Business and Magazine Journalism (combination of Niche I and II) 1 Growing importance of business journalism, a brief history (2)

2 The structure of financial management in the country starting with the Finance Minister, (5) rest of the bureaucracy, RBI governor, Planning Commission, SEBI, Banking sector 3 The Budget preparation and presentation, factors influencing the annual budget, role of (5) subsidies and foreign exchange reserves 4 Companies, balance sheets, AGMs window dressing of balance sheets, the loopholes (the case of Satyam) (5) 5 Stock exchange, Sensex and its ups and downs, need for stricter monitoring, how to (5) cover Stock Exchanges, qualities of a good stock exchange reporter 6 Ethics for business journalism. Should it be a watch dog or servant of business houses? (5) Role of freebies, junkets, five star attractions and need to resist them 7 Magazine journalism: The Indian scene, eclipse of the general interest magazines, (5) stagnation of news magazines, scope for special interest magazines. The role of the consumers purchasing power more important than editorial content 8 Magazines during post emergency boom Success of India Today. How can magazines (5) compete with the challenge posed by TV which now covers sports, celebrities, life style, news and business. How to find out if there is a niche for new magazines. Comment on Travel, Health, Technology and career-guidance magazines 9 Western craze among glossy womens magazines, Better fare offered by regional (5) womens magazines 10 Writing and editing for magazines, special skills needed. Importance of the rewrite desk (4) 11 Role of Alternative media to deal with peoples issues. Scope for magazines devoted to environment and civic issues (4)

Business Journalism- Its all about Money!

Pink papers The pink papers refer to financial newspapers like the Economic Times, which are referred to as pink because they are all printed on salmon pink newsprint like many Western financial dailies. Business reporting Company/Corporate news, announcement of deals, appointments, capital raising etc. Regulatory announcement Political news with a business implication Stock market Bond Equity Currency Commodity The movement in the above mentioned segments and the reasons for the same, make for a story. Unorgranised and Organised sector. Business Media The business media focus on stock prices, growth rates, market shares, bottom lines and such. For a complete story one should look at what fundamentally influences the other. E.g Tata Nano Its complicated but interesting. Business journalism is a big, broad multifaceted thing. There are science writers and financial writers and social issues writers. There are corporate writers, so theres a whole range if you work for a business publication. Newspapers business writers tend to write about business. 3 factors why the Indian media is in limelight 1. Democracy is the first reason. It allows us to read, write, make, watch and listen to whatever we want. It gives investors a range of options and market, a depth unlike other Asian markets. 2. Profits and Returns. On the back of the ad and pay revenues, operating margins for a bulk of the listed M&E have risen anywhere between 15 to 100% over the last 3 years. 3. M&E liberalization began in 2003. Regulation freed publishing to get institutional money. DTH licenses were issued. Add radio and multiplex sector

and media sector was free to talk to the investors. As a result every part of the industry is ready to build scale and realize its potential. Film companies have been professionalizing, publishing is expanding all over the country, broadcasters have more options like the DTH and broadband to sell television signals, and radio is finally free to licence fees. The capital is reaching these at the right time. Therefore, the industry will deliver. The India Media Business by Vanita Kohli Khandekar Milestones in business reporting The liberalisation process of 1991 Prior to this business dailies were like government PR vehicles and there were no regulators like SEBI It was a regulated regime and there was a license raj India was cocooned economy where flying was a luxury Journalists also carried a Nehruvian Socialist sort of legacy 1969: Banks were nationalised 1976: Emergency was imposed 1991: Indian economic reforms were initiated Harshad Mehta Scam in 1993 The Indian stock market and investor saw a frenzy The Indian middle-class saw new avenues of making money. Broking firms came into being at a large scale The panwallahs were also discussing the stock market Corporates then became more proactive and felt the need to communicate Contd.. UTI scam Satellite Television in 1993 Telecom Revolution Internet These coupled with the economic reforms brought about a revolution in media as well. There were no dedicated journalism courses Business journalists were typically Economic background students, bankers, analysts etc Business India in 1978first Indian business magazine launched by Ashok Advani 1978 also saw the launch of Indias first housing loan company HDFC Businessworld in 1980s Business Today in 1992 Analyst firms/broking firms: Indiainfoline launched the first dedicated anlayst firm: Probity SEBI was formed in 1992 to protect the interest of the investors and to promote the development of and regulate the securities market

Assignment Find out in the Indian market Financial newspapers Business magazines Wire agencies Dedicated portals Business news channels Names of key analysts Editors of the magazines, newspapers Which magazines, channels and papers belong to the same media house and their history in business reporting The foreign tie-ups and likely launches in the coming month Role and Importance of SEBI

Business Journalism in India Business journalism in India is getting a little bit more colorful and glamorous, it's just because of the sheer explosion in the number of business personalities in India, especially in the last decade or so after economic liberalization really picked up. This explosion is visible in enterprise and the new number of companies that are coming up, and the booming stock market, which has really raced up in the last few months. More personalities to cover, and with the increase in the number of business channels competition is the driving force. CEOs are huge personalities, and because the base of retail investors in India has expanded so dramatically in the last few years, they're far better known in public life, among the Indian public as well. There are many channels of distribution for journalism, including business journalism. People get news through video, audio, Internet, print. It is increasingly becoming a multimedia interactive world. In an era of fragmentation of media outlets, its going to be more important than ever for business journalists to pull it all together, to provide the insight and understanding in the best days, the wisdom, that will be necessary. The world doesnt need more information. It needs more understanding, more insight, more analysis.

What is the Finance Commission?

The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under article 280 of the Constitution, mainly to give its recommendations on distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States and amongst the States themselves.

Two distinctive features of the Commissions work involve redressing the vertical imbalances between the taxation powers and expenditure responsibilities of the centre and the States respectively and equalization of all public services across the States. What are the functions of the Finance Commission? It is the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds; the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India; the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State; the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State; any other matter referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance. Who appoints the Finance Commission and what are the qualifications for Members? The Finance Commission is appointed by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution. As per the provisions contained in the Finance Commission [Miscellaneous Provisions] Act, 1951 and The Finance Commission (Salaries & Allowances) Rules, 1951, the Chairman of the Commission is selected from among persons who have had experience in public affairs, and the four other members are selected from among persons who-(a) are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judges of a High Court; or (b) have special knowledge of the finances and accounts of Government; or (c) have had wide experience in financial matters and in administration; or (d) have special knowledge of economics How are the recommendations of Finance Commission implemented? The recommendations of the Finance Commission are implemented as under:Those to be implemented by an order of the President: The recommendations relating to distribution of Union Taxes and Duties and Grants-inaid fall in this category. Those to be implemented by executive orders: The recommendations in respect of sharing of Profit Petroleum, Debt Relief, Mode of Central Assistance, etc. are implemented by executive orders. When was the first Commission appointed and how many Commissions have been appointed so far?

The First Finance Commission was constituted vide Presidential Order dated 22.11.1951 under the chairmanship of Shri K.C. Neogy on 6th April, 1952. Thirteen Finance Commissions have been appointed so far at intervals of every five years. Is the Finance Commission unique to India? Most federal systems resolve the vertical and horizontal imbalances through mechanisms similar to the Finance Commission. For example Australia and Canada. What is the composition of the Thirteenth Finance Commission? The Thirteenth Finance Commission has been set up under the Chairmanship of Dr. Vijay L. Kelkar [former Union Finance Secretary and Advisor to the Finance Minister]. Other Members of the Commission are Dr. Indira Rajaraman [Professor Emeritus, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy New Delhi), Prof. Atul Sarma, Former Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University [erstwhile Arunachal University], Dr. Sanjiv Misra [Former Secretary (Expenditure) Government of India). Shri B.K. Chaturvedi (Member, Planning Commission) is the part-time Member of the Thirteenth Finance Commission. Shri Sumit Bose is the Secretary, Thirteenth Finance Commission. What is the tenure of the Thirteenth Finance Commission? The Finance Commission is required to give its report by 31st October, 2009. Its recommendations will cover the five year period commencing from 1st April, 2010. The Recession 2008 In the fall of 2008, the credit crunch, which had emerged a little more than a year before, ballooned into Wall Streets biggest crisis since the Great Depression. As hundreds of billions in mortgage-related investments went bad, mighty investment banks that once ruled high finance have crumbled or reinvented themselves as humdrum commercial banks. The nations largest insurance company and largest savings and loan banks both were seized by the government. The channels of credit, the arteries of the global financial system, have been constricted, cutting off crucial funds to consumers and businesses small and large. In response, the federal government adopted a $700 billion bailout plan meant to reassure the markets and get credit flowing again. But the crisis began to spread to Europe and to emerging markets, with governments scrambling to prop up banks, broaden guarantees for deposits and agree on a coordinated response. Origins The roots of the credit crisis stretch back to another notable boom-and-bust: the tech bubble of the late 1990s. When the stock market began a steep decline in 2000 and the

