Who Owns Your Media: Prabhat Khabar’s rise from the ashes to becoming a regional powerhouse

Post independence, even after the reorganisation of India’s internal boundaries with the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, new states continued to be carved out. Not on linguistic lines as the Act had done, but reportedly to meet regional demands and address inequalities in regional development. 

The story of Prabhat Khabar begins in the 1980s, when Bihar was still undivided. In a rather candid interview with Khabar 24 Express’s Manish Kumar Ankur, veteran journalist SN Vinod recounted the time he met and founded Prabhat Khabar with Congress’s Gyan Ranjan in Ranchi. 

It all began with political manoeuvring, alliances, and an eventual friendship.  

Known to be very close to Indira Gandhi, Ranjan had suggested to her through a central minister, that Shibhu Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress should fight elections together, said Vinod in the interview. He recalled that when he was visiting Delhi, another central minister whose opinion Gandhi had sought, asked for his perspective. Vinod first wanted to confirm it with Soren, and did so after returning to Ranchi. He subsequently made the call to Delhi and the alliance took place. 

Vinod said, “Who got the credit? Gyan Ranjan – because the proposition was his. And in return, the Congress gave him a Vidhan Sabha ticket from Ranchi.” 

An India Today report around those years also noted that “Ranjan had emerged as a force to reckon with through his hold over the JMM and his instrumental role in the Congress (I)-JMM electoral alliance in 1980.” Furthermore, the Rajya Sabha Members Biographical Sketches (1952 – 2019) document from the official website confirms that Ranjan was a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985. 

But Ranjan, Vinod said, had faced great opposition. His narration of the situation to Khabar24 Express demonstrates how instrumental Vinod had been in Ranjan’s eventual victory. After this, he said, they got close.

Later, when Vinod was in Calcutta and his friend Dr Hari Krishna Budhiya (founder and MD of BFCL) was visiting, he introduced Budhiya to Ranjan, who was also in the city at the time. That’s when Ranjan brought up his desire to start a newspaper. 

Vinod recalled, “When Gyanji left, Budhiyaji asked me what the deal with the newspaper was all about. I said, ‘Wanted to launch one in 1974, but offset technology arrived, printing press, etc.’ Then he only asked me, ‘What’s your desire? And I replied that if resources are available, I’ll surely start one.”  

So Dr Budhiya invited Vinod to discuss it further about four or five days later, when he was planning to visit Patna, and asked Vinod to get Ranjan along too. At the meeting, they took the decision to start the newspaper. 

Later, what Ranjan and he agreed upon, as Vinod shared in the Khabar 24 Express interview, was that they would start a company that would own the printing press on a partnership basis. They named it Vigyan Prakashan Private Ltd. 

The name Vigyan wasn’t inspired by science but by the combination of Vinod and Gyan. Its four directors included the duo and their wives. Vinod shared that they had agreed that there would be no fifth director and that the newspaper would belong to Vinod alone, on a proprietorship basis.

In My Portion of Sky by Razi Ahmed – a memoir of Hemant Sinha, a businessman and son of renowned neuro physician Dr KK Sinha – Sinha junior also recalls Vinod as the founder. He is quoted as saying, “Prabhat Khabar was founded in 1984 by a man named SM Vinod. He belonged to Nagpur and had a vast experience in the publishing industry. He and a Congress leader, Mr Gyan Ranjan, had started Neutral Publishing Private Ltd, and under it they had started publishing the Prabhat Khabar newspaper. SM Vinod and Gyan Ranjan often used to visit my father seeking investment to establish a printing press, although he didn't invest in it”. 

The Press in India books though corroborates Vinod’s memory that the original company’s name was VPPL.

Soon, Vinod left for Delhi to register a title for their newspaper. He recalled wanting the word ‘samachar’ in it, but titles with any combination using this word were getting rejected. He told Khabar24 Express that the registrar then suggested that he think of a name combining English and Hindi words. Playing around with the idea of morning, news, and other such words, Prabhat Khabar came to Vinod’s mind. The registrar looked at the list and said, “Done.” 

