• Among the dailies, the readership figures indicate significant growth in the non-english language dailies segment from 919.0 million readers to 203.6 million.
  
  
• The English dailies readership figures, at the same time seem to show a state of stagnation around 21 million.
  
  
• Non-English dailies
  1. 'Dainik Jagran' has topped the list of publications once again, securing     a readership of around 21.2 million.
  2. The gap between Dainik Jagran and Danik Bhaskar has reduced from     3.8 million readers to just 200,000 readers this year.
  
  
• English language dailies
  1. The Hindu has taken the second spot with 4.05 million readers, pushing     Hindustan Times to the third spot with an estimated readership of 3.85     million.
  2. Though Hindustan Times added 360,000 new readers in Mumbai, it     loses readership across the Hindi belt.
  3. Times of India', which was the only English daily among the top 10     newspapers in NRS 2005, has been pushed to 11th position this year.
  4. The Times of India has seen a drop in readership from 8,092,000 to     7,502,000, displacing it from the top ten league; but still remains the     largest ready English newspaper.
  
  
• Magazines
  1. Saras Salil (Hindi) is the No. 1 player with a readership of 7.1 mn.
  2. NRSC decides to withhold India Today (Hindi)'s figures for revalidation
  3. India Today (English) retains its 2nd position.
  
  
• Business Dailies
  1. Business publications continue to show a decline in readership in NRS     2006 as it had in NRS 2005
  2. The Economic Times (ABC) continues to be the leader despite the fall     it has seen from the 1,178,000 it commanded last year to the 942,000     this year.
  3. Hindu Business Line readership declines from 202,000 to 189,000.
  
  
• Business Magazines
  1. BusinessWorld registers 30 per cent growth and claims a readership of     680,000.
  2. Business Today has sees a dip in readership this year as well, from     757,000 in the last round to 676,000.
  

Table 1 - News and General Interest
Table 2 - Business Publication

According to a joint announcement, this new agreement will offer leading global news resources from Dow Jones on an exclusive basis for Indian readers.

HT Media recently disclosed plans to launch its national business newspaper in India, written and edited for global Indian business readers and international business travelers. Raju Narisetti, who until June was a deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal in New York and editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe, will edit the newspaper in India.

"To create a world-class business paper in India, we need the best global talent as well as compelling and relevant content, said Rajiv Verma, chief executive officer, HT Media Ltd. This unique content partnership between HT Media and The Wall Street Journal emphasizes our desire to offer a business newspaper to Indian readers at a time when India has become a global player in myriad industries. The Wall Street Journal is the best content partner in this endeavor because of its unmatched journalism and insights into global businesses, markets and economies and its unrivaled journalistic standards worldwide.

"We are excited that the Journal will soon offer Indian business readers, through the pages of HT Media's new business newspaper and web site, access to the incomparable global business information that readers across the globe have come to expect," said L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president, Dow Jones & Company and publisher, The Wall Street Journal. "India has emerged as a vibrant and expanding part of the global economy that we have sought better to serve with the right partner and we look forward to a role in helping spur those global connections between India and rest of the business world.

This partnership also serves advertisers, both inside and outside India, who want to be associated--through HT Media's newspaper--with the Journal's vital news, analysis and commentary every business day," Mr. Crovitz added.

Xavier Collaco, President, Media Transasia, said, "It is a momentous occasion in the history of international lifestyle media arrival in the country. Media Transasia is committed to bringing the most reputed international titles for the discerning Indian reader. It is a time for us to resolve to go beyond our own expectations and create unforeseen terrains and landmarks for 'Travel+Leisure' South Asia."

Sporting a Tagline, 'Takes You There', and having a lifestyle element to it, the subscription-based magazine is targeted at the global Indian traveler.

Rasina Uberoi, Publishing Director, 'Travel+Leisure' South Asia, said, "We believe that now is the perfect time to launch a world class travel and lifestyle magazine for sophisticated South Asians in the region."

Chandan Mitra, Managing Director and Editor, Pioneer, said, "The group has posted modest profits for the last three financial years in a row. We felt that we should look for investors with this balance sheet. So, we decided to divest a portion of our stake and bring in more money for our expansion."

