Chakravartty was born on 3 November 1913 in India's northeastern state of
Assam. He was the founder-editor of the respected current affairs weekly
Mainstream. He graduated from the
University of Calcutta and went on to study at
Merton College, Oxford. Chakravarty taught history at
Calcutta University in the 1930s before taking to journalism. Before plunging into active journalism, he was special correspondent of the
Communist Party of India’s People’s War
and People’s Age
. In 1959, he set up the
India Press Agency and immediately broke the story on the alleged espionage activities of the then Prime Minister's personal assistant,
M. O. Mathai. The story rocked parliament, and Mathai was forced to resign. He then founded Mainstream, with which he was associated, first as editor, then as adviser until his death. Between 1975 and 1977, he played a key role in press freedom and, with other senior journalists, fought against
Rajiv Gandhi's Anti-Defamation Bill and forced its withdrawal. Chakravartty was a member of the Second Press Commission, and of the
National Integration Council, as well as the Indo-US Sub Commission on Education, Culture and Media. When the
Prasar Bharati board was constituted in 1997, Chakravartty was appointed as its first Chairman. == Death ==