The registered address for Vigyan Prakashan was Ranjan’s house, said Vinod, adding that the address of Prabhat Khabar Private Ltd, or PKPL, was Vinod’s house as a proprietor.  Eventually, though, Vinod said, he invited Ranjan to be a partner in the second company too, despite Ranjan not asking for it. 

Zaubacorp mentions VPPL’s incorporation date as November 28, 1983, and its registered address as 39, BURDWAN COMPOUND in Ranchi’s Lalpur. But the only company bearing a name close to PKPL, found on the MCA, is Prabhat Khabar Publications Ltd. But its incorporation date is 1994, and registered address, Kolkata. As of today, both companies have been struck off. 

For the operation of bank accounts, Vinod told Khabar24 Express that they had agreed that for VPPL, a signature from him or his wife and Ranjan or his wife would be required. In the case of a single signature, given that Vinod would be undertaking the day-to-day affairs, only he was authorised to do it. For PKPL, the proprietor account had been changed to a joint one, and so joint signatures would be required. But again, Vinod said, only he was authorised for a single signature, should a requirement arise.

Next, getting the sanction for the newspaper was a challenge, Vinod told Khabar24 Express, because of differences that Ranjan may have had with some authorities. Eventually, it did get official approval and the first edition of Prabhat Khabar was published in 1984. 

But the journey continued to be tumultuous. Disputes ensued between Ranjan and Vinod. From introducing a fifth partner without mutual consent to alleged offences, such as starting a separate bank account in the name of Prabhat Khabar as proprietor, “wrongfully” withdrawing money from the official account, and so on, in the interview, Vinod accused Ranjan of a variety of foul play. 

The disputes took such a turn that at one point the company accounts were frozen. Vinod alleged in the interview that Ranjan had “conspired and spun such a web” that he eventually had to withdraw. 

Press in India book of 1989 shows Gyan Ranjan alone as owner, although its 1985 edition mentions SN Vinod alone. 

The year 1989 saw two significant events – one, Ranjan became a member of the Bihar legislative council, continuing until 1995, and the other was that he sold Prabhat Khabar to Ranchi-based wire rope manufacturers, Usha Martin group. The group in turn incorporated Neutral Publishing House Ltd in the same year for the takeover, as per Care Ratings’ records, and paid off Ranjan’s loans worth Rs 2.5 crore, reported Rediff.

New owners, new lease of life

By 1989, the newspaper “was in dire straits, a failed venture with a print run of just around 600. The printing press was outdated, there were hardly any experienced journalists, nor was the news coverage any good,” recounted Harivansh, its acclaimed editor credited with turning it around, during an interview with Exchange4Media in 2005. 

The Press in India book of 1989 records Prabhat Khabar’s circulation in 1988 and 1987 at 44,662 and 43,976, respectively.  

Harivansh – who was from the same village as Jayaprakash Narayan, Balia in UP – was greatly influenced by him during college days and even participated in his movement in 1974, as per the Economic Times. Before pursuing a PG diploma in journalism, he had pursued post graduation in economics from Banaras Hindu University. After his traineeship with national daily Times of India, he moved to Mumbai to work with Dharmayug magazine. But from 1981 to 1984, he dabbled in the financial sector with a job at Bank of India, only to return to journalism as assistant editor of Amrit Bazar Patrika’s Hindi magazine Ravivar. It was during his tenure at the Kolkata-based magazine that he got the offer to helm the struggling Ranchi newspaper. 

“I was not happy with the news coverage there [Ravivar]. It was big city journalism, and I was looking for a change, for a chance to work in the sphere of social journalism. So when I got the Prabhat Khabar offer, I grabbed it. And since then, there has been no looking back,” Harivansh told E4M.