nation slipped into recession the next year, the Federal Reserve sharply lowered interest rates to limit the economic damage. Lower interest rates make mortgage payments cheaper, and demand for homes began to rise, sending prices up. In addition, millions of homeowners took advantage of the rate drop to refinance their existing mortgages. As the industry ramped up, the quality of the mortgages went down. And turn sour they did, when home buyers had to leverage themselves to the hilt to make a purchase. Default and delinquency rates began to rise in 2006, but the pace of lending did not slow. Banks and other investors had devised a plethora of complex financial instruments to slice up and resell the mortgage-backed securities and to hedge against any risks or so they thought. The Crisis Takes Hold The first shoe to drop was the collapse in June 2007 of two hedge funds owned by Bear Stearns that had invested heavily in the sub-prime market. As the year went on, more banks found that securities they thought were safe were tainted with what came to be called toxic mortgages. At the same time, the rising number of foreclosures helped speed the fall of housing prices, and the number of prime mortgages in default began to increase. The Federal Reserve took unprecedented steps to bolster Wall Street. But still the losses mounted, and in March 2008 the Fed staved off a Bear Stearns bankruptcy by assuming $30 billion in liabilities and engineering a sale to J P Morgan Chase for a price that was less than the worth of Bears Manhattan skyscraper. Sales, Failures and Seizures In August, government officials began to become concerned as the stock prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored entities that were linchpins of the housing market, slid sharply. On Sept. 7, the Treasury Department announced it was taking them over. Events began to move even faster. On Sept. 12, top government and finance officials gathered for talks to fend off bankruptcy for Lehman Brothers. The talks broke down, and the government refused to step in and salvage Lehman as it had for Bear. Lehmans failure sent shock waves through the global banking system, as became increasingly clear in the following weeks. Merrill Lynch, which had not been previously thought to be in danger, sold itself to the Bank of America to avoid a similar fate. On Sept. 16, American International Group, an insurance giant on the verge of failure because of its exposure to exotic securities known as credit default swaps, was bailed out by the Fed in an $85 billion deal. Stocks dropped anyway, falling nearly 500 points.

The Governments Bailout Plan The bleeding in the stock market stopped only after rumors trickled out about a huge bailout plan being readied by the federal government. On Sept. 18, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. publicly announced a three-page, $700 billion proposal that would allow the government to buy toxic assets from the nations biggest banks, a move aimed at shoring up balance sheets and restoring confidence within the financial system. Congress eventually amended the plan to add new structures for oversight, limits on executive pay and the option of the government taking a stake in the companies it bails out. Still, many Americans were angered by the idea of a proposal that provided billions of dollars in taxpayer money to Wall Street banks, which many believed had caused the crisis in the first place. Lawmakers with strong beliefs in free markets also opposed the bill, which they said amounted to socialism. President Bush pleaded with lawmakers to pass the bill, but on Sept. 29, the House rejected the proposal, 228 to 205, with an insurgent group of Republicans leading the opposition. Stocks plunged, with the Standard & Poors 500-stock index losing nearly 9 percent, its worst day since Oct. 19, 1987. Negotiations began anew on Capitol Hill. A series of tax breaks were added to the legislation, among other compromises and earmarks, and the Senate passed a revised version Oct. 1 by a large margin, 74 to 25. On Oct. 3, the House followed suit, by a vote of 263 to 171. When the bill passed, it was still unclear how effective the bailout plan would be in resolving the credit crisis, although many analysts and economists believed it would offer at least a temporary aid. Federal officials promised increased regulation of the financial industry, whose structure was vastly different than it had been just weeks before. The Crisis and the Campaign The credit crisis emerged as the dominant issue of the presidential campaign in the last two months before the election. On Sept. 24, as polls showed Senator John McCains support dropping, he announced that he would suspend his campaign to try to help forge a deal on the bailout plan. The next day, both he and Senator Barack Obama met with Congressional leaders and President Bush at the White House, but their efforts failed to assure passage of the legislation, which went down to defeat in an initial vote on Sept. 29, a week before it ultimately passed. The weakening stock market and growing credit crisis appeared to benefit Mr. Obama, who tied Mr. McCain to what he called the failed economic policies of President Bush and a Republican culture of deregulation of the financial markets. Polls showed that Mr. Obamas election on Nov. 4 was partly the fruit of the economic crisis and the belief among many voters that he was more capable of handling the economy than Mr. McCain. Deeper Problems, Dramatic Measures

With credit markets still locked up and investors getting worried about the big banks, Wall Street marked a grim milestone in late November when stock markets tumbled to their lowest levels in a decade. In all, the slide from the height of the stock markets had wiped out more than $8 trillion in wealth. The markets inched back in the weeks that followed as investors looked forward to a new administration and a huge economic stimulus package, but key indicators of the economy only got worse. Capital Markets In economics the term market means the aggregate of possible buyers and sellers of a thing and the transactions between them. The term "market" is sometimes used for what are more strictly exchanges, organizations that facilitate the trade in financial securities, e.g., a stock exchange Capital markets consist of: Stock markets, which provide financing through the issuance of shares or common stock, and enable the subsequent trading thereof. Bond markets, which provide financing through the issuance of bonds, and enable the subsequent trading thereof. The capital markets consist of primary markets and secondary markets. Newly formed (issued) securities are bought or sold in primary markets. Secondary markets allow investors to sell securities that they hold or buy existing securities. A stock exchange, securities exchange or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides "trading" facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade stocks and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of securities as well as other financial instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage, now spanning three centuries in its 133 years of existence. What is now popularly known as BSE was established as "The Native Share & Stock Brokers' Association" in 1875. BSE is the first stock exchange in the country which obtained permanent recognition (in 1956) from the Government of India under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956. BSE's pivotal and pre-eminent role in the development of the Indian capital market is widely recognized. It migrated from the open outcry system to an online screen-based order driven trading system in 1995.

Earlier an Association Of Persons (AOP), BSE is now a corporatised and demutualised entity incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to the BSE (Corporatisation and Demutualisation) Scheme, 2005 notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). With demutualisation, BSE has two of world's best exchanges, Deutsche Brse and Singapore Exchange, as its strategic partners. Today, BSE is the world's number 1 exchange in terms of the number of listed companies and the world's 5th in transaction numbers. The market capitalization as on December 31, 2007 stood at USD 1.79 trillion . An investor can choose from more than 4,700 listed companies, which for easy reference, are classified into A, B, S, T and Z groups. The BSE Index, SENSEX, is India's first stock market index that enjoys an iconic stature , and is tracked worldwide. It is an index of 30 stocks representing 12 major sectors. The SENSEX is constructed on a 'free-float' methodology, and is sensitive to market sentiments and market realities. Over the decades, the stock market in the country has passed through good and bad periods. The journey in the 20th century has not been an easy one. Till the decade of eighties, there was no measure or scale that could precisely measure the various ups and downs in the Indian stock market. BSE, in 1986, came out with a Stock Index-SENSEXthat subsequently became the barometer of the Indian stock market. SENSEX, first compiled in 1986, was calculated on a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" methodology of 30 component stocks representing large, well-established and financially sound companies across key sectors. The base year of SENSEX was taken as 1978-79. SENSEX today is widely reported in both domestic and international markets through print as well as electronic media. It is scientifically designed and is based on globally accepted construction and review methodology. Since September 1, 2003, SENSEX is being calculated on a free-float market capitalization methodology. The "free-float market capitalization-weighted" methodology is a widely followed index construction methodology on which majority of global equity indices are based; all major index providers like MSCI, FTSE, STOXX, S&P and Dow Jones use the free-float methodology. SENSEX is calculated using the "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology, wherein, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization. Base Year - 1978-79

Base Index Value 100 Date of Launch - 01-01-1986 Method of calculation - Launched on full market capitalization method and effective September 01, 2003, calculation method shifted to free-float market capitalization. Number of scrips 30 The launch of SENSEX in 1986 was later followed up in January 1989 by introduction of BSE National Index (Base: 1983-84 = 100). It comprised 100 stocks listed at five major stock exchanges in India - Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Madras. The BSE National Index was renamed BSE-100 Index from October 14, 1996 and since then, it is being calculated taking into consideration only the prices of stocks listed at BSE. BSE launched the dollar-linked version of BSE-100 index on May 22, 2006. With a view to providing a better representation of the increasing number of listed companies, larger market capitalization and the new industry sectors, BSE launched on 27th May, 1994 two new index series viz., the 'BSE-200' and the 'DOLLEX-200'. Since then, BSE has come a long way in attuning itself to the varied needs of investors and market participants. In order to fulfill the need for still broader, segment-specific and sector-specific indices, BSE has continuously been increasing the range of its indices. BSE-500 Index and 5 sectoral indices were launched in 1999. In 2001, BSE launched BSE-PSU Index, DOLLEX-30 and the country's first free-float based index - the BSE TECk Index. Over the years, BSE shifted all its indices to the free-float methodology (except BSE-PSU index). The Economic Survey State of the Economy Challenges, Policy Response and Medium-Term Prospects Fiscal Developments and Public Finance Prices and Monetary Management Financial Intermediation and Markets External Sector Agriculture and Food Management Industry Infrastructure Social Sectors State of the Economy Per capita income and consumption Economic growth Sectoral Contribution Aggregate demand Savings and investment Inclusive growth Inflation

Money supply Balance of payments External trade Agriculture production Industry and infrastructure Social sectors The Budget Document Annual Financial Statement Demand for Grants (DG) Appropriation Bill Finance Bill Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Finance Bill, 2008 Macro-economic framework for the relevant financial year Fiscal Policy Statement for the financial year Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement Expenditure Budget Volume -1 Expenditure Budget Volume -2 Receipts Budget Status of Implementation of Announcements made in Finance Minister's Budget Speech of the previous financial year. Budget at a Glance Revenue Receipts Capital Receipts Non-plan Expenditure Plan Expenditure Revenue Deficit Fiscal Deficit Primary Deficit REVENUE RECEIPT: Consists of duties imposed by the Centre, interest and dividend on investments made by the government. CAPITAL RECEIPT: Loans raised by the Center from the market, government borrowings from the RBI & other parties, sale of Treasury Bills and loans received from foreign governments all form a part of Capital Receipt. Other items that also fall under this category include recovery of loans granted by the Center to State governments & Union Territories and proceeds from the dilution of the governments stake in Public Sector Undertakings. NON-PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of Revenue and Capital Expenditure on interest payments, Defense Expenditure, subsidies, postal deficit, police, pensions, economic services, loans to public sector enterprises and loans as well as grants to State governments, Union territories and foreign governments.

PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of both Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure of the Center on the Central Plan, Central Assistance to States and Union Territories. REVENUE DEFICIT: It is the difference between Revenue Expenditure and Revenue Receipts. FISCAL DEFICIT arises when the Governments total expenditure surpasses the revenue it generates. PRIMARY DEFICIT: Fiscal Deficit minus Interest payments. Budget Glossary Before going to specific words associated with the Budget, lets take a look at what is the budget. Nowhere in the world does the budget attract as much attention as in India. The Budget is generally described as a detailed plan for a measured period, setting goals and outlining resources to meet those goals. In short, it provides details of the government's receipts and payments. It also gives details of tax revenues and other receipts besides a general breakup of expenditure, allocation of plan outlays by sectors as well as by various ministries. The Budget also gives information on the transfer of resources from the Center to the states, revenue deficit, primary deficit and fiscal deficit of the Center. Read on for some words linked directly or indirectly to the budget. AD-VALOREM DUTIES: These are the duties determined as a certain percentage of the price of the product. APPROPRIATION BILL: This Bill is like a green signal enabling the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund to pay off expenses. These are instruments that Parliament clears after the demand for grants has been voted by the Lok Sabha. BUDGETARY DEFICIT: Such a situation arises when the expenses exceed the revenues. Here the entire budgetary exercise falls short of allocating enough funds to a certain area. BUDGET ESTIMATES: These estimates contain an estimate of Fiscal Deficit and the Revenue Deficit for the year. The term is associated with the estimates of the Center's spending during the financial year and the income received as proceeds of tax revenues. CAPITAL GOODS: Capital Goods are those goods that are used in the manufacturing of finished products. CAPITAL BUDGET: The word, capital, is long-term in nature. Capital Budget keeps track of the government's capital receipts and payments. This accounts for market loans, borrowings from the Reserve Bank and other institutions through the sale of Treasury Bills, loans acquired from foreign governments and recoveries of loans granted by the Central government to state governments and Union Territories.

CAPITAL PAYMENTS: Expenses incurred on acquisition of assets are termed capital payments. CENVAT: This is a replacement for the earlier MODVAT scheme and is meant for reducing the cascade effect of indirect taxes on finished products. The scheme is a more extensive one with most goods brought under its preview. CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT: This deficit shows the difference between the nation's exports and imports. CUSTOM DUTIES: These duties are levied on goods whenever they are either brought into the country or exported from the country. The importer or the exporter pays custom duties. COUNTERVAILING DUTIES: This is levied on imports that may lead to price rise in the domestic market. It is imposed with the intention of discouraging unfair trading practices by other countries. CONSOLIDATED FUND: This is one big reservoir where the government pools all its funds together. The fund includes all government revenues, loans raised and recoveries of loans granted. CONTINGENCY FUND: It is more or less similar to that extra little bit of savings that all mothers set aside in case of an emergency. Likewise, the government has created this fund to help it tide over difficult situations. The fund is at the disposal of the President to meet unforeseen and urgent expenditure, pending approval from Parliament. The amount that is withdrawn from the fund is recouped. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE: Long-term in nature they are used for acquiring fixed assets such as land, building, machinery and equipment. Other items that also fall under this category include, loans and advances sanctioned by the Center to the State governments, union territories and public sector undertakings. CAPITAL RECEIPT: Loans raised by the Center from the market, government borrowings from the RBI & other parties, sale of Treasury Bills and loans received from foreign governments all form a part of Capital Receipt. Other items that also fall under this category include recovery of loans granted by the Center to State governments & Union Territories and proceeds from the dilution of the governments stake in Public Sector Undertakings. CENTRAL PLAN: It refers to the governments budgetary support to the Plan and, the internal and extra budgetary resources raised by the Public Sector Undertakings. DIRECT TAXES: Taxes imposed directly on the customers such as the Income Tax and the Corporate Tax fall under this category.

DISINVESTMENT: The dilution of the governments stake in Public Sector Undertakings is called as disinvestment. DEMAND FOR GRANTS: It is a statement of estimate of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund. This requires the approval of the Lok Sabha. EXCISE DUTIES: These duties refer to duties imposed on goods manufactured within the country. FISCAL DEFICIT: It is the difference between the Revenue Receipts and Total Expenditure. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: Total market value of the goods and services manufactured within the country in a financial year. GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT: Total market value of the finished goods and services manufactured within the country in a given financial year, plus income earned by the local residents from investments made abroad, minus the income earned by foreigners in the domestic market. INDIRECT TAXES: Taxes imposed on goods manufactured, imported or exported such as Excise Duties and Custom Duties. MODVAT: It stands for Modified Value Added Tax and is a way of giving some relief to the final manufacturers of goods on Excise Duties borne by their suppliers. MONETIZED DEFICIT: Measures the level of support the RBI provides to the Centres borrowing program. PEAK RATE: It is the highest rate of Custom Duty applicable on an item. PERFORMANCE BUDGET: It is a compilation of programs and activities of different ministries and departments. PUBLIC ACCOUNT: It is an account where money received through transactions not relating to consolidated fund is kept. PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of both Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure of the Center on the Central Plan, Central Assistance to States and Union Territories. PRIMARY DEFICIT: Fiscal Deficit minus Interest payments. REVENUE DEFICIT: It is the difference between Revenue Expenditure and Revenue Receipts.

REVENUE SURPLUS: Opposite of Revenue Deficit, it is the excess of Revenue Receipts over Revenue Expenditure. REVISED ESTIMATES: Usually given in the following budget, it is the difference between the Budget Estimates and the actual figures. REVENUE BUDGET: Consists of Revenue Receipts and Revenue Expenditure of the government. REVENUE RECEIPT: Consists of duties imposed by the Centre, interest and dividend on investments made by the government. REVENUE EXPENDITURE: Expenditure incurred for the normal functioning of the government departments and various other services such as interest charges on debt incurred by the government. SUBSIDIES: Financial aid provided by the Center to individuals or a group of individuals to be competitive. The grant of subsidies is also aimed at improving their skills of those who benefit from the subsidies. NON-PLAN EXPENDITURE: Consists of Revenue and Capital Expenditure on interest payments, Defense Expenditure, subsidies, postal deficit, police, pensions, economic services, loans to public sector enterprises and loans as well as grants to State governments, Union territories and foreign governments. FINANCE BILL: Consists the governments proposals for the imposition of new taxes, modification of the existing tax structure or continuance of the existing tax structure beyond the period approved by the Parliament. VALUE ADDED TAX: It is based on the difference between the value of the output over the value of the inputs used.

Commodity Sector
A Commodity is A interchangeable physical substance A product that trades on commodity exchange Foreign currency, financial instruments and indexes are commodities too. A product that is interchangeable with another product of the same type is a commodity.

Commodity Sectors Bullion Cereal Energy Metals Fibers Oil & oilseeds Petrochemicals Plantation Pulses Spices Environmental Commodities Rare Metals Minerals and other materials Livestock and meat Others Commodity Sector Classification The Indian Commodity sector is divided into 24 individual and non-individual sectors The commodities which appear on factsheets as the commodities which are regularly in trade are classified in the next section. Sectors comprise all companies producing or using a particular commodity or groups of commodities. Sectors like tea are single commodity sectors whereas others like petrochemicals span a wide variety of commodities. Bullion Metals Oil & Oil Seeds Cereals Spices Energy Classification Other classifications Plantations Rubber Fiber Kapas Others Almond Gaur Seed

Melted Menthol Flakes Menthol Oil Potato

Commodity Market Structure Major Commodity Exchanges in India Multi Commodity Exchange National Multi Commodity of India Ltd. Bhatinda Om And Oil Exchange ltd. National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange Global Scenario of Commodity Market (India) Indias share in the global commodity market is not as big as estimated. India accounts for 3% of the global oil demand. India accounts for 2% of global copper demands In agriculture Indias contribution to international trade volume is rather less compared to the huge production base available.

