Centenary celebrations: ABP Group salutes its battle-hardened heroes
A veteran author, a former CEO and a gatekeeper were among eleven felicitated at the centenary celebrations of Anandabazar Patrika on Saturday. “Our businesses are driven by people and we are fortunate to have amongst us individuals who have nurtured this institution to its state of excellence,” said Dhruba Mukherjee, the chief executive officer of ABP. Atideb Sarkar, the chief editor of the ABP Group, felicitated the individuals
By
Our Bureau |
Published 10.07.22, 03:05 AM
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Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay: One of the doyens of Bengali literature, Mukhopadhyay has been working with ABP for the past 50 years. “He strides across Bengali literature as a leading prose writer, a name which needs no introduction,” was how Mukherjee introduced the first awardee.
Pictures sourced by The Telegraph
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2/11
Shaktidas Roy: Roy is the chief librarian and archivist of ABP. The library occupies the top floor of the ABP office, where Roy is referred to as the “God above”. “He is always available to check facts and figures. He is indispensable to anyone writing a serious treatise,” said Mukherjee
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Anirban Chattopadhyay: Chattopadhyay joined ABP as a trainee journalist and went on to become the editor of Anandabazar Patrika. “An economist by education and an intellectual by inclination,” Mukherjee said of him
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4/11
Debashish Bhattacharya: He also joined as a trainee journalist and went on to become the political editor of Anandabazar Patrika
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Shobha Subrahmanyan: A former chief executive and managing director of the company, Subrahmanyan was responsible for setting up the “state of the art” printing press at Barasat and the renovation of the office building after a fire ravaged it in 1999
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Dipankar Das Purkayastha: Former managing director and CEO. He came to the organisation to sell computers and ended up joining it and rising to the top. He served ABP for over four decades
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Subir Kumar Mitra: Managing director of Ananda Publishers, Mitra is “not only skilled in the art of selling but champions everything arty”, said Mukherjee
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Amitabha Datta: From selling shoes, he seamlessly moved into selling space. “Though he was responsible for our dailies, his true love has always been The Telegraph,” Mukherjee said. Datta is the driving force behind making the New Year’s Eve events The Telegraph’s very own
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Apurba Sengupta: Sengupta was at the helm of production at ABP for decades. The fume-filled printing presses to air-conditioned offset plants... This alumnus from IIT Kharagpur has run our production activities with a philosophical joy
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Bulu Banduri: He was a champion athlete winning all the major sprints at the annual sports. The man from Hooghly acquired firefighting skills over and above his various security drills. He was one of the heroes in fighting the fire that broke out in the ABP building and saved lives
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Anup Kumar Maity: Maity has been distributing newspapers and magazines in Kolkata for over four decades. “Rain or sunshine, hot or cold, day in and day out, your morning is assured by the unseen presence of this man,” Mukherjee said