Milestones that Prabhat Khabar’s website enlists speak of new launches and expansion in the decade that follows. The publication started a Deepawali magazine in 1993, set foot in Jamshedpur in 1995, a year later in Patna, and successively launched in Dhanbad and Kolkata in 1999 and 2000, respectively.  

During this period, Gyan Ranjan, who had become a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1996, passed away after a brief illness on April 22, 1998.

Back in 2000, the website claims, Prabhat Khabar introduced colour printing to the region and also added “internet provider service” to its portfolio. The biggest event of that year, though, would have been the creation of Jharkhand as a separate state. 

The Hoot had reported that as per the National Readership Survey’s findings published in June 2001, the readership of “Jharkhand’s biggest newspaper” had gone up to 8.68 lakh from 3.64 lakh in the previous year. The circulation, the former media watchdog reported, was well over two lakh. 

This, despite Hindustan Times’s entry in Ranchi. Sevanti Ninan, the report’s author, attributed Prabhat Khabar’s success partly to the launch of its Kolkata edition the year before and partly to the news daily identifying itself as the newspaper of Jharkhand. The Hoot quoted Harivansh as saying, “We identified ourselves with the dreams of the new state.” 

Ninan also noted that “the paper covers its territory at the level at which coverage is needed if media is to be an agent of change at the grassroots”. It had stringers in 70 out of the 114 blocks of the state and 30 percent of them were Adivasis.

On Jharkhand’s foundation day in 2001, Prabhat Khabar brought out a 76-paged special supplement for the occasion. “A precedent that was anxiously copied by rivals,” Ninan noted in her book, Headlines from the Heartland. Adding that “this anniversary issue would become an annual ritual, with Hindustan and Jagran doing the same”.

The Hoot’s report also emphasised that Prabhat Khabar built its reputation as a courageous investigative newspaper with its reports on the alleged Rs 700-crore fodder scam. Not only did it break the news of the scam in 1992, but went on to publish some 70 reports on it. With just four or five reporters working on the story, it waged a sustained campaign despite threats and pressures.

With the spurt in readership, the newspaper had hit breakeven, noted the Hoot, attracting advertising for “big ticket consumer items” such as cars. To woo major advertisers, it also maintained a marketing office in Delhi. Further, it took a bank loan to build a printing press in Jamshedpur. 

In 2001, the group also launched a journalism school named Prabhat Khabar Institute of Media Studies. Three years later, in 2004, it began its Deoghar edition. Its website claims that at the time, Prabhat Khabar was the only newspaper with four editions in Jharkhand. 

Two years on, the publication launched an edition in Siliguri and began an e-paper service for all its six editions. Harivansh explained in Headlines from the Heartland that the reason for starting the Siliguri edition was that the north Bengal region – comprising Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and north and south Dinajpur districts – had a huge Hindi-speaking population that was devoid of a local Hindi daily. It also started publishing the Jharkhand Development Report with Delhi-based economics research firm, Indicus Analytics, and a yellow-pages styled magazine Main Hoon Ranchi. 

To sell, or not to sell

Since 1996, a Business Standard report noted, Prabhat Khabar had been running on its own steam without financial support from Usha Martin. Even The Telegraph arrived at this conclusion after perusing various reports. No wonder, the prospect of a fresh cash infusion was heartening, as Business Standard indicated, when Usha Martin’s sale started making headlines at the end of 2006.

Edelweiss Capital was appointed as merchant bankers, the daily was valued at Rs 100 crore, and a non-binding bid exercise reportedly ensued. What began as a search for funds to expand, Business Standard noted, raised the possibility of a change of ownership. 

Around the same time, Rediff reported that among the bidders were Jagran Prakashan, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett, Coleman & Co, Amar Ujala, and ABP. It said the bids apparently ranged between Rs 50 crore and Rs 115 crore and also clarified that “since the Jhawars of Usha Martin declined comment, the bid estimates are guesstimates and not precise numbers.”

