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UK's Daily Mail publisher wants to launch a newspaper for India
by Mike Lockey

     London: Associated Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mail in Britain, is considering launching a title in India. The Daily Mail is the self-appointed champion of what is often referred to in Britain as "middle England". That means staid, reactionary, conservative with both small and large C, and altogether not terribly in favour of anyone who isn't white, middle class, and who hasn't been in the country for a few generations or more. So what attraction such a paper might have for the people of India is anybody's guess. Nevertheless, the group has been drawing up plans for the possible Indian Mail since the beginning of the year, because assorted executives within Associated Newspapers believe that, with the rise of the Indian urban professional classes, a market is there for their particular kind of product. They may well be right in that belief, since the Indian middle class has grown in size and influence at a quite astonishing rate, with the average income in the cities now at around 6,500 pounds as opposed to the rural average of some 2,000 pounds at most. And, along with the rise of the middle class, has come increased English language literacy, which means more newspaper readership. So it would seem that the suits in London may be on to a winner, and it has recently been reported that certain members of Associated Newspapers staff will be travelling to India over the coming months to develop the project, described as "the internationalisation of the Daily Mail". This is considered to be the essential next step because, as one executive said: "Sitting here in London you can dream, but you need to work on the ground". The Indian government has, effectively, made the whole project possible; rules in place until very recently prevented Associated, or anyone else for that matter, from seriously considering an Indian launch. But now, the regulatory environment has become more favourable towards foreign media ownership. So it would appear that, before very much longer, the Indian English language newspaper market, led at the moment by the likes of the Hindustan Times and the Times of India, will have a new interloper to contend with. It could get very interesting indeed.

US House adopts Indo-Pak peace resolution (Go To Top)

     Washington: The International Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives has hailed the historic steps taken by both India and Pakistan for ensuring bilateral peace and resolving disputes through dialogue. The Committee unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday in this regard. According to The News, the resolution congratulates both the countries on taking "monumental steps toward achieving a comprehensive peace agreement". The resolution recognises the "incremental steps towards peace" that have been taking place since April 2003, when former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered the "hand of friendship" to Pakistan. It further says that the pinnacle of the peace process was achieved on April 18, when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf concluded a historic three-day summit in New Delhi with a series of agreements to boost trade and travel.

Inflation falls further to 5.61 percent (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Fall in the prices of food and manufactured products has further eased the inflation, marginally by 0.06 percent to 5.61 per cent during the week ended on May 7. According to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly report, the point-to-point wholesale price index (WPI) inflation fell from the previous week's level of 5.67 per cent to 5.61 percent. Point-to-point WPI inflation was 4.60 per cent during the same period a year ago. Due to drop in the index of mass consumption, primary articles and heavy weighted manufactured products, the Wholesald Price Index fell by 0.1 per cent to 192 points in the reporting week. It was 181.8 points during the same period previous year. Reserve Bank of India had estimated five to 5.5 percent inflation for the current financial year.

Chappell's appointment as coach hailed (Go To Top)

     New Delhi/Mumbai: The Indian cricket fraternity on Friday welcomed the appointment of former Australian captain Greg Chappel as the new coach of the national cricket team, unanimously saying that he appeared to be the best choice out of the four who had been shortlisted for the much sought after job. Former Test captains Dilip Vengsarkar and Chandu Borde said that Chappell had both stature as a player and an acute knowledge of the game, which met the requirements of the BCCI's six-member special committee. Vengasarkar, who is currently one of the vice-presidents of the Mumbai Cricket Association, said it would be beneficial also if Chappell looked after the India A team too whenever he was free from coaching the national team. "Greg Chappell is an excellent choice. He was a great player of the 1970s and 80s with a fantastic international record and tremendous international experience. He's a man of stature and he's also got experience of coaching Australian domestic sides like Queensland etc," said Vengsarkar. "But I feel he should also be asked to look after the India A team in order to know the fringe players better. He may be asked to do so whenever the Indian team is free of international commitments," he said. Vengsarkar is currently the chairman of the Indian Cricket Board's Talent Resource Development Officers.

     Hailing Chappell's choice, Borde hoped Indian cricket would scale new heights under his guidance. "Greg Chappell is a person who's well acclaimed by a lot of knowledgeable people and technically also he's sound. Let's hope that his contribution tactically would be of immense help to the Indian cricket team," said Borde from Pune. "He's a highly respected person and will have the respect of the players too. He may not have played on Indian wickets, but I don't think that can be a handicap at that level and with his sound technical knowledge," the former middle-order mainstay said. After ending up as an also-ran in the race for Team India coach's job, former all-rounder and the lone Indian in the fray Mohinder Amarnath today said he was not disappointed and wants Greg Chappell to do well. ''I have told it earlier that it does not matter whether I get the job or not. I was asked to appear with my presentation and just because you are not selected does not mean the end of all roads for you. Life goes on,'' Amarnath said.

        Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today assured the Australian batting great would be offered a bowling coach if he desires so. Announcing Chappell as the new coach, BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra said, ''Though the Board right now does not have any plan to rope in a bowling or a fielding coach, all would depend on Mr Chappell. If he needs that, BCCI will accede to his requests.'' He, however, said that the present support staff, physio John Gloster and trainoer Gregory Allen King, would continue with the team. Apart from Chappell, his compatriot Tom Moody, West Indian Desmond Haynes and Mohinder Amarnath were interviewed by the six member BCCIcommittee. Chappell was unanimously selected to be New Zealander John Wright's successor. The six-member committee included Mr Mahendra, his predecessor Jagmohan Dalmiya, Board secretary S K Nair and three former captains - Sunil Gavaskar, S Venkatraghvan and Ravi Shastri. ''Mr Chappel will continue as the coach of the national cricket team till June 2007. The BCCI Working Committee will endorse the decision in its next meeting,'' Mr Mahendra said. Asked how much say Chappell would have in the selection process, something Wright had highlihgted before leaving -- the BCCI chief said, ''We will see to it.'' Pointed out that the selection for Chappel -- who reportedly enjoys skipper Sourav Ganguly's backing -- has left Tom Moody, considered a front-runner, hurt Mr Mahendra said, ''People may not like it, but we can't really help. And he may have expressed his feelings to you and not me.'' Chappell, who lost the race to Wright on the previous occasion, proved second time lucky. The former Australian captain made a century in his first and final Tests besides 22 more. As captain, he has won 21 of his 48 Tests and lost only 13. He also owns the unique feat of scoring centuries in each innings of his captaincy debut. The brain behind ''Chappellway'' method of coaching, Chappell previously served as an Australian selector and coached the South Australian ''Redbacks'' team.

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