Akshay Kumar Jain (1915–1993) was an

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

, writer, journalist and the editor of ''

Navbharat Times ''Navbharat Times'' (NBT) a Hindi newspaper distributed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Kanpur. It is from the stable of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which also publishes other dailies including ''The Times of India'', ''The Economic Ti ...

'', a Hindi-language daily owned by

The Times Group Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group), is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a majori ...

. He was one of the founders of the National Union of Journalists (India) and held the chair of its reception committee when the organization was formed in 1972.

Early life

Born on 30 December 1915 at Bijaigarh in

Aligarh district Aligarh district is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. This district is a part of Aligarh Division. The districts which adjoin Aligarh are (clockwise from north) Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Badaun, Kasganj, Hathra ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

to Roop Kishore Jain, who was a Diwan, Jain graduated from

Holkar Science College Holkar Science College, officially Government Model Autonomous Holkar Science College, also known as Holkar College is an institute in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.It was established on 10 June 1891 by His Highness Maharajadhiraja Raj Rajeshwar Saw ...

, Indore in 1938 and followed it up with a degree in law (LLB) from Aligarh University in 1940. During this period, he was involved with the

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

and participated in the

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

movement of 1942.

Career

He started his career in 1939 at ''Daily Sainik'' while studying for law and was involved with

Hindusthan Samachar Hindusthan Samachar is the first multilingual news agency in India subscribed by more than 200 newspapers and almost all the news channels including Door Darshan (DD). It was set up in 1948 by S. S. Apte, offering its services in 10 languages: B ...

, ''Sudarshan weekly'' (editor 1940), and ''Vir'' (1940–46) before joining

when the daily was founded in 1946. He continued with them for 31 years till his retirement in 1977 as its Editor-in-Chief. Jain presided two sessions of All-India Newspapers Editors Conference (1964 and 1967) and served as the member of the

Press Council of India The Press Council of India is a statutory, adjudicating organisation in India formed in 1966 by its parliament. It is the self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press Council Act of 1978., ...

for two terms. He chaired the board of directors of

Samachar Bharati Samachar (Hindi for "information") was founded in February 1976, after the merger of United News of India, Press Trust of India, Samachar Bharati and Hindustan Samachar. The news agency was directly under the control of the government of ...

News Agency, presided the ''Hindi Patrakar Sangh'' and was a member of the

International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia University ...

, a global organization promoting press freedom and fair journalistic practices. He published several books in Hindi language which included ''Yada rahi mulakatem'' and ''Bacapana ki batem''. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1967, for his contributions to literature and journalism. Jain, who was also a recipient of the Sahitya Ratna Award (1970), died on 31 March 1993, at the age of 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jain, Akshay Kumar Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 1915 births 1993 deaths People from Aligarh district Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Indian male journalists Quit India Movement Aligarh Muslim University alumni Hindi journalists Journalists from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian journalists

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links