With a readership of 10.77 lakh, as Hindustan marched ahead of Prabhat Khabar’s 9.86 lakh, HT said that some felt the latter’s valuation was rather high. But others justified it as the newspaper led in circulation and the east, especially Jharkhand, was a growing market. The HT report added that advertising in the east (Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa) had been growing at nearly 19 percent a year, against the national average of 15-16 percent.

But the group faced pressure from both politicians and employees to abort the sale. The Telegraph reported a couple of months later, in February 2007, that “politicians have jumped into the arena to condemn the ‘sell-out’”, adding that a pamphlet was circulated in the state capital exhorting people to resist the sale. Whereas, the main worry for employees and journalists was the probable takeover by Jagran Group, as it already had editions in Ranchi and Jamshedpur. Expecting job losses, the employees told The Telegraph, “Surely they are not going to keep publishing both the newspapers from all the centres.” 

Eventually, the owners gave in to the pressure. On February 14, 2007, Rajeev Jhawar, the group’s MD apprised its chairman of “strong sentiments of the employees against acquisition of the paper by Dainik Jagran”, reported The Telegraph. It quoted him as saying, “Earlier we had decided to divest a portion of our stakes but now we have taken a final decision against selling and will continue to run the business.” 

Diversification and big exits, but the show goes on

That year, as per Prabhat Khabar’s website, the group also added “mobile services provider” to its portfolio and published Jamshedpur yellow pages. A year later, the group started an FM Radio channel, 104.8 – Radio Dhoom, in Ranchi and Jamshedpur and it began publishing a magazine called Higher Education Guide for the region’s students in 2009. 

The next year, Harivansh resigned as managing director – to become the chief editor. Kamal Kumar Goenka replaced him.  

Over the next two years, in 2010 and 2011, the publication launched three new editions in Bihar, first in Muzaffarpur, then in Bhagalpur, and subsequently in Gaya, bringing its total to 10 editions and four in Bihar. It also launched its Bihar Development Report with Indicus Analytics.

For the first time, the newspaper reduced its cover price in Jharkhand. Explaining the reason, Prabhat Khabar’s managing director, KK Goenka, told E4M that as per latest readership survey, “only 18-20 percent of people read a newspaper in Jharkhand” and they recognised there’s “a huge untapped segment that is unable to read a newspaper because of the high cover price”. To market it, the publication also launched a campaign, titled ‘Ab padega poora Jharkhand (now all of Jharkhand will read)’.

The pricing strategy was replicated in Bihar too. In addition, Prabhat Khabar also began printing colour editions in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bihar. 

In October 2011, RK Dutta, executive director of Neutral Publishing House Ltd that owns Prabhat Khabar told E4M that the launch of the publication’s Gaya edition “holds considerable importance to our expansion strategy in Bihar, enabling us to further broaden our presence in the Bihar and Jharkhand region. We are confident that we will command a market share of 40 percent in the overall circulation pie of nearly two lakh copies in this region.” He also divulged that with the launch of the new edition, the publication was looking to further consolidate its presence in the region.

For rural readers of Jharkhand and Bihar, the group launched a weekly, Panchayatnama, in 2012.

Two years later, as per the Hindustan Times, Harivansh – who had served as an additional information advisor to socialist veteran Chandra Shekhar, India’s Prime Minister between November 1990 and June 1991 – was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the JDU. He was reportedly one of the three candidates from the party, and five from Bihar to get elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha; the other two were from the BJP. 

In 2016, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appointed Harivansh as the party’s general secretary. That’s also the year Harivansh formally ended his association with the newspaper. To replace him, E4M reported, Prabhat Khabar roped in Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Amar Ujala’s executive editor, who had also worked for the BBC for eight years in Delhi and London.

Around this time, Neutral Publishing House Ltd had explored the idea of undertaking an IPO, but as per a company resolution, the plan was shelved for the near term. So in order to “provide liquidity to certain senior employees on their investment in the company held through Loyal Enterprises LLP”, it wished to buy back all of the LLP’s shares and/or arrange for their purchase by third parties. 

