Editors

1. Editors Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak • Born: July 23, 1856Died: August 1, 1920Achievements: Considered as Father of Indian National Movement; Founded “Deccan Education Society” to impart quality education to India's youth; was a member of the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University; formed Home Rule League in 1916 to attain the goal of Swaraj. Bal Gangadhar Tilak is considered as Father of Indian National Movement. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a multifaceted personality. He was a social reformer, freedom fighter, national leader, and a scholar of Indian history, Sanskrit, Hinduism, mathematics and astronomy. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was popularly called as Lokmanya (Beloved of the people). During freedom struggle, his slogan “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it” inspired millions of Indians. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

3. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. He was a Chitpavan Brahmin by caste. His father Gangadhar Ramachandra Tilak was a Sanskrit scholar and a famous teacher. Tilak was a brilliant student and he was very good in mathematics. • Since childhood Tilak had an intolerant attitude towards injustice and he was truthful and straightforward in nature. He was among India's first generation of youth to receive a modern, college education.When Tilak was ten his father was transferred to Pune from Ratnagiri. This brought sea change in Tilak’s life. He joined the Anglo-Vernacular School in Pune and got education from some of the well known teachers. • Soon after coming to Pune Tilak lost his mother and by the time he was sixteen he lost his father too. While Tilak was studying in Matriculation he was married to a 10-year-old girl called Satyabhama. • After passing the Matriculation Examination Tilak joined the Deccan College. In 1877, Bal Gangadhar Tilak got his B.A. degree with a first class in mathematics. He continued his studies and got the LL.B. degree too. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

4. After graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune and later became a journalist. He became a strong critic of the Western education system, feeling it demeaning to Indian students and disrespectful to India's heritage. • He came to the conclusion that good citizens can be moulded only through good education. He believed that every Indian had to be taught about Indian culture and national ideals. Along with his classmate Agarkar and great social reformer Vishnushastry Chiplunkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded “Deccan Education Society” to impart quality education to India's youth.The very next year after the Deccan Education Society was founded, Tilak started two weeklies, 'Kesari' and 'Mahratta'. 'Kesari' was Marathi weekly while 'Mahratta' was English weekly. Soon both the newspapers became very popular. • In his newspapers, Tilak highlighted the plight of Indians. He gave a vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual happenings. Tilak called upon every Indian to fight for his right. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used fiery language to arouse the sleeping Indians. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

5. Bal Gangadhar Tilak joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He was a member of the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University. Tilak was a great social reformer. He issued a call for the banning of child marriage and welcomed widow remarriage. Through the celebrations of Ganapati Festival and the birthday of the Shivaji he organized people. • In 1897, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was charged with writing articles instigating people to rise against the government and to break the laws and disturb the peace. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one and a half year. Tilak was released in 1898. After his release, Tilak launched Swadeshi Movement. Through newspapers and lectures, Tilak spread the message to each and every village in Maharashtra. A big 'Swadeshi Market' was opened in front of Tilak's house. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

6. Tilak was arrested on the charges of sedition in 1906. After the trial, Tilak was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in Mandalay (Burma). Tilak spent his time in prison by reading and writing. He wrote the book 'Gita-Rahasya' while he was in prison. Tilak was released on June 8, 1914. • In 1916, Tilak decided to build a separate organization called the 'Home Rule League'. Its goal was swaraj. Tilak went from village to village, and explained the aim of his league to the farmers and won their hearts. He traveled constantly in order to organize the people. While fighting for people’s cause Bal Gangadhar Tilak died on August 1, 1920. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

7. Kesari was established in 1880 with the aim of national wakening, it celebrated its 128th anniversary in 2008. • Kesari Wada in Pune is syonymous with Kesari. It is located at Narayan Peth in Pune, Maharashtra. • Bal Gangadhar Tilak used to run his two newspapers, the Kesari, in Marathi and Maratha in English from Kesari Wada. • The Wada still has the offices of Kesari, and mementos of Tilak, including his writing desk original letters and documents, and the first India national flag unfurled by Madame Cama. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

