The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper.

In 2008, the
newspaper reported that with a circulation of over 3.14 million it had been certified by the Audit
Bureau of Circulations (India) as the world's largest selling English-language daily, ranking it as
the third largest selling newspaper in any language in the world and the largest selling newspaper
outside Japan.[2] According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2012, the Times of India is the
most widely read English newspaper in India with a readership of 7.643 million. This ranks the
Times of India as the top English daily in India by readership.[3] It is owned and published by
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.

Contents

1 History
o 1.1 Beginnings
o 1.2 As Bennett & Coleman
o 1.3 Under Dalmia's
o 1.4 Under Government of India
o 1.5 Jain Family
2 Editions and publications
3 Controversies
o 3.1 FERA Violation charges
o 3.2 Editorial controversies
4 Times Group Network
5 Notable employees
6 Recent updates
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

History

Times of India Buildings, ca. 1898

Beginnings
The Times of India was founded on 3 November 1838[4] as The Bombay Times and Journal of
Commerce in Bombay.[5] Published every Saturday and Wednesday, The Bombay Times and

Journal of Commerce was launched as a semi-weekly edition by Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath

Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist. It contained news from Britain and the world, as well as the
Indian Subcontinent. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850.
In 1860, Robert Knight (18251892) the then editor bought out the Indian shareholders and
merged with the rival Bombay Standard, and started India's first news agency. It wired Times
dispatches to papers across the country and became the Indian agent for Reuters news service. In
1861, he changed the name from the Bombay Times and Standard to The Times of India. Knight
fought for a press free of prior restraint or intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by
governments, business interests, and cultural spokesmen and led the paper to national
prominence. .[6] In the 19th century, this newspaper company employed more than 800 people
and had a sizeable circulation in India and Europe.

As Bennett & Coleman

Subsequently, The Times of India saw its ownership change several times until 1892, when
Thomas Bennett and Frank Morris Coleman (who drowned in the sinking of the SS Persia (1900)
in 1915) acquired the newspaper through a new company they had formed Bennet, Coleman &
Co. Ltd.

Under Dalmia's
In 1946, they sold the company to sugar magnate Ramkrishna Dalmya, of the then-famous
industrial family, Dalmiyas, for Rs 20 million. In 1948, Dalmiya had to sell the newspaper to his
son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain (of the Kunal Jain group from Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh) to pay
off a debt that he owed to an insurance company.

Under Government of India

In the early 1960's, Jain was imprisoned on charges of selling newsprint on the black market, and
the Government of India took over the newspaper replacing half of the directors and appointing a
Bombay (now Mumbai) High Court judge as the Chairman.

Jain Family
In 1976, during the emergency in India, the ownership of the newspaper was transferred back to
Ashok Jain (Shanti Prasads son and the father of Samir Jain and Vineet Jain).[7]

Editions and publications

TOI's first office is opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai where it was
founded.[5]
The Times of India is published by the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. This company,
along with its other group companies, known as The Times Group, also publishes The Economic
Times, Mumbai Mirror, Pune Mirror, Bangalore Mirror, Ahmedabad Mirror, the Navbharat
Times (a Hindi-language daily broadsheet), the Maharashtra Times (a Marathi-language daily
broadsheet), Delhi Times, Bangalore Times and Ei Samay (a Bengali daily).
The Times of India has its markets in major cities such as Mumbai,[8] Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy,
Puducherry, Patna, Pune, Calicut, Kochi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Nashik, Panaji, Mysore, Hubli,
Mangalore, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Raipur, Ranchi, Guwahati, Trivandrum,
Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Bhopal and Varanasi[citation needed]

Controversies
FERA Violation charges

On 3 July 1998, Ashok Kumar Jain, then Chairman of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.,
parent company of The Times of India was arrested in his Mumbai residence after 18
months of legal wrangling with Enforcement Directorate for alleged violations of illegal
transfer of funds to a tune of 1.25 million USD to an overseas account. Shortly after
arrest Ashok Jain complained of chest pain and got admitted to hospital and later would
leave to USA where he passed away in 1999.[9][10][11][12] Also, the Times of India was
accused of distorting facts pertaining to the case,even giving Ashok's indictment by the
Enforcement Directorate the tint of a larger conspiracy against the Jain community in
general.

The then BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee accused the then Prime minister I. K. Gujral of
shielding the Jains due to family relations [9]

Editorial controversies

On 26 June 1975, the day after a state of emergency was declared in India, the Bombay
edition of The Times of India carried an entry in its obituary column that read "D.E.M

O'Cracy beloved husband of T.Ruth, father of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and
Justica expired on 26 June".[13] The move was a critique of Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi's 21-month state of emergency, which is now widely known as "the Emergency"
and seen by many as a roundly authoritarian era of Indian government.[14][15]

In 1998, the summary dismissal of then editor H.K. Dua was attributed to his pursuit of
an independent editorial policy that did not suit the interests of the promoters of the
group.[16] A complaint was filed by People's Union for Civil Liberties in this matter with
Press Council of India. The PCI censured The Times of India.[citation needed]H.K. Dua later
claimed that his dismissal was retaliation for his refusal to comply with Ashok Jain's
request to help him out of his FERA violation case by ED, using his editorial position to
build up public support besides lobbying with politicians.