The board approved the buyback on May 6, 2016, revealed a special resolution. NPHL got authorisation to buyback up to 16,72,744 equity shares – proposed for all equity shareholders “on a proportionate basis”. As per the company’s shareholding records it was the exact number of shares that Loyal Enterprises held in NPHL in FY2016. 

The buyback price of Rs 117.55 for each Rs 10 share was based on valuations by PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the maximum amount required would be 19,66,40,000, “proposed to be utilised from its free reserves, securities premium account and other sources permitted as per law.” 

The pricing, it said, was meant to offer “a reasonably attractive exit option to shareholders who wish to tender their shares in buy-back while ensuring that the buy-back price is value enhancing to shareholders who prefer to retain ownership of their stock.”  

The buyback concluded by June 2016, as per the FY2016 financial statement.

Comparing the shareholders’ list of 2016 and 2017, we find an increase in the holding of one of its promoter companies, Peter Investments India Ltd, from 13,35,700 (5.92 percent) to 18,75,700 (8.98 percent). It had purchased 5,40,000 shares from Babadham Vanjiya Private Ltd, which had 7,00,000 or 3.10 percent shareholding in 2016. 

Anupriya Jhawar’s holding also saw a rise – from 7,00,000 (3.10 percent) to 8,30,000 (3.97 percent) – 30,000 shares were sold or transferred to her by Umesh Barasia, and 100,000 shares by Aanchal Barasia. 

The shareholder’s list also got a new member in Anupama Jhawar, holding 30,000 shares. Loyal Enterprises, whose shares had amounted to 7.42 percent stake in 2016, having been bought back, no more appeared in the 2017 list. Accordingly, from the previous total of 22,550,184 shares – after the buyback of 16,72,744 equity shares from Loyal Enterprises – reduced to 20,87,440 in FY2017. 

While Harivansh rose to the rank of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha in 2018, and got re-elected too, by 2020, Prabhat Khabar also seemed to be doing well. As per a report by Exchange4Media, in 2019, it ranked among the top five Hindi dailies in terms of total readership and average issue readership. The report read: “Dainik Jagran retained the top position with a total readership of 7,36,73,000… Dainik Bhaskar has become the second-largest read daily after overtaking Amar Ujala.” 

As per Care Ratings’ report of 2023, Prabhat Khabar is published at Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Deoghar and Dhanbad in Jharkhand; at Patna, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur in Bihar; and at Kolkata in West Bengal.

The pandemic certainly hit its circulation and advertising revenues. But like most media houses, Prabhat Khabar has also been focusing on deepening its digital and social media presence. 

The publication has 10 lakh followers on Facebook, 238.1K followers on X (formerly Twitter) that it joined in 2014, and 955K subscribers on its YouTube account that it started in May 2017. By July 2017, it had already begun live streaming on YouTube. Meanwhile, the Prabhat Khabar app is available on both Apple Store and Google Play Store and in October last year, the group launched its podcast around World Cup 2023. 

The publication also has a BTL division called Buzz, which as per Prabhat Khabar’s website carries out events and outdoor activities, such as road shows, where advertisers may not only showcase their products but can also take their promotion to the consumers’ doorstep.

In 2022, Prabhat Khabar’s KK Goenka, who had been with the group since 1989, also quit. The paper’s description on Linkedin recognises KK Goenka, RK Dutta and Harivansh as “considerably, the three craftsmen behind the overall development of Prabhat Khabar brick-by-brick, which underwent quite an eventful and challenging journey for more than two decades to bring it to the podium where it is standing today.” 

Moolah matters

In 2019 – the year E4M reported that Prabhat Khabar was among the country’s top five Hindi dailies in terms of readership – the publication’s financial statements reported a 6.67 percent increase in circulation revenue from the previous year, and 3.46 percent increase in ad revenue. 

But with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the circulation revenue decreased by 8.34 percent and ad revenue decreased by 4.26 percent in 2020. The next year, the publication took its biggest hit with a further 23.22 percent decrease in circulation revenue and 35 percent decrease in ad revenue. 