8. K.P. Kesava Menon • K.P. Kesava Menon was born in 1886 in Tharoor village of Palghat He was the grand son of the Raja of Palghat. He graduated in Arts from Madra University and Bar-at-law from Middle Temple. • He joined the Indian National Congress in 1915 and served as the secretary of the Malabar branch of the Home Rule League after setting up practice in Calicut. He was a member of the Home Rule League under Annie Besant which proceeded to London to present a memoranda to the Secretary of State in 1917. • In 1921 he joined the Non-Cooperation movement after giving up practice. He did relief work as secretary of KPCC during Moplah rebellion. • He became the Founder-Editor of the Mathrubhumi in 1923.He was imprisoned for six months in the Trivandrum Central jail for leading the famous Vaikom satyagraha.In 1927 he set up practice in Malaya due to financial difficulties as a result of full time political activity. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

9. Kesava Menon became a member of the action committee of the Indian Independependence League which was organised by Ras Behari Bose in 1947. • He was very active in INA but when Subash Chandra Bose assumed the leadership and formed Azad Hind Government, Kesava Menon parted ways from it as he found it difficult to cope with Subash's way of functioning. When the Japanese attempted to exploit the Indian freedom fighter in Malaya he resisted it. • At Singapore he was arrested and confined to solitary imprisonment by the Japanese and was released only after the Second World War.He resumed the editorship of Mathrubhumi in 1946. he was appointed as the High commissioner of Ceylon, but resigned due to difference of opinion. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

10. When he was the president of the Aykya Kerala Committee he worked for the unified Kerala state. Kesavamenon has penned several books in Malayalam. He was honoured by the President of India with the 'Padma Vibhushan'. • He was the first Executive President of the Kerala Sahtiya Academy. He was known as the Grand old man of Kerala. • Kesava Menon served as the Editor of the 'Mathrubumi till his death on November 9,1978. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

11. Conceived as the mouthpiece of India’s freedom movement, Mathrubhumi is one of the front-runners among the Malayalam newspapers. • The first copy of Mathrubhumi was published on 18th of March 1923 -- the day before the first anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s arrest for the first time by the British police. • Led by K.P.Kesava Menon, the prominent freedom fighter, as Editor and K. MadhavanNair as Managing Director, Mathrubhumi was envisaged for spreading the message of the great National Movement. • In the beginning, the paper was published a week and had just one edition from Kozhikode (Calicut). A newspaper born out of relentless passion of freedom fighters, Mathrubhumi went on to become an inalienable part of Kerala's social fabric. • Now with thirteen editions, including the ones at New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai it has an impressive circulation of over one million copies.      Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

12. The first edition of the paper carried a strong message of support for the National Movement and a pledge to unify the un-organized Malayalees. • The editorial had an intense patriotic tone; stressing on the need for real freedom from disparity, divisions and distortions. Moreover, it expressed a willingness to stand with the commoners during their trials and tribulations in life. Built on strong journalistic ethics and high aesthetic outlook, Mathrubhumi soon excelled all other newspapers of that time; and in the process, rewriting the history of Malayalam newspapers. • Great Poets like Vallathol Narayana Menon often expressed their patriotic feelings through the columns of the Mathrubhumi, inspiring the freedom fighters. Many patriotic songs, stories and features were popularised among the commoners as well as the news and facts about the freedom movement. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

13. Since then the Mathrubhumi has not looked back. All along the line, it has consistently played crucial roles in social reformation movements such as the 'Vaikom Satyagraha' and the 'Guruvayur Satyagraha'. • The day the Vaikom Satyagraha began (April 1, 1924), the Mathrubhumi came out with a harsh and sharp criticism against the social discrimination practiced in Kerala. Moreover, while actively participating in the Satyagraha, K.P Keasava Menon was arrested and sent to the Pujappura Central Jail at Thriuvananthapuram Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

14. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), Indian journalist and political leader, one of the major leaders of the Indian independence movement. As independent India's first education minister, Azad brought about substantial reform in the education system of that country. • Azad was born Mohiuddin Ahmad in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and was descended from an old family of Delhi, India. The family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, where Azad was educated privately and studied Arabic and Asian culture. He soon made his name as a gifted writer and speaker. In 1906 he became assistant editor of a newspaper, but it was the publication of his own journal, Al-Hilal, in 1912 that brought Azad to the forefront of Indian affairs. • This journal marked a new beginning in the politics of Indian Muslims, for it invited them to join in the fight for Indian independence. In 1914 the British government suppressed the journal and imprisoned Azad. Released in January 1920, he took part in the independence movement under Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's leadership. Azad later served several more terms in jail. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

