Arun Shourie is one of India’s most renowned and controversial journalists. From 1979 to 1990, he was the most visible face of Indian journalism as he challenged the might of the state and battled the attempts of successive governments to muzzle the press.As the crusading and uncompromising editor of the English-language daily the Indian Express, he introduced a new style of aggressive, independent investigative journalism to India.
Shourie was born in Jullundur, Punjab, on Nov. 2, 1941. He received his doctorate in economics from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and served as an economist with the World Bank between 1967 and 1978. Shourie also worked from 1972 to 1974 as a consultant to the Indian Planning Commission, then the arena of major controversies within the government, and made his first foray into journalism by writing several critical articles on economic policy.
His writings have gained him a vast following, as well as many enemies, across the country. He has earned many national and international awards, including the World Press Review’s International Editor of the Year and The Freedom to Publish Award of the Indian Federation of Publishers.
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