After two years of setbacks, 2022 signalled revival. Circulation revenue increased by 5.83 percent and ad revenues by 5.7 percent. The highest jump was in FY2023 with a 16.12 percent increase in circulation revenue and 20 percent increase in ad revenue. 

As for the company’s overall performance, with 2023 boasting Rs 18.8 crore in operating revenues, it finally reached figures close to what NPHL enjoyed a decade ago. Although, compared to Rs 53 lakh of profit in 2014, it saw a Rs 0.52 crore loss in FY2023. 

In the years leading to the pandemic, its operating revenues first rose incrementally – from Rs 21.46 crore in 2015 to Rs 23.14 crore in 2016; Rs 23.04 in 2017; witnessing a slight dip to Rs 22.65 crore in 2018; and back to Rs 23.46 in 2019. But with regards to profitability, after an initial upswing – with profits increasing to Rs 1.15 crore in 2015 and hitting its peak at Rs 4.01 crore in 2016 – it began sliding to Rs 2.92 crore in 2017, further to Rs 1.9 crore in 2018 and Rs 0.92 crore in 2019. 

During the pandemic, even though its operating revenues went down for two years, to Rs 23.24 crore in 2020 and Rs 15.8 crore in 2021, respectively, its profitability improved. In 2020, its profit rose to Rs 1.8 crore and decreased slightly to Rs 1.61 crore in 2021. In the last couple of years, the figures have moved inversely again. While the operating revenues increased to Rs 16.8 crore in FY2022 and Rs 20.26 crore in FY2023, it saw losses to the tune of Rs 0.28 crore and Rs 0.52 crore in the corresponding years. 

Ownership pattern

The group’s flagship company, Neutral Publishing House Ltd, has about four major shareholders. Of these, UMIL Share and Stock Broking Services Ltd is the biggest, with 30.54 percent of shares, as per the FY2023 shareholding list. Prashant and Rajeev Jhawar own 19.05 percent and 18.62 percent of shares, respectively. Usha Martin Ventures Limited owns 11.37 percent, Usha Breco Ltd owns 8.49 percent shares, and Peterhouse Investments India Ltd owns 5.69 percent shares. Prashant Jhawar’s daughter, Anupriya holds 3.98 percent shares and wife Anupama holds 0.14 percent shares. All of their shares together amount to 97.88 percent holding. 

UMIL, Usha Martin Ventures and Peterhouse Investments India are promoter companies of NPHL. 

Of the remaining shares, Prajeev Investments Ltd holds 2,00,000 shares or 0.96 percent. Vico Syntex Private Ltd, Bancon Resources Private Ltd, Remix Dealers Private Ltd, Extrilinks Tie Up Private Ltd, Vincasu Resources Private Ltd, and One Stop Commosale Private Ltd hold 40,000 shares or 0.19 percent shares each. 

Subham Lakhotia, Anil Kumar Agarwal, Gayatri Agarwal, Rakesh Sinha, Shashi Lakhani, Aman Rathi, Shobha Lakhotia, Ashwin Lakhani, and Raj Laxmi Rathi hold a nominal stake of two shares each.

To further understand the ownership, Newslaundry took a deeper look at NPHL’s biggest shareholders. UMIL Share and Stock Broking Services Ltd – that has a 30.54 percent stake in NPHL – is owned by Rajeev Jhawar and Brij Kishore Jhawar, who hold 49.99 percent shares each. Rajeev’s mother Shanti Devi holds 100 shares, his wife Susmita has 50 shares, and daughter Shreya 100 shares. Fifty shares are also held by Prajeev Investments Ltd, and 100 by Brij Investments Ltd. 

Next, in Usha Martin Ventures Ltd, which holds 11.37 percent of NPHL’s shares, Prashant Jhawar is the biggest shareholder with 49.91 percent stake. Peterhouse Investments India Ltd that also has 5.69 percent stake in NPHL, holds 27.18 percent in Usha Martin Ventures. 