Satyam Computers
Satyam Computers has been one of the major contributor to IT revolution is India. Till now a company which had been fourth largest Software Company of India came to ground on January 7, 2008 with its chairman Ramalinga Raju conceding that he has systematically fudged the accounts of the company. Cash and bank balance as reflected in the accounts, actually does not exist. According to a rough estimate total fraud is to the tune of around 8000 crores. Keeping in view the interest of the investors, employees and the IT sector at large, government recently reconstituted the board of Satyam Computers, with a view to control the damage. It has even decided to give away a package to revitalize the company starving of funds to even pay the salary of its 51000 employees. When this fraud was brought to light by Satyams chairman himself, the price of the share tumbled by about 80 per cent in a day. In the international market, price of its ADR depreciated by 90 per cent and its trading was forbidden forthwith. Government has even ordered an enquiry into the affairs of 8 group companies of Satyam. SEBI, Company Law Board and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India have also initiated their enquiries on their own.. But this is a fact that shareholders net worth has been eroded by thousands of crores and 51000 of workers are at the verge of losing their livelihood, exchequer and the economy would he at a great loss. ROLE OF AUDITORS But real question is much different and pertinent. Satyam fraud may be first of its kind in India, but not the first such fraud of the world, where fraud was given effect by forging

the books of accounts. Enron an American company did exactly the same. In that case auditors were named as one of the main culprits. CEO of the company is serving 24 years of imprisonment, but at the same time auditing company Arthur Anderson has lost its existence world over after the incident. In the present scam auditing company is Price Waterhouse Cooper. Experts believe that the company could not have done a fraud of this magnitude without the connivance of the auditors. Price Waterhouse Cooper is also escaping to speak on the issue. Fact is that when Satyam was fudging its accounts in, the auditing company was certifying these accounts to be correct. Auditor is obliged to minutely inspect each and every transaction of a firm and certify the same to be correct and as per rules. These certified account statements are then sent to the shareholders. Thus we can say that fraud has not been committed by Ramalinga Raju alone, auditing company must also have been fully involved in the same. It is worth noting that Price Waterhouse Cooper, auditing firm of Global Trust Bank (USA) also, is facing legal proceeding in the case of not only certifying fudged accounts of the bank but also giving it a good rating. ROLE OF SEBI Constituted under the Act of Parliament, Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is a regulatory body of Indian share and bond markets. It is expected from SEBI that no company or broker is allowed to act against the interests of the shareholder. In fact existence of a regulator gives a confidence amongst the stakeholders in that sector. Existence of SEBI naturally gives a confidence to the investors in the share markets. But this regulating agency has failed at various occasions. Thousands of companies vanished eating away lakhs of crores of rupees of investors and SEBI could not do any thing. Sometimes tiny cases of insider trading by companies are investigated by SEBI, fraud of lakhs of crores of rupees gets easily escaped from its scanners. Recently a company made Initial Public Offer (IPO) and lakhs of crores of application money which should have gone to an independent agency went into the accounts of the company and SEBI could not even issue a clarification in this regard. All or any information regarding all transactions of a company, issue of capital, salepurchase of shares in either available with SEBI or it could be asked for by it. Then why SEBI could not get a clue about such a big fraud. We should not conclude that fault lies with the officers of SEBI. Perhaps constitution of SEBI as provided by the Act of the Parliament itself forbids SEBI to proactively act against defaulting parties. Learning lesson from the present case and to avoid repetition of such incidents, there is a need to make governments audit compulsory for all big private sector companies on lines of public sector companies. We know that strict auditing of public sector companies by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been reason why there has never been any big scam in public sector companies. Secondly there is a need to examine the constitution and functioning of SEBI and make suitable changes wherever needed to enable SEBI to meaningfully discharge its duty as a regulator in the stock market. All multinational and Indian auditing companies which are found to be indulged in fraud in any part of the world, should be placed under the scanner and their acts be investigated in India . This world be a proactive step in the interest of the nation at large.

Journalism: Before and After (The Changing Trends and the New Definition of News)
Everything changes at a very fast pace in this busy and happening world. And what happens when the source of all our news i.e. media too redefines itself. Journalism, which was once about sincerely penning your thoughts and letting people know whats happening in various parts of the world, is now about creating news rather than investigating news. Its a revolution in media industry that first came through the cable television, then satellite and now online versions of newspapers is augmenting the news media scene. In olden times, news was that which came from newspapers or word of mouth. Today the term news is not just about informing, but also about doing it fast, effectively and also analyzing it for Gen X. Being in the eye of public domain has created a tremendous pressure on the publication as well as news channels. With various multimedia options from streaming video online to downloadable applications, blogs and mobile alerts, the options are varied for todays reader. Journalists are working harder than ever to cater to their readers. From live reporting, interviewing, analyzing the facts to the digitalization of news on blogs and official websites, the job is easier said than done. Journalists who want to set their articles apart as truthful and comprehensive have began giving public access to their sources. Playing an active role in the process of collecting , reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and other information was the definition of journalism in olden times. Today it is defined as Revelation , current events, gossip, new information, imparting facts. There is no News anymore rather just about anything is news today. E.g. Famous bollywood actress Aishwarya Rais marriage controversy or we can say a tea-gossip that Ms. Rai will change her name after marriage was unbelievable. To some extent it may be news for entertainment and gossip lovers , however television channels carried 30 minutes slot in this very subject. The media ecology, with its additional agency of interactivity, democracy and with a new domain of bloggers and citizen reporters has extended the medium to further discuss a set of issues and opportunities that extend beyond familiar boundaries. The news business and political journalism have now experienced such incredible changes as specialized news, financial news and sports 24- hour cable satellite service. Today social media has also changed journalism. Its an extension of those practices which are now an essential component of any news organizations strategy. However , an increase in competition has also led organizations to distinguish themselves from less responsible outlets by being more transparent about how they do their work. Due to all this newsmakers face increasing competition to cover all the pertinent stories and reach sources before their competitors . The biggest change which has occurred is increased involvement of the audience , which has morphed from the occasional letter in to an active citizen participating in polls and giving feedback through emails.

Understanding online journalism, impact of technology on journalism, journalism in digital age, print media v\s television media are some of the terms that define modern journalism. The basic rule of good journalism is- Tell the story right, tell it well, or If you cant be funny, then be interesting.

BUDGET
There's a separate division in the Ministry of Finance to look after the preparation of the Budget. It's major functions include the following: Overall responsibility of consolidating, finalising and printing of General Budget documents, Supplementary and Excess Demands for Grants and Parliamentary business connected therewith Provisioning of funds for expenditure by Ministries/Departments Monitoring of the Ways & Means position, Market borrowing programme of Central and State Governments and Government guaranteed Institutions National Savings Institute and Small Savings Schemes Finance Commission, Budgets of States under Presidents Rule, Consent for borrowing of States under Article 293 of the Constitution, Release of share in Central taxes and Ways & Means Advances to States, State reorganisation matters Audit & Accounts matters Government guarantees Non-tax receipts of Government Resources for Annual and 5 year Plans Contingency Fund of India Investment pattern of non-Government Provident Funds & Pension Funds Fixation of terms & conditions including interest rates on Central Governments lending Railway Convention Committee, Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Estimates Committee, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Public Accounts Committee Performance Budget Treasurer, Charitable Endowments of India

Union Budget 2008-2009

Some of the main highlights of the Union Budget 2008-09 are the Rs. 60,000 crore debt relief for the farmers in India, the investment in the social sector and also the much awaited tax waiver for the common man. The benefits spelt out for various backward sectors of the society by the Finance Minister P.C.Chidambaram are the most striking feature of the annual budget. For the Farmers The government has allocated Rs.60,000 crore for the relief of over four million farmers in India. Smaller farmers with less than two hectare lands will be subject to complete waiver of loans and others will be subject to a one time settlement scheme. Farmers will also be eligible for fresh loans. Taxation The tax exemption limit has increased from 1,10,000 to 1,50,000 and for women there is a further exemption up to 1,80,000. Also, senior citizens exemption limit has been hiked from 1,95,000 to 2,25,000. Commodities and services Small cars, motorcycles and scooters, dairy products, washing machine and ACs, set-top box, gems and jewellery, water purifiers, three and four star hotel tariff, all pharmacy products, imported life-saving drugs will be cheaper. Mobiles, non filter cigarettes, packaged software, stock and commodity exchange services will grow more expensive. Agriculture The balance sheet showed that agriculture grew at the rate of 2.4% and also claimed to have a double agricultural credit under the UPA governments tenure. The year had record food grain production with individual record productions of rice and maize. The budget approved 14 national projects and also has got aid from World Bank in many states. A new financial institution IRWFC will be launched to support farmers monetarily. Fertiliser subsidies will continue and new nutrient based fertilizer subsidy will be launched. Irrigation and rain fed area development programme will be implemented. Infrastructure and Industry The finance minister has allocated funds for rural electrification, for developing highways, exploration of oil and gas and also IT ministry. All of the 30 integrated textile parks have been approved. Education Education outlay has increased by 20%. A significant amount of grants and subsidies have been made in the education sector at both primary and higher level education. Kasturbha Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Nehru Yuvak Kendras, New Navodaya Vidyalayas

will be set up for primary education. Three new IITs, one Planning and Architecture school and a National Knowledge Network will be set up. Health Health outlay increased by 15%. Funds have been allocated for the National Rural Health Mission, Integrated Child Development scheme, Combating AIDS etc. Also the Rashtriya Health Bima Yojana has been set up in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. Other areas A special fund has been allocated to the development of North Eastern States and Arunachal Pradesh and other border areas. A special Minorities scheme which include nationalized banks in minority areas and also minority employment schemes have been developed and it will also help develop madrassas. The budget has a number of initiatives for women and children. The allocation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been enhanced by 24 per cent to Rs. 7,200 crore. For the first time, a statement on child related schemes has been introduced in the budget. The total expenditure on schemes for child welfare would be of the order of Rs. 33,434 crore. Rs.11,460 crore has been provided for 100 per cent women specific schemes and Rs. 16,202 crore for schemes where at least 30 per cent is earmarked for women-specific programmes. LIC is being asked to extend the Janashree Bima Yojana to cover all women Self Help Groups that are credit-linked to the banks. Therefore, the Finance Ministers budget has spelt a boon for the farmers, women, children and other disadvantaged sections of the society.

