Top executive of Duncan Brothers takes over India's oldest financial journal, Capital

The December issue of Capital - nostalgic ties dating back to the RajThe oldest financial journal of the country,Capital seems to have headed off a closure move on the 98th year of its existence. The limping paper is being taken over by Prafulla Goradia, the tall, handsome top executive of Duncan Brothers who, at 41, is paid Rs 2 lakh a year and heads the company's tea and agro divisions. The paper cost Goradia nearly a year's salary.Goradia, who vigorously denies that he is a front for proxy-buying by the Goenkas of Duncan, may not find it easy to put the breath of life into a paper whose decline started as the sun set on the British Empire. Sadly enough, with the passing of the years, what Capital has increasingly lacked is cash.Yet, the 4,500 weekly buyers of Capital are perhaps the most loyal among the country's readers. Many of them have nostalgic ties with the magazine dating back to the years of the Raj. In fact, the magazine continued to be edited by true blue Englishmen until 1962, and till the other day editors of Capital never stayed outside Calcutta's 'little England' of Alipur Road. Even today, a clerk in Capital gets a salary of not less than Rs 1,500 per month.Prestigious: The first issue published "in the interest of British capitalists and employers and labourers", was edited by Shirley Tremeame, then managing director of Great Eastern Company. He was assisted by W.A. Targett, an Australian newspaper-man. Its halcyon days began as the paper introduced some greatly-appreciated columns, written in particular by James Luke.The most popular column was the Ditchers' Diary, introduced by Lovett, a Times of India hand who took charge in 1912. The column continues even today. The good work of Lovett has been kept up all these 67 years by a team of ghost writers in Calcutta and London..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}In the sphere of economic journalism, the magazine has a number of 'firsts' to its credit. The Ditcher's Diary really marked the beginning of personalized columns in specialist journals. In 1937, Capital introduced indices of stocks and shares from the local stock exchange to interpret the general economic scene.During World War II, when investors were seeking the magic formula to get rich quick, Capital turned out to be their sole book of wisdom. At the end of the war an old British conglomerate, Bird & Company added the prestigious journal to its holdings and reduced it virtually to a house magazine.Hope: After Independence, Bird & Company retained its hold over Capital through the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries. But all the Bird company units were fast becoming "sick", and the magazine was relegated to the lowest priority for any rescue action.According to a former assistant editor of Capital, Jayanta Sarkar, "The corporate support gradually wore thin. Advertisements, surprisingly for a business paper financed by business, continued to decline. Making both ends meet was a problem, and there was an exodus of staff to other organizations."Goradia, who hopes to see the paper through a triumphant centenary, admits that his deal was "sentimental rather than for business". He wants the magazine to retain its traditional loyalty to the investors; "but the nature of investment too has changed. We now have considerable public capital in the economy and the focus of business has shifted. This journal also cannot afford to be perpetually tied to its colonial past".Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jan 2, 2015--- ENDS ---

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Top executive of Duncan Brothers takes over India's oldest financial journal, Capital

The oldest financial journal of the country, Capital seems to have headed off a closure move on the 98th year of its existence.

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