Peterhouse Investments Ltd, which is Usha Martin Ventures’ third largest shareholder with a 20.89 percent stake, was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, where it also has its registered office. 

Anupama Jhawar holds 56,449 shares or 0.97 percent in UMVL, and Prashant’s son Apurv holds 59,941 or 1.05 percent shares. Prashant’s daughter Anupriya and mother Uma Devi have a nominal stake of 100 shares each. 

In Peterhouse Investments India Ltd the biggest shareholder is again Prashant Jhawar, holding 62.56 percent shares. Next is Anupriya Jhawar with a holding of 32.01 percent shares. Usha Martin Ventures holds 2.22 percent shares and Uma Devi holds 1.14 percent shares. The remaining 3 percent is divided among 124 individual shareholders. 

Newslaundry could not trace the shareholding of Usha Breco Ltd, which owns 8.49 percent shares of NPHL, as it doesn’t e-file documents as per the MCA. 

NPHL has no subsidiaries.

Infographics by Gobindh VB.

Citations

1. How India’s map has evolved since 1947.

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/how-india-s-map-has-evolved-since-1947-1565803882094.html

2. Founder editor of Prabhat Khabar, SN Vinod Exclusive on ‘Meri Patrikarita, Khatte, Meethe Annubhav’ with Manish Kumar Ankur, Khabar24 Express. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH_NmC85r_E

3. Pressure mounts against Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra, Tariq Anwer emerges as possible successor.

https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19821130-pressure-mounts-against-bihar-cm-jagannath-mishra-tariq-anwer-emerges-as-possible-successor-772428-2013-07-30

4. Rajya Sabha Members Biographical Sketches (1952 – 2019).

https://cms.rajyasabha.nic.in/UploadedFiles/ElectronicPublications/Member_Biographical_Book.pdf

5. About Dr Hari Krishna Budhiya.

https://bfclalloys.com/about-us/leadership/

6. Book My Portion of the Sky by Razi Ahmed, Hemant Sinha’s excerpt. 

https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/My_Portion_of_Sky_A_Memoir_of_Hemant_Sin/yznOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Gyan+Ranjan,+Congress+politician&pg=PA206&printsec=frontcover

7. Renowned neuro physician Dr KK Sinha passes away (about Hemant Sinha).

https://www.hindustantimes.com/ranchi/renowned-neuro-physician-dr-kk-sinha-passes-away/story-GTyF7PTG71E4aGLVDfIXGP.html

8. Press in India Books 1989 and 1985

9. Zaubacorp – Vigyan Prakashan Private Limited.

https://www.zaubacorp.com/company/VIGYAN-PRAKASHAN-PRIVATE-LIMITED/U22210JH1983PTC001904

10. MCA – Master Data – Prabhat Khabar Publishing.

11. Care Ratings 2023 – Neutral Publishing House Ltd.

https://www.careratings.com/upload/CompanyFiles/PR/202310121014_Neutral_Publishing_House_Limited.pdf

12. A small newspaper’s amazing turnaround by Shuchi Bansal. 

https://www.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/11paper.htm

13. E4M Interview

https://www.exchange4media.com/contentisking-news/harivansheditor-and-ceoprabhat-khabar-86423.html

14. Harivansh Narayan Singh: From Rs 500 job to RS Dy Chairperson, 10 things you should know about him.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/harivansh-narayan-singh-from-rs-500-job-to-rs-dy-chairperson-10-things-you-should-know-about-him/articleshow/65333983.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

15. Prabhat Khabar’s website – About us section. 

https://www.prabhatkhabar.com/about-us

16. The Parliamentary Debates Official Report: 184th session of Rajya Sabha - Obituaries.

17. Prabhat Khabar: Expanding in Reach and Relevance.

http://asu.thehoot.org/media-watch/media-practice/prabhat-khabar-expanding-in-reach-and-relevance-440

