FROM THE ARCHIVES
similar stories, we found that some of them had included wrongly the name of one pharma company to the list of companies that were under the ED/IT Department scanner and had bought bonds just days later. Our digital archives showed that the investigators were not searching the company but only an employee.
Our search showed that a reporter of The Hindu Group covering the pharma beat had led a copy saying the house of an employee of a pharma company was being searched by the ED. A photojournalist had clicked photos of ocers entering the premises of the employee. An editor had probably asked the right questions – for instance, was it the company or the employee’s house that was being searched? – and edited the story accordingly. Given that the story was led years ago, when content management systems were still primitive and smaller stories did not always make their way online, it was noteworthy that the story was published on the website. This allowed us to nd it easily. We were thankful to the editors who had ensured that such stories went up online and to the tech teams which had made sure that such stories did not get lost when The Hindu migrated to new content management systems or during website redesigns. In short, we realised that a lot of editorial calls, both big and small, taken over the years had made it possible for us to write the electoral bonds story accurately.
In this digital era, reporters are under great pressure. They are tasked with recording podcasts and videos and writing explainers and long-form stories. But they don’t do all this at the cost of ling the so-called run-of-the-mill stories. Reporters, through their everyday stories, the rst drafts of history, which are sometimes deemed uninteresting, are the ones who lay the foundation for the big stories.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
APRIL 19, 1974
New Delhi, April 18: The Petroleum and Chemicals Minister, Mr. D.K. Barooah, to-day announced that an Oil Industry Development Fund for Rs. 45 crores would be created and placed at the disposal of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission.
Replying to the demands for grants of the
Petroleum and Chemicals Ministry in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Barooah said that though the ONGC “is notionally an autonomous body, it entirely depended on the Government for funds.”
Mr. Barooah indicated that Rs. 45 crores would be given annually. This fund would be adequate for the ONGC’s purpose. The ONGC was not only going to have o-shore drilling but was also trying to get locations in other countries for oil exploration.
The Haldia renery, which had been completed, would go into production in a couple of months.
A special cable to the “Bombay Chronicle” dated London, April 17, says: Last night’s Indian debate was a complete asco. There was an air of pretence and futility all over the speeches. The front benches were deserted. The Prime
Minister was absent which was adversely commented upon by Mr. Pope Simpson. The Liberal amendment asking for a commission of inquiry was not moved, as a result of active canvassing by the father-in-law of the Viceroy’s son, Sir Alfred Mond and Malcolm Hailey.