Foreign exchange market

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The purpose of the foreign exchange market 'Forex' is to assist international trade and investment. The foreign exchange market allows businesses to convert one currency to another foreign currency. For example, it permits a U.S. business to import European goods and pay Euros, even though the business's income is in U.S. dollars. Some experts, however, believe that the unchecked speculative movement of currencies by large financial institutions such as hedge funds impedes the markets from correcting global current account imbalances. This carry trade may also lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries. In a typical foreign exchange transaction a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market started forming during the 1970s when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.

Market size and liquidity Main foreign exchange market turnover, 19882007, measured in billions of USD. The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.2 trillion in April 2007 by the Bank for International Settlements. [2] Since then, the market has continued to grow. According to Euromoney's annual FX Poll, volumes grew a further 41% between 2007 and 2008.[3] Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the foreign exchange market are determined by the size of the "line" (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail FX-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s. (2004) In addition, he notes, Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 20012004 period in terms of both number and overall size Central banks also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs. Banks The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account. Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for small fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago. Commercial companies An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor

in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants. Central banks National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Milton Friedman argued that the best stabilization strategy would be for central banks to buy when the exchange rate is too low, and to sell when the rate is too highthat is, to trade for a profit based on their more precise information. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading. The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 199293 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia. Hedge funds as speculators About 70% to 90% of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor. Investment management firms Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases. Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades. Retail foreign exchange brokers Retail traders (individuals) constitute a growing segment of this market, both in size and importance. Currently, they participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail brokers, while largely controlled and regulated in the USA by the CFTC and NFA have

in the past been subjected to periodic foreign exchange scams.[8][9] To deal with the issue, the NFA and CFTC began (as of 2009) imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone. There are two main types of retail FX brokers offering the opportunity for speculative currency trading: brokers and dealers or market makers. Brokers serve as an agent of the customer in the broader FX market, by seeking the best price in the market for a retail order and dealing on behalf of the retail customer. They charge a commission or mark-up in addition to the price obtained in the market. Dealers or market makers, by contrast, typically act as principal in the transaction versus the retail customer, and quote a price they are willing to deal atthe customer has the choice whether or not to trade at that price. In assessing the suitability of a FX trading services, the customer should consider the ramifications of whether the service provider is acting as principal or agent. When the service provider acts as agent, the customer is generally assured of a known cost above the best inter-dealer FX rate. When the service provider acts as principal, no commission is paid, but the price offered may not be the best available in the marketsince the service provider is taking the other side of the transaction, a conflict of interest may occur.

Non-bank foreign exchange companies Non-bank foreign exchange companies offer currency exchange and international payments to private individuals and companies. These are also known as foreign exchange brokers but are distinct in that they do not offer speculative trading but currency exchange with payments. I.e., there is usually a physical delivery of currency to a bank account. Send Money Home offer an in-depth comparison into the services offered by all the major non-bank foreign exchange companies. It is estimated that in the UK, 14% of currency transfers/payments [10] are made via Foreign Exchange Companies.[11] These companies' selling point is usually that they will offer better exchange rates or cheaper payments than the customer's bank. These companies differ from Money Transfer/Remittance Companies in that they generally offer higher-value services. Money transfer/remittance companies Money transfer companies/remittance companies perform high-volume low-value transfers generally by economic migrants back to their home country. In 2007, the Aite Group estimated that there were $369 billion of remittances (an increase of 8% on the previous year). The four largest markets (India, China, Mexico and the Philippines) receive $95 billion. The largest and best known provider is Western Union with 345,000 agents globally followed by UAE Exchange Financial Service Ltd

Financial instruments
Spot

A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction (except in the case of trades between the US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Turkish Lira and Russian Ruble, which settle the next business day), as opposed to the futures contracts, which are usually three months. This trade represents a direct exchange between two currencies, has the shortest time frame, involves cash rather than a contract; and interest is not included in the agreed-upon transaction. The data for this study come from the spot market. Spot transactions has the second largest turnover by volume after Swap transactions among all FX transactions in the Global FX market. NNM Forward One way to deal with the foreign exchange risk is to engage in a forward transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of the trade can be a one day, a few days, months or years. Usually the date is decided by both parties. Future Foreign currency futures are exchange traded forward transactions with standard contract sizes and maturity dates for example, $1000 for next November at an agreed rate [4], [5]. Futures are standardized and are usually traded on an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any interest amounts. Swap The most common type of forward transaction is the currency swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not standardized contracts and are not traded through an exchange. Option A foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option) is a derivative where the owner has the right but not the obligation to exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. The FX options market is the deepest, largest and most liquid market for options of any kind in the world.. Exchange-traded fund Exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) are open ended investment companies that can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the S&P 500 (e 3. Exchange-Traded and Over-the-Counter Derivative Instruments OTC (over-the-counter) contracts, such as forwards and swaps, are bilaterally negotiated between two parties. The terms of an OTC contract are flexible, and are often customized to fit the specific requirements of the user. OTC contracts have substantial credit risk, which is the risk that the counterparty that owes money defaults on the payment. In India,

OTC derivatives are generally prohibited with some exceptions: those that are specifically allowed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or, in the case of commodities (which are regulated by the Forward Markets Commission), those that trade informally in havala or forwards markets. An exchange-traded contract, such as a futures contract, has a standardized format that specifies the underlying asset to be delivered, the size of the contract, and the logistics of delivery. They trade on organized exchanges with prices determined by the interaction of many buyers and sellers. In India, two exchanges offer derivatives trading: the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). However, NSE now accounts for virtually all exchange-traded derivatives in India, accounting for more than 99% of volume in 2003-2004. Contract performance is guaranteed by a clearinghouse, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NSE.4 Margin requirements and daily marking-to-market of futures positions substantially reduce the credit risk of exchangetraded contracts, relative to OTC contracts.

BUSINESS JOURNALISM One of the most important and relevant fields of Journalism that affects your readers lives directly What is Business Journalism? In simple laymans term, Business Journalism, is simply a comprehensive and unbiased reporting of the developments that happen in a company, an industry or in the economy of a country. But who is a layman from your perspective??? Layman Is A Person Like You and Me But who is a layman? And why does he want your business news? Does it really matter to him? And will he really be interested in the developments of the company, industry and country Yes he will be Yes he will be He will be if he is a resident of a country growing at a rate of 8-10% He will be if he is a part of a massive 1.3 cr population base Promit pagal ho gaya hai! Hes gone mad!! He is trying to make sense out of Four very different things LAYMAN BUSINESS NEWS GROWTH RATE

MASSIVE POPULATION THE RELATION BETWEEN THE FOUR Business News Therefore, your business news is very important for him because it tells him how the growth of the population of his country, is affecting the demand, supply, sales, and the growth rate of his country and how is it affecting him. Lets take an example of TATA & McDONALDS TATA Lets say TATA reports that its Nano sales have increased by 20% in the year 2010 McDONALDS More and more people are visiting McDonalds these days The relation of a layman, or a common man, to business news and why will he be interested in business news But the relationship varies However, not always a common man has time and patience to sit down and establish his relation to a business news. And, thats the reason why it is the work of a Business Journalist to establish the relation in a story and make it readable. SECTORS IN BUSINESS JOURNALISM But still there are a few sectors which are directly related to a common man And he is all the more interested to read. So, what are these sectors and these stories? SECTORS A COMMON MAN IS INTERESTED IN Personal Finance Automotive Aviation Hospitality FMCG Real Estate Technology 10 JAN, 2011, 01.48PM IST, KHYATI DHARAMSI,ET BUREAU Why you should not pull out your FD Banks have been raising interest rates on fixed deposits of various tenures by 0.50.75% in the past two weeks. A three-year FD in the second week of December 2010 was earning as much as 8.30-8.50%. The interest rate has since swelled to 9%. A senior citizen might even earn 10% by picking the right bank FD. In this backdrop, it is tempting to withdraw an FD and deposit the money with a

bank offering a higher interest rate. Here is why you should not rush. Banks usually levy a penalty in the form of a 0.5-1% lower interest on customers looking to ditch their account for a rivals. "When the interest rate goes up in quick succession, people will start breaking existing deposits. Bank will feel the pressure," says S Govindan, general manager of personal banking and operations department at Union Bank of India. Banks are okay with customers reinvesting money with them, though there are exceptions. Mobile 'apps' to be $58 billion market: Study HONG KONG: Mobile applications downloaded from online stores will be a $58 billion worldwide business by 2014, as tablet computers such as Apple's iPad stoke the surging market, a new study said Monday. The figure marks a huge increase on the $5.2 billion spent on mobile applications in 2010, technology consultancy Gartner said, predicting there will be 17.7 billion application downloads this year, more than double the 8.2 billion in 2010. By the end of 2014, Gartner forecasted that over 185 billion applications will have been downloaded since 2008. Gartner added that while the average number of downloads to mobile phones will remain stable, "it must be assumed that media tablets will drive more downloads from consumers, boosting the overall average downloads per device." Mobile application revenue was generated both by fees paid for the downloads and developers' advertising revenue, it said. SECTORS NOT DIRECTLY RELATED Oil and Gas Metals Mining Chemicals and Fertilizers Shipping Pharma Infrastructure Another set of people There is yet another set of people who are interested in reading about almost all sectors And they will gobble up every possible business news. Who are they? SHAREHOLDERS Who are shareholders?

