Derek O'Brien (quizmaster)
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Derek O’Brien (born 13 March 1961) is an Indian politician, television personality and quiz master. He is a
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
in the
Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
(Upper House of India's Parliament) from
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
and member of the All India Trinamool Congress. He is the chief national spokesperson as well as leader of the Trinamool Congress Parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha. Prior to his Parliamentary career, he became well known as the quizmaster for the Bournvita Quiz Contest and other shows.


Personal background

O’Brien comes from an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
family and can trace his paternal origins to an Irish soldier who came to India in the early 1860s and whose descendants married into the Bengali community. O’Brien is based in Kolkata and speaks, reads and writes
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
. O’Brien's grandfather, Amos O’Brien, was the first Christian to serve as head of the Department of English,
Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
, and also taught at Ravenshaw College in
Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...
. O'Brien went to St. Xavier's Collegiate School in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and for a short period, St. Columba's School in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
, and then spent two years at
Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...
, Kolkata. O’Brien is the oldest of three sons of Joyce and Neil O’Brien (19342016). Neil O'Brien worked in publishing and retired as the chairman and managing director of Oxford University Press India as well as leading the
Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...
community for two decades. He is married to Tonuca Basu, who is practising medicine in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. He was earlier married to Rila Banerjee and the couple have a daughter Aanya.


Professional and quizzing career

O’Brien's first job was as a journalist at ''Sportsworld'' magazine. After a short stint there, he joined the
advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
Ogilvy in 1984 and became its Creative Head for Kolkata and Delhi. Simultaneously, he embarked on a career as a
quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...
master and quiz show host, having been introduced to quizzing by his father, Neil O’Brien, who had conducted the first open quiz in India in 1967. In 1988, O’Brien hosted his first all-India quizzes as a professional quizmaster: the Bata North Star Quiz and the Maggi Quiz for Schools. In 1990, he joined hands with ''Economic Times'' for the Brand Equity Quiz for business corporations. In 1991, he finally quit Ogilvy and set up his own knowledge, education and publishing company, Big Ideas – since renamed Derek O’Brien and Associates. Derek O’Brien has conducted quizzes in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi),
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In 2008, he travelled to
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
to host a television quiz for schools from
Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
,
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
and
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
. For three years in a row (2003–05), O’Brien won the
Indian Television Academy award The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ''ITA Awards'', is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television. Ceremonies Categories Popular Awards * ITA A ...
for Best Host in a Television Gameshow. O’Brien has spoken at, among others, Harvard,
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
and Columbia Universities in the United States as well as several Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, Hindu College, and
Shri Ram College of Commerce Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Founded in 1926 by industrialist Lala Shri Ram, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious college for commerce and economics in India. SRCC was ranke ...
in Delhi, and Loreto College,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. He has served as president of the Dalhousie Institute Club.


Political career

O’Brien joined the
Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...
in 2004, when the party was still in opposition in West Bengal. He later wrote that he was drawn to the charisma and personality of the Trinamool Congress leader (now chief minister of Bengal)
Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
, and felt she was the only one who could defeat the then
CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...
-led government in the state.


Spokesperson for the Trinamool Congress

O’Brien soon became a spokesperson for the Trinamool Congress and was identified as the rare white-collar,
English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest langua ...
politician in the party. He came to national media attention during Mamata Banerjee's protest against the CPI(M) government's land acquisition attempt in Singur (2006), and then in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha election, in which Trinamool Congress handed the CPI(M) its first defeat in West Bengal since 1977. He pioneered his party's social media outreach. O’Brien is frequently seen on news television shows and is a regular commentator on political and policy issues. He wrote a weekly column for ''
NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
'' and his articles have appeared in ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...
,'' ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
'' and ''Indian Express''. In 2011, following the Trinamool Congress victory in the West Bengal assembly election, O’Brien was sent to the
Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
.


First term in Rajya Sabha

He was sworn in as Member of Parliament on 19 August 2011 and is one of 16 MPs elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. In 2012, Trinamool Congress named him as its Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha. In 2012, O'Brien cast a vote in the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
to elect the 13th
President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
. His vote is believed to be the first presidential vote cast by an elected member of the Anglo-Indian community—as members of the community have previously been ''nominated'' to the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
and other assemblies and are not eligible to vote. In 2012, he addressed the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
as a member of the Indian parliamentary delegation.


Parliamentary Committee assignments

He was the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, from September 1, 2017, to September 12, 2019. Presently, he serves as a member on the following key parliamentary committees - General Purposes Committee, Business Advisory Committee, Ethics Committee, Transport, Tourism and Culture Committee, Human Resource Development Committee. He served on the Railway Convention Committee and has also been a member of parliamentary select (specific issue) committees on the Goods and Services Tax Constitutional Amendment Bill, the Insurance Bill, the Land Acquisition Bill, the Citizenship Act Amendment Bill. He has spoken in Parliament on a range of issues, from demonetisation, to
net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...
, Jammu and Kashmir,
railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
and
juvenile justice A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...
, and participated in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President of India's address to Parliament.


Second term in Rajya Sabha

His second term as an MP of the Rajya Sabha began on 19 August 2017 and is slated to end on 18 August 2023. On 20 September 2020, when the Farm Reform Bill was placed in the Rajya Sabha for passage, Derek O’Brien protested, tore and threw the Rule Book as he, along with other members, heckled the
Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha The Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (IAST: ) presides over the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha in the absence of the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (Vice President of India). The Deputy Chairperson is elected internally by the Rajya Sabha ...
Harivansh Narayan Singh. Apparently, in the ensuing melee with other members also protesting, and papers being flung in protest towards the deputy chairman, then the Rule Book in question was torn by Derek O’Brien. Media verifiable sources mention that the house was under complete chaos and unrest to protest the bill. This chaos led to a 10-minute suspension of the house. Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs sought his suspension, along with some other members, as a consequence for his actions under rule 256 of procedure and conduct of business. He along with eight other MPs were suspended for one week on account of his unruly and unparliamemtary behaviour. He was suspended once again on 21 December 2021 for allegations of throwing a rulebook, as he was protesting against the Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021.


Parliamentary Committees

He is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. On 6 January 2022 he wrote to Anand Sharma, head of the committee to discuss the secret app " Tek Fog" that "has serious ramifications and could jeopardise national security". He wrote, "This application is capable of penetrating encrypted messaging platforms and secure social media conversations, in order to heavily manipulate and exploit narratives on said platforms."


Other work

O’Brien is also a celebrated author. His books include the bestseller, ''Inside Parliament: Views for the Front Row'', ''Derek Introduces the Constitution and Parliament of India'', ''My Way'', a motivational book, ''Speak Up Speak Out'', a compilation of elocution pieces, and several reference, quiz and text books''.''


References


External links


Official websiteDerek O Brien
at
PRS Legislative Research PRS Legislative Research, commonly referred to as PRS, is an Indian non-profit organisation that was established in September 2005 as an independent research institute to make the Indian legislative process better informed, more transparent an ...

Derek O'Brien
at
Penguin India Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Derek 1961 births Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Living people Indian television presenters Politicians from Kolkata Indian Christians Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Indian people of Irish descent St. Columba's School, Delhi alumni Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal Anglo-Indian people