Presently, The Independent has 20.8% stake in JPL and is planning to increase its stake by 1-3% in Jagran Prakashan Ltd. (subject to SEBI approval). The Jagran Group is also in talks to sell 20 per cent stake in its radio arm to the Independent Group.

According to Ivan Fallon, chief executive of Independent News & Media UK, INM publishes newspapers in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa as well as the UK, and would be the first major international media company to invest in India, which is probably the fastest growing media market in the world.

The Indian edition will be targeted at the sophisticated and discerning customers around the major cities, plus the leading hotel groups and embassies, with estimated sales of 5,000 copies a day.

The magazine which is already available in markets such as Australis and the US, will be adapted to suit Indian kids' tastes, in the age group of 8-12.

According to sources, ToI's plans of launching 'Delhi Mirror' to be fashioned after Mumbai's 'Mumbai Mirror' have been abandoned.

Company sources said that TOI and HT would set up a third 'company' without further divulging on the equity holding of the two companies. Sameer Kapoor, ex-Managing Director of Scholastic India has been hired to head the venture as President.

Coming in the wake of news reports that the India Today group was planning to launch a morning newspaper in Delhi, the joint venture is obviously aimed at warding off competition from other new entrants in the daily newspaper segment.

Several Indian publishers have made presentations to the NRSC pointing out the errors in the findings of the survey, seeking redressal of the same and re-announcement of the corrected figures.

The Department of Posts had constituted a committee comprising of four INS representatives to look into the matter. While the constitution of commiittee was welcomed, INS has asked for agreement on various broader issues.

The requests were:
1) CDs accompanying magazines be considered as supplements to the magazine so as to be allowed postal concession for the CDs. Presently, CDs are not being considered an integral part of the content of a publication to avail of concessional tariff.

2) The Department of Posts should avoid ruining the back page advertisement, an important revenue generator for the newspapers, by printing only essential items as provided by the law and also exempting genuine publishers from such restrictions. (All publications seeking concessional postal tariff have to publish postal registration number on the back page of the magazine).

3) INS proposed that publishers be given the regular date as well as an extended date of posting for which the concessional rates would continue to apply, a provision which is unavailable to them.

INS assured the Department of Posts that it would like to cooperate with it to ensure that there is revenue enhancement by ensuring that unauthorised publications do not get the benefit of concessional postage.

Mathew in his farewell speech, spoke about the body's achievement and also about the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. He said that the Indian economy during 2005-2006 fuelled by the sustained growth of the service sector and the manufacturing sector Indicate the promise of an exciting era for the Newspaper industry.

He further added that the INS industry had registered a healthy growth with a turnover of Rs 11,800 crore in 2005, with a 23 per cent growth in the total advertising revenue over 2004, to make it Rs7,400 crore in 2005 as reported by it members.

At the same time he mentioned that the industry was not making any visible profit due to rise in international and domestic newsprint prices along with the potential of taxes.

Mr Jacob Mathew speaking on the prospects of the Industry said that PriceWaterhouseCoopers released a global study of newspaper publishing, which stated that the indian newspaper industry accounted for about 5 per cent of the industry in the Asia Pacific region. He further added that comparative data however showed that along with Indonesia, India was the fastest growing newspaper industry in the Asia Pacific region, and amongst the top five in the world in terms of medium-term growth prospects.

* Loksatta, the Marathi daily from the Indian Express Group, is launching a Delhi reprint of its Mumbai edition for the Maharashtrians in the National Capital from September 6. The daily has been priced at par with its parent edition – Rs 2.50 on weekdays and Rs 5 on Sundays.

* Punjab is emerging as the new print battlefield for Hindi dailies with Dainik Jagran launching its Amritsar edition on September 6, 2006 and also the Bhaskar Group is all set to capture the Punjab market with the launch of its daily Dainik Baskar in Amritsar and Jalandar on October 8. With this new offering, Jagran now has three editions from Punjab.

* The Rural Marketing Agencies Association of India (RMAAI) launched a quarterly 'Journal of Rural Marketing'. Keeping in mind the opportunity rural markets are providing for a whole lot product and services, the magazine's initiative is to provide knowledge regarding happenings in the rural marketing world to corporates and management institutions that are looking forward to expanding their knowledge base on the subject, R V Rajan, President of RMAAI said.

* Indore-based Hindi daily, 'Nai Dunia' launched its Raipur edition on September 26 and is planning to bring out its Jabalpur edition during the first quarter of 2007. The daily also plans to relaunch its Bhopal edition, which will be called 'Rajya Ki Nayi Dunia'.