Victornkd at 13:54, 19 April 2025

2025-04-19T13:54:02Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{short description|Indian journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = B. G. Verghese
| image =
| caption =
| birthname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|06|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Maymyo]], Burma
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|30|1926|06|21|df=y}}
| death_place = New Delhi, India
| education = [[The Doon School]]<br>[[University of Cambridge]]
| occupation = [[Journalist]], former editor for ''[[Hindustan Times]]''
| credits =
| URL =
}}

{{Indian name|Verghese|Boobli George}}'''Boobli George Verghese''' (21 June 1927 – 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist. He was editor of leading newspapers the ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' (1969–75) and ''[[The Indian Express]]'' (1982–86).<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographyVergheseBoo.htm
|title=Biography of Boobli George Verghese
|date=September 1975
|publisher=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
|accessdate=2011-09-25
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402034546/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographyVergheseBoo.htm
|archive-date=2 April 2012
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> In 1975, he received the [[Ramon Magsaysay award]] for outstanding contribution to journalism. After 1986, he was associated with the New Delhi think-tank [[Centre for Policy Research]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/08/stories/2006100802501000.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071207205329/http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/08/stories/2006100802501000.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 December 2007 | location=Chennai, India | work=[[The Hindu]] | title=Be armed with facts on J&K: B.G. Verghese | date=8 October 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSDEL8094120070819 | work=Reuters | title=Endgame looms as nuclear deal strains Indian government | date=19 August 2007}}</ref>

== Early life ==

Verghese attended [[The Doon School]]. He then studied Economics at [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]] and pursued a master's degree from [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref>[http://www.bgverghese.com/about.htm BG Verghese Writings and Commentaries]</ref> While at Doon, Verghese edited ''[[The Doon School Weekly]]''.<ref>First Draft: Witness to the Making of Modern India, Verghese BG, p. 64</ref>

==Career==
Verghese started his journalistic career in ''[[The Times of India]]''. He was information adviser to Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] in 1966-69, and wrote her speeches.<ref>[http://www.bgverghese.com/OutlookFirstDraft.htm BG Verghese Writings and Commentaries - Outlook magazine excerpt on the 1966 rupee devaluation rollercoaster, from B G Verghese's memoirs, First Draft: The Making of Modern In...]</ref> Subsequently, he joined ''Hindustan Times'' as editor, but lost his post for criticising Indira Gandhi during [[the Emergency (India)|the Emergency]].<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_the-essential-bg-verghese_1480098 The essential BG Verghese - Bangalore - DNA]</ref> His integrity in those years earned him immense respect, and he was awarded the [[Ramon Magsaysay award]] that year. Immediately afterwards, he contested [[Lok Sabha]] elections in 1977 from [[Mavelikkara]] in [[Kerala]] but lost.

Verghese was also a member of the [[Kargil Review Committee]] following the [[Kargil War]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/aadhaar-journey-kargil-supreme-court-1349503-2018-09-26|title=Tracing the Aadhaar journey: From Kargil to Supreme Court|last=Dutta|first=Prabhash|date=26 September 2018|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2018-12-06}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[National_Security_Council_(India)#National_Security_Advisory_Board|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 [[2002 Gujarat violence|Gujarat riots]], 2002.<ref>[http://www.techniche.org/techniche11/industrialconclave/223.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408053814/http://www.techniche.org/techniche11/industrialconclave/223.html|date=8 April 2011}}</ref>

He wrote extensively on developmental issues. ''Waters of hope'' (1990) and ''Winning the Future'' (1994) discuss managing the [[Himalaya]]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]], owner of the ''[[Indian Express]]''. 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 Gandhi|Rajiv]].<ref>[http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/book-review/book-review-first-draft-by-bg-verghese_501699.html Book Review: First Draft by B.G. Verghese - Forbes India]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{RMA winners of India}}
{{Authority control}}

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

B. G. Verghese - Revision history

Victornkd at 13:54, 19 April 2025