15. Azad was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1923, the youngest man to hold the office. He was elected again in 1940, and he held the office until 1946. Azad guided the destiny of the Congress for six years during the most momentous phase of its history. • After India was declared an independent dominion of the British Commonwealth in 1947, Azad became education minister, an office he held until his death. Also published a commentary on the Koran,as well as several theological studies and the work India Wins Freedom (1959). • Azad started writing poems and literary and political articles for Urdu Newspapers and journals at a very early age. At the age of twelve, he became a publisher and issued in 1900, a poetic journal called Nairange-Alam which continued for eight months. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

16. At sixteen he started editing his own paper, Lisan-us-Sidq which aimed at promoting social reform, development of Urdu and cultivation of literary taste. • He was not a conformist writer. Azad refused to be tied to inherited beliefs and declined to succeed his father as a religious preceptor. He became a questioner of things taken as established by others. All these things made him so popular at a very early age that people meeting him for the first time were shocked at his tender age and had to be reassured that they were meeting the real Maulana Azad. • This was mainly due to the fact that Azad had acquired fame through his journalistic writings and had impressed people as much by his lofty and inspiring message as by his interpretation of Islam. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

17. Azad launched his Urdu weekly Al-Hilal on June, 1912 when he was only 24. He believed that only by educating the 'Ulama, the learned in Law and in theology, there would emerge a nucleus of dedicated and idealistic elite which can act as a lever for the moral and intellectual regeneration of the Muslim community. • With the launching of Al-Hilal, Azad shot into the National Movement. He gave fearless and powerful expression to his nationalist ideas through the journal. • The basic intent of Al-Hilal was to launch a vigorous attack not only on the colonial distortions of our history but more on the pro-colonial modernism of the Aligarh School, which had poisoned the minds of the Modernist Muslim intelligentsia. • Al-HilaI held out the message of nationalism to the Muslim elites as well as the popular classes and urged them to join other communities in the struggle for the liberation of the country. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

18. Al-Hilal became immensely popular among the Muslim intelligentsia within a short period. Its circulation had reached 2, 90,000 by 1914, when the Government confiscated the Al-Hilal Press after two years of continuous publication. • Al-Hial was also critical of the Muslim League, its aristocratic leadership and its style of functioning. The journal inspired the educated Muslim to awaken to a new political sense. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

19. Ramoji Rao • Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, better known as Ramoji Rao (born 16 November 1936), is an Indian businessman and media entrepreneur. He is head of the Ramoji Group which owns, among other things, the world's largest film production facility, Ramoji Film City. • Rao Cherukuri was born in, Andhra Pradesh, into an agricultural family. Some of the companies owned by the Ramoji group include Margadarsi Chit Fund, Eenadu newspaper, ETV, Priya Foods, Ushakiron Movies and as mentioned above, the Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

20. Ramoji Rao, the 71-year-old feisty proprietor and editor of Eenadu, Andhra Pradesh’s largest circulated daily (over 11 lakh), and boss of television channel ETV, is a veteran of several battles against the Congress party. His newspapers have taken pot shots at more than one Congress politician. Rao was a supporter of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) when N.T. Rama Rao launched it in the early 1980s. • Rao took on the state’s Congress government, headed by chief minister Y.S. Rajashekhar (YSR) Reddy. A slew of news reports in Eenadu and programmes on ETV since 2005 have accused Congress ministers, politicians and senior government officials of corruption and hanky panky. • One report, for instance, debunked the official claim that the number of suicides by farmers had dropped. Another attacked construction by Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, the chief minister’s brother, on disputed land. A third said that Eenadu had discovered, based on a survey, that voter lists for elections for local bodies had omitted the names of opposition party sympathisers. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

21. On March 10, 1983, Eenadu carried a report about the ruckus in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council during the presentation of the budget proposals the previous day. • A member of the House took exception to the headline given to the report and raised a breach of privilege issue against the newspaper. The headline had referred to the rumpus as "Peddala Galaba", a literal translation of which is "Elders Commotion". The privilege notice however argued that the choice of words was derogatory. The matter was referred by the Chairman of the House to the Privileges Committee, which, a year later, held the newspaper guilty. • The committee was also peeved by the fact that Ramoji Rao, Editor, Eenadu, refused to appear before the committee and defend the impugned news report. Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College

22. Many cases filed against him the latest regarding Margadarsi Financiers Seema Narendran, Ramnarain Ruia College