Boobli George Verghese (21 June 1927 – 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist. He was editor of leading newspapers the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' (1969–75) and ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' (1982–86). In 1975, he received the

Ramon Magsaysay award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...

for outstanding contribution to journalism. After 1986, he was associated with the New Delhi think-tank

Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...

Early life

Verghese attended

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a Selective school, selective all-boys Private school, private boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer ...

. He then studied Economics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and pursued a master's degree from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. While at Doon, Verghese edited '' The Doon School Weekly''.

Career

Verghese started his journalistic career in ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. He was information adviser to Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

in 1966-69, and wrote her speeches. Subsequently, he joined ''Hindustan Times'' as editor, but lost his post for criticising Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. His integrity in those years earned him immense respect, and he was awarded the

that year. Immediately afterwards, he contested

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

elections in 1977 from Mavelikkara in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

but lost. Verghese was also a member of the Kargil Review Committee following the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

. He was also a member of the National Security Council Advisory Board. A crusader for civil rights, Verghese has long worked on problems of development. He was also on the Editors Guild of India Fact Finding Mission after the Gujarat riots, 2002. He wrote extensively on developmental issues. ''Waters of hope'' (1990) and ''Winning the Future'' (1994) discuss managing the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n watershed. ''Design for tomorrow'' (1965), ''India's North East resurgent'' and ''Reorienting India: Rage, reconciliation and security'' (2008) are other books with a progressive theme. He also authored ''Warrior of the Fourth Estate'' (2005), an acclaimed biography of

Ramnath Goenka Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He bought the majority stake of ''The Indian Express'' in 1930s. He created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.'' ...

, owner of the ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

''. In October 2010, he published his autobiography ''First Draft: Witness to Making of Modern India'', which discusses the steady degradation of democratic processes during the tenures of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv.Book Review: First Draft by B.G. Verghese - Forbes India
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verghese, B. G. 1927 births The Doon School alumni Indian journalists Ramon Magsaysay Award winners St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Indian newspaper editors 2014 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male journalists Journalists from Delhi