 Why are they interested in all kinds of news? How do they make money? Business papers and analysts are largely interested in catering to their needs. Shareholder or a common man, it is the job of a Job of a BUSINESS JOURNALIST To track the flow of money and to write about HOW is it being spend and WHERE is it being spend and WHY is it being spent? It is the cardinal rule for a BUSINESS JOURNALIST to go into the depth of the subject, and not stop till the inner appetite for clarity, connection and comparison between the developments is established. So the product is authentic, readable, understandable, informative and interesting. Most important trait Second most important trait Third most important trait Other traits Few more traits

THE FINANCE MINISTRY AND THE FINANCE MINISTER: The Finance Ministry and the Finance Minister is responsible for the administration of the finances of the Central Government. It is concerned with economic and financial matters affecting the country as a whole, including mobilization of resources for development. It regulates the expenditure of the Central Government, including the transfer of resources to States. The current Finance Minister of the country is Mr Pranab Mukherjee. Born on 11 th December, 1935 and has been serving the Finance Ministry as a cabinet minister elected from Indian National Congress (INC) since January 24, 2009. He had also served as a Cabinet Minister of Finance from January, 1982 to December, 1984 with additional charge of Ministry of Commerce and Supply, from September to December 31, 1984. Apart from overseeing several financial departments, one of the most important jobs that he has is to present the Union Budget. On February 28 th, 2011, he will be presenting his sixth Union Budget. He is rated as one of the best five Finance Ministers of the world for the year 1984, according to a survey of Euro Money, journal published from New York. He had also been conferred Best Parliamentarian Award for 1997, besides being the recipient of Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the second highest civilian Award in the county for contribution in Public Affairs. Since the Finance Minister has several financial departments under him, he is assisted by two Ministers of State. The Ministers of State are actually junior ministers with the responsibility of helping the Finance Minister in formulating plans and policies. The two Ministers of State under the Finance Ministry are: S S Palanimanickam, Minister of State (Revenue) Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State (EB&I) The Finance Minister is responsible for five Departments under him, namely Department of Economic Affairs foreign exchange management, foreign aid and BUDGET Department of Expenditure Financial powers given to different ministries relating to expenses Department of Revenue Central Board of Excise & Customs and Central Board of Direct Tax Department of Disinvestment; and

Department of Financial Services Insurance, Banking and Pension Reforms

Each of these departments is headed by Secretaries, usually belonging to the civil services cadre, and are called Bureaucrats. Besides these, the Finance Minister, with the help of his two Minister of State and Secretaries of the Departments, monitors several tasks related to the financial management of the country. Out of these tasks, the main are: Monitoring and focusing: On the collection of direct taxes, Indirect taxes, Goods and service taxes, Banking and the insurance sectors, The capital markets also known as the stock market, The different financial regulators, Externally aided projects like the ones funded by the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank (ADB), The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Presenting the Finance Bill every year, Coming up with the Economic Survey; and Initiating the Finance Commission xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RBI Governor Banking Sector Planning Commission Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx RBI GOVERNOR The Reserve Bank of India was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated. Though originally privately owned, since nationalisation in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of the country, the final authority on all banking regulations and policies. Its core responsibility, traditionally, has been to manage the currency in India. As the countrys monetary authority, the RBI is presently engaged in the task of recording and preserving for prosperity the countrys rich and varied monetary heritage.

As the central governing bank of the country, it has the mandate to ensure that prices remain stable and there is enough money for economic growth. The RBI also works towards keeping the banking system safe and stable, and that is the reason why in a journalists parlance, it is called Banker to the banks. Its main functions are: Decisions on monetary policy Currency management Financial regulation and supervision Exchange rate and reserve management Management of foreign exchange Act as a baker to the government Act as a banker to the Banks The Reserve Bank of India, the nations central bank, began operations on April 01, 1935. It was established with the objective of ensuring monetary stability and operating the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage. Its functions comprise monetary management, foreign exchange and reserves management, government debt management, financial regulation and supervision, apart from currency management and acting as banker to the banks and to the Government. In addition, from the beginning, the Reserve Bank has played an active developmental role, particularly for the agriculture and rural sectors. Over the years, these functions have evolved in tandem with national and global developments. The Bank today focuses, among other things, on maintaining price and financial stability; ensuring credit flow to productive sectors of the economy; managing supply of good currency notes within the country; and supervising and taking a lead in development of financial markets and institutions. From a journalists point of view, the Reserve Banks decisions touch the daily lives of all Indians and help chart the countrys economic and financial course. It is run by a central board of directors headed by a Governor and four deputy governors and then follows other key people. It reports to the Finance Minister. It has 4 regional offices, 15 branches and 5 sub-offices. As Official Directors, it has the Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors and as Non-Official Directors, it has ten Directors from various fields and one government Official nominated by the Govt. Also, it has four Directors, one each from four local boards.

The organizational structure is as shown in the slide. The current RBI governor is Dr D Subbarao. From among the known faces from the corporate world on the Board of Directors of RBI are Kumar Mangalam Bila and Azim Premji. Since the Governor and the RBI is concerned with the management of the monetary situation of the country, the RBI Governor, in association with his team, has to take decisions regarding that same. While earlier, the monetary policy was reviewed twice a year, these days, owing to coupling of the economies of the world and greater developmental pace in the country, the Governor reviews the policy every quarter. The Reserve Banks Monetary Policy Department (MPD) formulates monetary policy. The Financial Markets Department (FMD) handles day-to-day liquidity management operations. There are several direct and indirect instruments that are used in the formulation and implementation of monetary policy. The direct instruments are: Cash reserve ratio, statutory liquidity ratio and refinance facilities. Main indirect instruments: Repo rate Reverse repo rate Bank rate

NICHE JOURNALISM
India doesnt have a World-class product As far as media is concerned Preface It is very evident; the Indian media is going to the dogs. Be it the senselessness of creating hype over something trivial or be it going overboard with the so-called Freedom of Press, the media is deteriorating day by day as far as content is concerned. The very few channels of media that are credible enough, somehow manage to present good content while fighting the war of TRPs and Readership. The following project discusses as to why there is not even a single outstanding media enterprise in India. The points under consideration are: Media: Ownership Bias Advertising influence Political media enterprises Selling editorial space Sensationalism Media is very elitist. Audience:

Failure to recognize good media outlet.

The above mentioned points have been explained with the help of examples. Ownership and Advertising Bias:

Proprietorship and advertisers influence the editorial content in a newspaper or a channel. Advertisers bring in the revenue for newspapers and hence are the heart and soul and breath of a publication. So, the publication has to take care that their news stories do not damage their relation with the advertisers. Similarly every publication or a channel has an ideology. Diversity in media is necessary. There is no denying that diversity in media is necessary. However, it shouldnt in anyway lead to filtering facts before theyre presented to the audience. Political Media enterprise:

Newspapers like Samna, Sakal or channels like Jaya T.V. or Sun T.V. do not really care about the standards of journalism. All they care about positive stories about their respective parties. So obviously a journalist working for such newspapers cant write anything against the particular party or the owner. He either has to filter his facts or not run the story at all; which means that the journalist, at the end of the day, cant do his job. Since advertisers are not interested in media products, except as a kind of bait to lure audiences and expose them to advertisements, the press in its attempt to retain advertisers, seeks forms of news that are advertiser-friendly and entertaining to readers. Subjects appealing to the upper and middle class readers, who form a valuable market for advertisers, dominate pages of newspapers and magazines. There is rarely news about the poor, except when they break the law or become beneficiaries of the charity of the rich. Entertainment-oriented coverage meets advertisers agenda. Coverage of music, computers, food and fashion, for example, is prominent in news for it attracts