Mumbai-based merchant banker Puneet Advisory Services, headed by Dushyant Dave, has been hired to evaluate the offers. Pioneer intends to raise Rs 250 mn through equity and Rs 150 mn through loans to meet its Rs 400 mn-expansion plan. Mitra, while making it clear that the editorial control would remain with him, said that he had no interest in diluting the editorial control of the paper. He further added that he would not want any of the investors having control over the editorial contents of the paper.

It may be noted here that Hindi daily Dainik Jagran had recently held failed discussions with Pioneer. Jagran's talks with Pioneer in its endeavor to acquire a majority stake in the Pioneer ended in a stalemate with the latter refusing to part with it.

The group plans to set up two printing presses in Delhi, one for the newspaper and one for its magazine division, part of its expansion plan. The paper will bring out its leisure and lifestyle magazine, 'Exotica', by September 2006. Besides having launched its Chandigarh daily edition around August-end, Pioneer is looking forward to launching its daily in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, which according to Mitra, would happen in the next one year.

The gathering will focus on facilitating the understanding of the now uncomplicated licensing process in India with international partners and including key players in the field, including government officials and publishers who have already entered India through licences, joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Minister for Information and Broadcasting has been invited to give the keynote address and participate in an interactive session with the delegates.

Another interesting aspect of the event will be on digital opportunities and customer acquisition. Since opportunity is the key, one special session will analyse the outside world's perception of Indian publishing opportunities. Sessions discussing business-to-business (b2b) publishing and magazine research are also scheduled.

R K Kashyap, Director (PO&J), is the head of the committee. The INS representatives include Paresh Nath of Delhi Press, N K Verma of Diamond Pocket Books, Pradeep Gupta of Cyber Media and Sunil Dang of 'Day After' magazine.

The committee would be discussing ways and means to improve the postal facility for the print publications in India. The recommendations however would be simply advisory in nature and the Postal Department would be under no obligation to accept them.

She will take over from Kurush Grant, Divisional Chief Executive (Tobacco Division), ITC Limited, who was ABC Chairman for 2005-06.

Bhartia is actively involved with various industry bodies both in India and abroad. She is presently the Chairperson of the Press Trust of India (PTI). She is also a member of the Commonwealth Press Union, London, and International Press Institute, Vienna.

• Financial Express, the business daily launched its Pune edition on August 01, 06.
  
  
• HT Media Ltd owned Hindi daily 'Hindustan' launched its Kanpur edition on August 08, 06. Priced at Rs 3, this launch makes the newspaper Hindustan's fifth edition in Uttar Pradesh.
  
  
• HT Media re-launched 'HT Next 'on August 10, 06. The Daily is targeted at students around the age group of 12 to 16 years with its new campaign 'I am next'.
  
  
• Movie exhibition company Cinemax Cinemas launched a monthly film encyclopedia titled 'Cinemax Magazine' on August 17, 2006.
  
  
• India Today Bangla was launched on August 26, 2006 in Kolkata. It happens to be the first language edition launch for India Today since 1990 and is perhaps a reflection of the current bullishness around the 'Resurgent Bengal'.
  
  
• Image Multimedia has re-launched their monthly magazine on fashion and lifestyle 'FNL'. Available on subscription, the magazine comes in two sizes - extra large and pocket size. The pocket size is designed for people in metros, while extra large is for the coffee table conscious consumer. Targeted at fashionable men and women in the 21-35 age group, the magazine is priced at Rs 30.
  
  
• 'Man's World' launched woman's magazine 'My World' for Big Bazaar, the multi-format retail chain from Pantaloon Retail India Limited (PRIL).
  
  
• DNA Money launched its Ahmedabad edition on August 29, 2006. With a tagline 'Enjoy the Pink' used only for its Ahmedabad edition, the paper would focus on two key areas - stock news and business information relevant to the Gujarati businessmen.
  
  
• Exposure Media Marketing, publishers of 'Xpressions' and 'Asia Spa', coincided the launch of its fashion magazine, 'The Designer Mode', with the opening of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) on 30, August 2006. 'The Designer Mode', as the official magazine of the The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), is targeted at the high-end fashion conscious consumer.
  
  
• In a star-studded launching ceremony, magazine 'Haute' was launched. It targets the higher strata of the society and will deal with diamond and other high-end luxury brands. The first issue was launched by Varda Shine, the Managing Director of DTC, Parmeshwar Godrej, DTC Marketing Director David Lamb, and DTC (India) Managing Director Cherie Saldanha.