BBC Radio 4 ''One to One'' series of interviews. As she belongs to a Jain family (the Jain religion is concerned with

renunciation Renunciation (or renouncing) is the act of rejecting something, particularly something that the renunciant has previously enjoyed or endorsed. In religion, renunciation often indicates an abandonment of pursuit of material comforts, in the inte ...

), the subjects of her interviews are people whose life has involved renunciation. Radio 4 One to One: Ritula Shah
/ref>

References

External links

Calm Classics on Classic FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Ritula 1967 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick BBC World Service presenters Radio presenters from London British women radio presenters English people of Indian descent English women journalists Journalists from London People educated at Haberdashers' Girls' School People from the London Borough of Barnet