Question

Who edited ‘Basumati’, the oldest Bengali Daily paper?
a. Anand Mohan Bose
b. Barindra Kumar Ghose
c. V.D. Savarkar
d. Surya Sen

Answer 1

Hint:
Basumati, also known by the name “Daily Basumati”, was a Bengali daily newspaper which was first published on 6 August 1914 by the Basumati Corporation Limited in Kolkata. Later in September 1992, the publishing house moved to Siliguri from Kolkata.


Complete step by step solution:
Upendranath Mukhopadhyay, with the blessings of Sri Ramakrishna, started his publishing house “Basumati Sahitya Mandir” in 1881 and successfully launched “Weekly Basumati” and “Daily Basumati” after getting inspired by Vivekananda Mukhopadhyaya to give people the insights of the world around them. Along with this, Basumati Sahitya Mandir took its efforts to publish Classics of Bengali and World literature. Due to some internal issues at Basumati Sahitya Mandir, also known as Basumati Corporation Limited, it was acquired by the Union Law Minister, Ashoke Kumar Sen in 1962. Later in 1974, the Government of Bengal got its hold on the publishing house. Basumati Sahitya Mandir stopped publishing Daily Basumati in 2003.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh, born on 5th January 1880 in Norwood near London, was a famous Journalist and Indian revolutionary. In 1906, he co-founded the Bengali weekly “Jugantara” to spread the revolutionary ideas and to ignite passion for the Swadeshi movement among its readers. He got inspired from his elder brother Aurobindo Ghosh, a revolutionary and spiritualist, during his military training in Baroda in the late 19th century and early 20th century. His weekly Jugantara started preparation for armed activities and manufacturing explosives among young revolutionary activists. These young activists formed a secret place “Maniktala” to manufacture bombs and to plan attacks on Britishers.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh (or Barin) got arrested by police on 2nd May 1908 along with many revolutionaries for attempting murder of Kingsford and was sentenced to death which later got eased to life imprisonment in Cellular Jail in Andaman. In 1920, during general amnesty, he was released from jail and moved to Kolkata to start his career as a journalist. In 1950, he became the editor of the Daily Basumati.
Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:
Barindra Kumar Ghosh dedicated his life as a revolutionary and journalist. His works include Dvipantarer Banshi, Pather Ingit, Amar Atmakatha, Agnijug, Rishi Rajnarayan, The Tale of My Exile, Sri Aurobindo, etc.