On 6 July 2012, The Times of India published an article which reported that Mauritius
foreign minister Arvin Boolell, who was on an official visit to India during this period,
had stated that Mauritius was willing to cede its Outer island, that is the Agalga Islands,
to India in exchange for the maintenance of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
between India and Mauritius.[17] The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius later denied
the claims of handing over the Agalga Islands to India. He also denied that he had
named the Agalga Islands in his conversation with the journalist of The Times of India
and pointed out that the TOI had "a hidden agenda" as it was not the first time that TOI
had done this. The Minister claims that he talked to the reporter who wrote the article and
that the reporter had "apologized", following the publication of this article. The High
Commission of Mauritius in India issued a statement and explained that "this information
is erroneous, false and malicious": "Never was the issue of Agalga raised either on a
stand-alone basis or as part of the double-tax avoidance agreement between India and
Mauritius". He explained that the Mauritian Minister had granted several interviews to
the Indian press and he at no time discussed the issue of Agalga. The TOI published
another article on 6 July 2012 with the title "Minister clarifies Mauritius island offer" and
mentioned that it had knowledge about an earlier proposal about the Agalga Islands and
had therefore put a question on the two islands to which the minister had responded.
However the TOI did not mention that the offer of Agalga islands was denied by the
Government of Mauritius.[18][19][20][21]

Times Group Network

Zigwheels: A website focused on cars, including reviews, road tests, and other special
features.

Speaking Tree: A spiritual network intended to allow spiritual seekers to link spiritual
seekers with established practitioners.

Healthmeup: A health, diet, and fitness website.

1838
The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was first published on November 3, 1838 as a bi- weekly newspaper
..
for Bombay's business community. Dr. J.E. Brennan (also Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce) was the Editor
with owners comprising of aBritish syndicate of 11 firms, two barristers, a doctor and native merchant Sir
Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.
1850
..
..
Shareholders decide to increase the share capital and the paper is converted into a daily.
1859
..

..

Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India merges into The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce to
form Bombay Times & Standard.
1861

..

Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times & Standard and Bombay Telegraph & Courier to form The
Times of India - giving it a national character.
1892
T. J. Bennett becomes the editor and enters into a partnership with F.M. Coleman to form a joint stock company Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).
1907

..

..

..

.. Editor Stanley Reed revolutionizes news production by extending the deadline to midnight. Until then any news ..
that came in after 5 pm was held over for the next day. The newspapers first price war was also initiated with
cover price being cut from 4 annas to 1 anna leading to a five-fold increase in circulation.
1946
..
..
The Times of India gets Indian ownership with Seth Ramakrishna Dalmia buying the company.
1947
..

..

..

..

Exclusive Sunday edition of Times of India launched in Mumbai. The company also launches its Hindi daily Nav
Bharat Times in Delhi.
1948

Sahu Jain Group takes over as the owners of the company after Ramakrishna Dalmia sells the firm to his son-inlaw Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain - who becomes the first chairman of the group.
1950
..
..
The Times of India launches in Delhi.
1952
..
..
Filmfare launched.
..
1959
..

Femina launched.
1961
..

..
The Economic Times is launched.
1962

..

..
Maharashtra Times launched.
1965

..

..
Femina Miss India contest started.
1988

..

..

Times of India completes 150 years. Special stamp released by Government of India to commemorate the
occasion.
1996

..

..
The Times of India crosses 1 million mark in circulation. It also carries the first-ever colour photograph.
1997

..

..
BCCL enters into music market with Times Music.
1999

..

Indiatimes webportal launched; BCCL enters music retailing business with Planet M. Also operates the first-ever
private FM broadcast through Times FM (which later becomes Radio Mirchi).
2000

..

..

..
The Times of India crosses the 2 million mark in circulation.
2001

..

Radio Mirchi - Nationwide private FM broadcasting starts. 360 Degrees - Event management business also
launched.

..

TOI goes all color and storms Delhi by being "Number One".
2003
Launch of the Times Private Treaties as a strategic business division.
..

Launch of the Jobs portal Times Jobs.

..

TOI E-paper launched.

..

Entry into TV business with the launch of Indias first lifestyle and entertainment channel - Zoom.
2005

..

Launch of a Matrimonials website TimesMatri later rebranded as Simply Marry.

Mumbai Mirror, the city-centric daily tabloid launched in Mumbai.
2006
Launch of a television News Channel called Times Now.
Radio Mirchi holding company ENIL (Entertainment Network India Limited) lists on the Indian stock markets. It
is the first Times Group company to list on the bourses with IPO being oversubscribed by more than 41 times.
..

..
Launch of a Property services portal Magic Bricks.
TimesofMoney launches Remit2Home, to cater to global remittance market.
Aquisition of Karnatakas leading newspaper company Vijayanand Printers Limited makes BCCL the dominant
force in Karnataka.
2007

Launch of Bangalore Mirror, Ahmedabad Mirror, ET (Gujarati) and Whats Hot a premier weekend entertainment
..
supplement.
..
The Times of India becomes largest English daily in the world with circulation breaching the 3 million mark and
beating Sun (tabloid) of UK.
2008
..

Launch of ET (Hindi), Pune Mirror and The Times of India editions at Jaipur, Goa and Chennai.

..

Acquisition of Virgin Radio (now rebranded as Absolute Radio) in the UK.

2009
..

TOI Crest edition launched.

..

Launch of ET Now premier business channel having integrated newsroom with ET print edition.
2010
Private Treaties re-branded as Brand Capital.
The Speaking Tree newspaper launched.
..

ET Wealth launched.
Maharashtra Times launches Pune edition.
Vijay Next (premier weekly newspaper from Vijay Karnataka) launched.

..

Indias first HD-only premium movie channel Movies Now (HD) launched.
2011
..

Sunday ET re-launched as a tabloid.

..

Bodhivriksha (spiritual weekend newspaper in Kannada) launched.

2013
..

Launch of Indias first English Entertainment Channel focused on Romance and Comedy in HD as Romedy Now+
and SD as Romedy Now.

..