News

Foreign investors seem to be investing in Indian media and entertainment sector with a vengeance. In the first four months of 2005 alone, over Rs 150 crore has been pumped into various domestic media companies. Compare this with Rs 113 crore that flowed in to the sector during the entire 2004 (excluding the investment by Independent News & Media, Ireland, whose stake in Jagran was just approved by...

The office and press of Lokmat Newspapers, Pune edition, was attacked by a mob on Tuesday night. Stones were pelted at the newspaper's new building, which was to be inaugurated by second week of June, amounting to losses worth Rs 5 lakh to the organisation. The mob entered the building premises, armed with lathis, and smashed the building's glasses and attacked the security guard. Stones were...

For a while it appeared that the Mumbai media market was in for a massive editorial manpower churn with DNA and Hindustan Times preparing for their launches in the next couple of months. After the initial euphoria and speculation, everybody’s target – The Times of India – seems to have successfully weathered the hectic poaching attempts and held on to its editorial team at all levels. In a way...

"Deccan Chronicle’s claim of having a circulation of 1.45 lakh copies is highly exaggerated and ridiculous. The newspaper may not be selling more than 15,000-20,000 copies," says N Murali, joint managing director, The Hindu. Welcome to battleground Chennai, where the King is in no mood to allow potential usurpers sneaking in. Murali adds, "The publication may be having a print run of as many...

After a number of false starts and even one Act which was on the books but never came into force, it is with much excitement that the Right to Information Act 2005 has finally been enacted by the Indian Government. The Act has been passed after hectic lobbying by civil society over the last year, since the new Government came into power with an explicit commitment to making the old law "more...

Deccan Chronicle Holdings, publisher and owner of Deccan Chronicle, has acquired 67 per cent in Asian Age Holdings, which owns The Asian Age, for Rs 17.10 crore, scaling up its stake to 90 per cent. The acquisition values The Asian Age at Rs 25.52 crore. UB group Chairman Vijay Mallya will hold the remaining 10 per cent. T Vinayak Ravi Reddy, managing director of Deccan Chronicle Holdings, said MJ...

While Newsweek magazine has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons -- mainly for a faulty Periscope item on Koran abuse -- the magazine should be praised on a much larger scale for reinventing itself. This isn't about politics, but about the scope of Newsweek.com, the online home to Newsweek that has included everything from daily breaking news to video blogs from correspondents at the...

New York, May 23, 2005–The former presenter for a popular MTV-style music video program was shot and killed in her home in Kabul last week. Shaima Rezayee, 24, hosted the daily music program "Hop" on the private television channel Tolo TV until March. Police told The Associated Press that Rezayee was killed May 18 by a single bullet wound to the head and that members of her family may have been...

According to humorist George Mikes (pronounced Me-kaish) everyone is really Hungarian. I don't know about Hungarians, but everyone of my acquaintance – at least of my acquaintance in the media – is a Calcuttan, i.e. anyone born or brought up in, or with some connection to the city now referred to as Kolkata. This was brought home to me, literally, during my visit there last week. I met my fellow...

In a major foreign direct investment proposal pertaining to the print media, the Centre on Friday permitted the Dublin-based Independent Printing Company Ltd. to join hands with the Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan Pvt. Ltd. for printing and publishing newspapers and magazines. The proposal entails the induction of 26 per cent foreign equity in Jagran Prakashan resulting in an inflow of Rs. 150 crore...