Question

The first newspaper to be printed in India was ___________.
A) Times of India
B) Kesari
C) Bengal Gazette
D) The Hindu

Answer 1

Hint: In 1766, a Dutch explorer named William Bolts suggested establishing a newspaper in Calcutta for the English audience. The East India Company exiled him before his plans could be carried out. The first newspaper in India was published in January in the year 1780.

Complete answer:
As free-thinking and speech spread around the globe, India printed its first newspaper in 1780.
The first English-language newspaper published on the Indian subcontinent was Hicky's Bengal Gazette. Irishman James Augustus Hicky founded it in Calcutta, the capital of British India at the time. The news articles on the front page are written in British English. However, Anglo-Indian expressions are used openly and without translation elsewhere in the text.

The Times of India is India's second oldest English-language newspaper still in print, having first appeared in 1838.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a leading leader of the Indian Independence movement, published the Marathi newspaper Kesari in 1881. The newspaper emphasised educating Indians about their glorious history and encouraging the masses to be self-sufficient.

The Hindu is a daily English-language newspaper that was started as a weekly in 1878 and was converted to a daily in 1889. It was published by The Hindu Group, which is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It started as a weekly in 1878 and was converted to a daily in 1889.

Thus, the correct option is option ‘C’.

Note: The first newspaper printed in Asia, Hicky's Bengal Gazette, was circulated for two years, between 1780 and 1782. The East India Company confiscated the newspaper's styles and printing press after that. The newspaper was significant in India for its provocative journalism and struggle for free speech.