(a) Explain the measures taken by the colonial government to censor the press in India and analyse their effects on the nationalist movement.

Measures taken by the colonial government:

(i) In $\displaystyle 1878$ Vernacular Press Act was passed.

(ii) It provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press.

(iii) Government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces.

(iv) When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated.

Impacts on National Movement :

(i) Despite repressive measures nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India.

(ii) They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities.

(iii) Attempt to throttle nationalist criticism provoked militant protest.

(b) How did the printing press contribute to the emergence of new genres of writing in the 18th century? Explain

(i) Print created an appetite for new kinds of writing.

(ii) New forms of popular literature appeared in print targeting new audiences.

(iii) Penny, chapbooks, Biliotheque Bleue, almanacs are the examples.

(iv) Booksellers employed peddlers who roamed around villages carrying little books for sale. There were almanacs or ritual calendars along with ballads and folktales. Other form of reading matter largely for entertainment began to reach ordinary readers as well.

(v) The periodical press developed from the early eighteenth century, combining information about current affairs with entertainment.

(vi) Newspapers and journals carried information about war and trade as well as news of development in other places.

(vii) The ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people.