advertising revenue from companies that sell products in these industries. Some critics have suggested that advertisers have the ability to influence content of news and tilt the balance in their favour. News usually depicts advertisers or/and their products in a favourable light. The dynamics, however, are not as simple as either routine intervention by advertisers to protect their interests (although this does happen) or daily compliance with advertisers agendas by reporters. The influence operates on several levels. Reports and editors are aware of the economic role of major advertisers. A dominant influence in this regard is probably more akin to selfcensorship[ Advertising needs lead to the development of new media products. Supplements and topical pull-outs are products born out of such needs. Main newspapers/supplements and newsmagazines carry a variety of features - beauty and healthcare, fashion and technology - that exist largely to support the accompanying ads. At times, pull-outs carry features and ads aimed at selling one particular brand. Tourism ministries of countries/states are increasingly using pull-outs and special features as an advertising vehicle. Interest-specific supplements like Education Times (The Times of India), Ascent (The Times of India), HT Careers (the Hindustan Times) etc., and subsidiary publications like the Outlook Traveller and India Today travelPLUS allow the advertisers to narrowcast their messages. Ads also make their way, through various media into unlikely places such as classrooms. News publications aimed at a young readership are distributed free or at a nominal rate in schools, providing the advertisers a direct pipeline to the youth market. Technology allows for immense experimentation with design and pagelayouts. Text can be made to adjust according to an irregular graphic in an advertisement. Do not be surprised, if the day HBO airs a movie about the superhero, Spiderman tears out of the newspaper page, regardless of column formats, making it difficult to locate parts of one story scattered all over the page. Headlines on a page carrying a Pepsi Blue ad may be printed in blue to add zing to the advertisement. Anything goes to get noticed. It is argued that in an environment flooded with marketing messages, more than presence is required to be noticed. Many readers may skip ads while reading, but a pizza ad

bang in the middle of news stories does not escape notice. The Times of India on February 2, 2004 carried a United Trust of India advertisement, which contained images of a baby. The images, displayed from top left to bottom right of the page in-between text, certainly made for difficult reading of news but inevitably lead the reader to read the body copy of the advertisement at the bottom of the page. For the advertiser it makes for smart investment even though an intrusive, or some may say innovative ad may cost him at least 25 per cent more than an ad on a blank page. The question that arises is how much space a newspaper or magazine is ready to concede to the imagination of advertising agencies and the motives of advertisers. Creativity and variety are welcome, but when these cause the news to move away from objectivity and the pleasure of reading, it is time to draw a line. Beauty buys the eyes of the beholder Paid News:

The blurring of lines between editorial content and advertisements takes several forms. An advertorial is text or other content, occupying paid-for space, masquerading as editorial content. An advertorial is an attempt to add editorial authenticity to the advertisers claims. Advertorials can now be spotted in main newspapers, supplements and magazines. Some magazine houses have made advertorials regular elements of the magazine. Many a times, readers remain unaware of the fact that they are reading paid-for content, for the publication does not state the same or states it in a manner that easily escapes a readers notice.

Sometimes, an advertorial is used as supporting editorial copy with an advertisement. In such cases, the advertiser buys the entire space including that used for the text. Advertorials follow the journalistic feature format. When addressing a political theme, the (journalistic) feature writer must convince the reader of his or her objectivity as a journalist, while at the same time pressing a personal agenda. Features straddle the line between the hard news which is the staple of a newspaper, and the column, where

its priestly pundits wax eloquent (or indignant) about the events of the day. This characteristic of this genre of writing has, in effect, been misused to club advertorials into features. While reading a newspaper or a magazine, a reader trusts the journalists news sense and values to adjudge for her, what is news worthy and what is not. She believes that a journalist strives to present the facts as they are, without giving-in to any inducements. Selling news space, which belongs to objective news and expert viewpoints, is a breach of the trust the reader places in the newspaper or magazine. The story of enterprise and perseverance of an industrialist who transformed a down-in-the-dumps company to a multi-crore empire, appearing in a newsmagazine, leaves the reader with the impression that the journalist judged the merit of the story on its ability to evoke empathy on part of the reader and highlight the achievements of an individual as a role model. However, if such a story is a paid feature intended to build the image of the industry and its owner, it is a different ball game altogether. Newspapers now carry paid articles about companies, new ventures, product launches and even personal functions. The reader is central to any debate about the print media. After all, the media, along with other players like advertisers and public relations professionals, function to reach the reader. Media persons make casual references to the readers opinion, which is often discussed as leaning towards the individuals own orientation on the issue. But many questions remain unanswered. Are readers aware of the distinction between advertorial and editorial content? Do they care about editorial integrity? If yes, are they satisfied with the fare being offered to them? Are they looking for change? An often repeated question in the debate is why newspapers selling editorial space remain popular. It is not difficult to find an odd letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine featured in the letters columns, complaining about the deterioration of news content and increasing commercialization of the news media. The media debate in the Hindustan Times elicited some reactions from readers. But there is not a very strong reaction from the readers as a whole. There are a number of reasons for this. One main reason for this is that newspapers are habit-forming and it is not easy to switch from one to another. The reader therefore continues

to put up with whatever his newspaper offers him. This is however not as true for magazines. Two, the reader is perhaps unaware that the magazine/newspaper she is reading is selling editorial space and cheating her. The third reason could be as T.N.Ninan put it, "readers choose a newspaper for several attributes, of which editorial integrity may be just one. A paper may have the most comprehensive classified advertisements, useful when you want to rent a flat or sell a car Then a paper may have the best TV review columns. It may offer a free plastic chair in return for a three-month subscription (as some Hindi newspapers do). Or, simply, everyone in the neighbourhood reads it. And so on." Four, the silent acceptance is to do with the Indian psyche. In India, public reaction to happenings is very private. Such a private public reaction is of no consequence and the reader needs to be more proactive. The reader, keeping in view the current media scenario, has become a mere pawn on the chessboard of media economics. There is need for a complete overhaul of the media system to effect change. What is also required is a more aware and conscious readership. The onus to safeguard the ideals of journalism lies on the readers too.

Selling news or buying silence? March 05, 2003 The newspaper world has been cast into turmoil over the last few weeks. First, there was the furor, within media circles, over The Times of India group deploying 'paid content' -- or what in plain words means -- selling news. The group has a division called Medianet, complete with a rate card for the sale of news. For lay readers, it must be clarified that the sale of news is different and distinct from paid advertisements, advertorials or special supplements, all of which are clearly identified as 'sponsored features,' while paid news is not.

Such spurious news has included gushing endorsements of flop movies, fashion and lifestyle products and the promotion of hotels and restaurants that enter into a payment arrangement with the organization. The reader has no clue that the adulatory report is nothing but a paid advertisement masquerading as objective reportage or opinion. Even while the debate over the ethics of a newspaper 'selling news' was hotting up into a regular war of words between two of the country's top-selling English dailies, journalism was dealt another stunning blow. Last week, the Mumbai police arrested Rishi Chopra of The Economic Times along with an accomplice (a former journalist with another business daily) in an alleged extortion attempt. The duo was trapped accepting a Rs 700,000 bribe which was the second installment of a Rs 2.5 million payoff to kill a report about the shenanigans of one Poonamchand Malu of Malu Financial Services. Worse, the pay-off itself had apparently been haggled down from an initial demand of Rs 10 million to Rs 2.5 million. Although corruption in the media is no longer news, the actual arrest of two scribes and the sums involved, marked a new low in this once honourable profession. The two issues are not unconnected -- and not merely because they involve the same media group. A little before Chopra's arrest, Ravi Dhariwal, an executive director of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd, which owns The Times of India and The Economic Times had pointed out in a signed article on the edit page of The Economic Times that -- 'all those shouting from the roof-tops admonishing sponsored stories have also turned a blind eye to the fact that some stories get into their newspapers, after veiled deals between public relations agencies and large sections of the media.'

This may be true. Indeed, some TOI journalists believe that blatant 'planting' of news and photographs by journalists acting in cahoots with PR agencies had triggered off the Medianet initiative. Dhariwal's article labels Medianet an attempt to 'bring about more transparency and disclosure to the entertainment and lifestyle supplements' of the group. But Rishi Chopra's arrest would suggest the problem is not restricted to the entertainment and lifestyle segments. Chopra was a business journalist, that too connected to the research bureau. Also, he is the third ET scribe under a cloud for shady links with speculators in the last two years. Two others were asked to go after investigations by the market regulator revealed substantial allotment of cheap 'preferential' shares at the behest of tainted market operator Ketan Parekh. This suggests that the answer to corruption is not the official sale of news, but a serious attempt to tackle and eradicate corruption. Let us look at the issue from another perspective. TOI is the world's largest selling English language newspaper and sells more copies per day than The New York Times or USA Today. It has also been at the forefront of breaching the 'walls' that separate advertising, management and editorial in a newspaper organisation. The group has frequently shuffled senior employees on either side of the 'wall.' For instance, Chopra, the recently arrested journalist was designated 'Deputy Manager' in the ET Intelligence Bureau. A couple of days later Pradeep Guha, a senior director of the company and its top marketing executive, had turned 'reporter' and covered the Filmfare Awards for the TOI. The group believes the newspaper business is no different from any other business and likes to refer to its various publications as brands or products.

