Monita Rajpal is a CNN news anchor for the European breakfast show ‘CNN Today’. Based in London since the end of 2004, she also hosts ‘Art of Life’, CNN’s luxury lifestyle feature show.
Since joining CNN in 2001, Rajpal has anchored many leading global news stories. In 2005 Rajpal reported on the London Bombings and Live 8, the huge charity concert held in London’s Hyde Park, interviewing among others, Bob Geldof, Peter Gabriel and Dido. She also covered the British General Election, the Death of Pope John Paul II and the first Iraqi elections. In 2004 she covered the Asian Tsunami and the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Additionally, Rajpal has interviewed many top international leaders including: Mexican President Vicente Fox, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, Colombian President Andres Pastrana and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In 2003 Rajpal interviewed then Liberian President Moses Blah, shortly after he was sworn into office and just moments after former President Charles Taylor left Liberia for asylum in Nigeria.
She has also hosted CNN's technology and environment programme ‘Global Challenges’ as well as contributing to other CNN feature shows ‘Inside the Middle East’ and ‘Design 360’ where she interviewed Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana.
In 2004 Rajpal presented CNN’s ‘Staying Alive’, a special documentary on HIV/AIDS awareness produced in conjunction with MTV. She followed this in 2005 by working with MTV on a fund-raising programme for victims of the South-East Asian Tsunami, presented from Bangkok.
Rajpal joined CNN from Citytv in Toronto, where she was a general assignment reporter and anchor. As a Citytv reporter, Rajpal covered various stories for the channel's prime-time nightly news including: federal elections, education strikes, municipal politics and the city's homeless population. She also anchored a feature programme on street children and an investigative report on the widespread use of ecstasy at rave parties. In addition to her work at Citytv, Rajpal anchored the prime-time news show at Cable Pulse 24, Citytv's 24-hour news channel.
She was born in Hong Kong and spent much of her childhood there, before moving to Canada. In addition to English, she speaks conversational Cantonese, French and Punjabi.
Rajpal received a bachelor of applied arts in radio and television arts from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto.
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