18. Headlines from the Heartland by Sevanti Ninan.

19. Business Standard – Shuchi Bansal: Prabhat Khabar's turnaround story.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shuchi-bansal-prabhat-khabar-s-turnaround-story-106120901029_1.html

20. Telegraph: Prabhat Khabar on sale – Jagran tipped to pip Dainik Bhaskar in takeover race.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/prabhat-khabar-on-sale-jagran-tipped-to-pip-dainik-bhaskar-in-takeover-race/cid/735250

21. Impending takeover is talk of town – Politicians urge Usha Martin against selling Newspaper.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/impending-takeover-is-talk-of-town-politicians-urge-usha-martin-against-selling-newspaper/cid/734583

22. Sale deal off for Prabhat Khabar.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/sale-deal-off-for-prabhat-khabar/cid/733673

23. Prabhat Khabar slashes cover price in Jharkhand to boost readership.

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/prabhat-khabar-slashes-cover-price-in-jharkhand-to-boost-readership-38457.html

24. Prabhat Khabar broadens base in Gaya with Gaya Edition. 

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/prabhat-khabar-broadens-base-in-bihar-with-gaya-edition-43915.html

25. Prabhat Khabar launches from Gaya.

https://www.afaqs.com/news/media/31972_prabhat-khabar-launches-from-gaya

26. Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election: NDA’s Harivansh, a journalist who took up social cause.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-deputy-chairman-election-nda-s-harivansh-a-journalist-who-took-up-social-cause/story-DhKXYyaEKJrZIFibzYDGqJ.html

27. Ashutosh Chaturvedi to be Editor-in-Chief of Prabhat Khabar on Exchange4media.

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/ashutosh-chaturvedi-to-be-editor-in-chief-of-prabhat-khabar-67220.html

28. NPHL - Copy of resolution 150316.

29. NPHL - 2016 shareholder’s list.

30. NPHL - Copy of Special Resolution 03062016. 

31. NPHL - Optional Attachment-(2)-03062016; XRBL 2016.

32. NPHL - Shareholders’ list 2017.

33. Harivansh Narayan Singh Changemaker in Rajya Sabha – India Today.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/harivansh-narayan-singh-changemaker-in-rajya-sabha-1311252-2018-08-10

34. IRS 2019 Q1 Print readership on the rise.

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/irs-2019-q1-print-readership-has-registered-an-increase-96357.html

35. Prabhat Khabar - Facebook Page.

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/irs-2019-q1-print-readership-has-registered-an-increase-96357.html

36. Prabhat Khabar on X.

https://x.com/prabhatkhabar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

37. Prabhat Khabar’s YouTube Channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3925QSRN5Pxd2GSre0l76g

38. Prabhat Khabar app on Apple Store. 

https://apps.apple.com/in/developer/neutral-publishing-house-limited/id1728595615

39. Prabhat Khabar app on Google Play Store. 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.readwhere.whitelabel.prabhatkhabar&hl=en&gl=US

40. Prabhat Khabar’s MD KK Goenka quits.

https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/prabhat-khabars-md-kk-goenka-quits-122163.html

41. Prabhat Khabar – Linkedin Page.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/prabhat-khabar-neutral-publishing-house-ltd.-/about/

42. Financial statements of Neutral Publishing House Ltd from XRBL 2023, 2021, 2018, 2016

43. NPHL FY2023 list of shareholders and debenture holders 

44. UMIL Share and Stock Broking Services Ltd - 2023 Shareholders and Debenture holders list.

45. Usha Martin Ventures Limited - 2023 list of shareholders and debenture holders.

46. Peterhouse Investments India Ltd. - 2023 list of shareholders and debenture holders.

47. Usha Martin Education and Solutions Ltd. disclosures to SEBI

48. Peterhouse Investments Ltd. disclosures to SEBI

49. MCA Document Services – Usha Breco Ltd. 

50. Ministry of Corporate Affairs - financial, shareholding and other company documents of NPHL.