However, this logic should work both ways. A reader, as the consumer of these media products should have the same rights and expectations. While readers know that advertisements keep the product cost low, they still buy a newspaper for its editorial content and not for its advertisements. This means the reader has a right to expect that advertisements and news are distinct and segregated. The Times Group claims each of its paid news items carries the words 'Medianet promotions' at the bottom. But without proper disclosure to the reader about what the word Medianet implies, the disclosure is meaningless. In the absence of such clarity, the reader ought to be outraged at the attempt to pass off paid news as the real thing. But readers either don't care, or newspapers are so habit-forming that they refuse to dump the product despite their irritation. In such a situation, the consumer, far from being king, is totally irrelevant. The entire debate over the ethics of 'selling' news has revolved around this simple fact. Every senior journalist writing on the subject has lamented the readers' apathy. Even in private e-mail groups, it is journalists who seem outraged, anguished and disheartened at what has been described as the 'prostitution' of news; the reader response is always lukewarm. Some discerning readers have written to the newspaper in protest, others gripe privately about the degeneration of the media, but neither category is willing to go so far as to stop buying the newspaper. It is this reader apathy that allows Ravi Dhariwal of The Times of India to dismiss the debate in The Hindustan Times and other publications as the reaction of 'disgruntled rivals who have failed to compete every step of the way' and are 'maligning The Times of India by their ideological rhetoric.' Dhariwal's frenzied defence is rather telling: 'If anyone is committing rape, it is publications that are doing it (probably refers to sponsorship

of editorial pages and reports) under the cover of darkness. For The Times of India, it's but a torrid affair with the advertiser, one that can only culminate in a happily ever after,' he writes. Clearly, the reader, who pays less than the price of a cigarette, a cup of tea or a paan, is totally and completely irrelevant and the group probably expects him to be suitably appreciative. When the reader is not discerning, his/her loyalty can always be bought through low 'invitation pricing' of the publications or cross promotions, titillating photographs and stage-managed events. The paper's self-confessed love affair is with the advertiser and its flourishing bottomline gives it the power to desecrate editorial space and express the confident view that all other media houses will soon follow its example. Did someone say the leader guards the reader? Paid news are spreading like a rage in the industry. As if selling editorial space isnt enough, some newspapers are hypocritical enough to say that they dont indulge in selling space. Following is an article from Livemint which talks about how DNA comes out with a print ad and on the other hand its co-owner the Dianik Bhaskar group has opened its own wing of Private Treaties. DNAs take on paid editorial content draws its own critics The campaign comes three months after co-owner, Dainik Bhaskar, launched own private treaties wing. Khushboo Narayan and Anushree Chandran Mumbai: In an apparent swipe at The Times of India group, Mumbaibased English newspaper The Daily News and Analysis (DNA) recently launched an advertising campaign targeting the practice of selling editorial space for paid-for or marketing content. The newspapers front page campaign started on 2 April with headlines that read Truth well sold, Make the headlines tomorrow. By paying for it, and Money cannot buy our integrity. Take 2: DNAs campaign highlights a recent trend in which newspapers are selling editorial space to pick up stakes in advertisers firms. One such advertisement says: Theres a fee for headlines. Another for news articles. With any luck, the only space they probably cannot sell

is the section on the weather. They even have a fancy term for such news a Public Relations exercise. Some media buyers say DNAs campaign as a direct attack against The Times of India. a charge that DNA denies. Still, the campaign is a take on a relatively recent trend in the Indian media business, which has newspapers using edit space to promote events, people or companies in exchange for equity or other stakes in the advertisers. What is interesting to industry observers is that the DNA campaign comes about three months after the newspapers co-owner, the Dainik Bhaskar Group, started its own, so-called private treaties division. DNAs publisher Diligent Media is a 50:50 joint venture between diversified media house Essel Group and the Dainik Bhaskar Group, a leading Hindi and Gujarati print media company. Dainik Bhaskars private treaties division, headed by the groups general manager Arvind Mittal, is responsible for setting up deals under which the media firm can pick up equity stakes in companies in return for promoting them through long-term advertising and other publicity deals. Private treaties do not in any way mean compromising the content as the newspapers final responsibility lies with its readers, insists Rajiv Jaitly, president, DB Corp. Ltd, a Bhaskar group company. There is a basic difference in the way the industry looks at private treaties and the way Bhaskar approaches it. He declined to comment on the advertisers contacted or deals in process, but said the divisions results were encouraging enough. Jaitly also argued that private treaties do not promise editorial compliance and the deals are just a way of agreeing on the future potential and of seeing merit on aligning business for us. Diligent Media chief executive K.U. Rao insists DNA does not sell editorial space. There are no private treaties in DNA, he said. Everything here is public. He also denied that DNAs campaign targeted The Times of India. The campaign is a take on DNA and how it is different from others. It is a positive statement from DNA for what it stands for. Its not about anyone else, he said.

DNA is No. 2 to The Times of India in terms of circulation in the hotly contested Mumbai market. Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), Indias largest media group by revenue and the publisher of The Times of India newspaper, has attracted attention for pioneering the mingling of news and paid-for content, though some of its practices, such as forming equity partnerships, are now being copied by other media rivals. BCCL, which also publishes The Economic Times, says the DNA campaign will not hurt The Times of India brand in any manner. These are marketing tactics, said Rahul Kansal, brand director, The Times of India. Comparative advertising that hits out on a competitor has been put to great advantage in some cases. On the other hand, there have been a large number of cases where taking on a competitor, especially a leader ends up only backfiring on the brand concerned. Kansal said his paper would not launch a counter-campaign and asserted that BCCL has drawn a clear line between news and paid-for content. We are very transparent about paid-up content, he claimed. It has never once happened. On the contrary, so much is the commitment of the Bennett group that we have launched these services only for our lifestyle supplements, but we are ruthless about ensuring that this never happens with the main newspaper. Like many other media companies, HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint, theHindustan Times and Hindustan newspapers, has also set up an adfor-equity team that has signed several such deals. The Hindustan Times competes withDNA and The Times of India in Mumbai. LOOK OUT!! You almost killed the Amoeba.. Sensationalism:

Sensationalism stands for all the senselessness and the hype media creates around trivial matters. Be it Aishwarya Rais rumoured pregnancy or be it Star Newss saas bahu aur saazish, the Indian media is relying highly on sensational ways to gain TRPS and readership.

Last Friday, I was at my aunts place and she has very limited channels on her T.V. So it was either the movie Aap ka suroor or Star news. I decided, that Star news was less excruciating to watch. They were showing this astrology show, where in a guruji predicted a mans (present in the studio) future based on his zodiac sign. His sign was scorpio. And the whole show was so hilarious. I couldnt help but think for a second whether I am going to do the same after I enter the industry. Whenever, I meet people and they come to know that Im planning to become a journalist they immediately say to me, wahmag kay aaj tak war baghnar vatate tula amhi furthermore, my cousins make fun of me by telling me that you think you are going to incredible path breaking work in journalism but you will actually stand infront of Salman Khans bunglow on his birthday and interview a roadside Romeo about why he likes Salman so much. This is a clear indication of what people think of journalism these days. They define journalism on the lines of Aaj tak and coverage of actors personal life. Aishwarya wants to be Pregnant soon Aishwarya Bachan:The miss world and the Indian beauty who has married and now called as Aishwarya bachan wants a baby soon. They are rumours that she is already pregnant,but some say that the couple Abhi and Ash are planning to have a baby by next year December . This can be predicted more strongly as the couple visisted the Ameen Sahib Peer Dargah which is in cuddapah district, of Andhra Pradesh two days ago and this Dargah is famous for fulfilling the devotees wishes. This can be more cemented as Ash Mother in law is very keen that the baby be born before December 2008 as the planetary position is very auspicious for the baby to be born and the baby will prosper in health and wealth and also his career if he is born in the month of December. A Astrologer when consulted said that the planet Jupiter will go into dhanur Rasi and will stay there for 1 year till December ending . And if the child is born in this period the child will have a very strong Jupiter

planetary boon like Jaya bhachan who has the same in her Janam Kundali. The visit to the dargah also was for the purpose to obtain the blessing s of the peer sahib and this was suggested to the couple by music maestro AR . Rahman. Ahmad Shisti Khadri was the Kasim who performed all the rituals and offered the chader to the god which was brought by the couple. The khasim when contacted said that he had received a call from the couple long time back who asked him about the necessary rituals to be performed to please the god as there was some Kuja Dosham in conceiving a child by the couple . It was Abhishiek who performed the rituals and Aish was not allowed inside as ladies are not allowed inside the Dargah and so she offered her prayers from outside. Even Teji bachan {Amitabhs mother } ill health is a prime concern for the family as Amitabh was planning a grand ceremony in the occasion of his fathers 100th death anniversary . But due to her health the ceremony, which was supposed to be held on 27 November, will be cancelled So let us wish the couple Ash & Abhi that may all their prayers be answered by god and soon they will be blessed with a sweet child . Aishwarya Rai filing for divorce, blames astologers pregnancy rumors Bollywood megastar Aishwarya Rai has told divorce lawyers that her marriage has beenblighted by Bachchan in-laws' astrologers' pregnancy rumor mill. The stunning green-eyed movie queen has claimed husband Abhishek Bachchan's extensive family 'deployed countless star-gazing nutters' and then lost a fortune by gambling on key dates for the birth of the couple's 'twin daughters'. So far the zodiac pregnancy predictions have proved to be a dud, something that Aishwaryablames on Abhishek's 'limp firing of blanks'.

The star's perdonal Tarot reader is now predicting a quickie divorce ahead of the couple's second wedding anniversary on 20 April. Saas Bahu aur Saazish Star news out does itself every time. It uses its own content and presents them to the viewers as news. Example, being Saas, Bahu aur Saazish. The guy yelling at you on Star News (Sansani) literally makes you want to slap him. It just reproduces the content shown on other channels as news. Besides that, they cover news like a professor falling in love with his young student and comparing Raj and Udhav Thackeray to Shashi kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar. Moreover, covering Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding for 48 hours was just unbearably sickening. NDTV and CNN-IBN were criticized because they did not cover the news. Most channels viewed the entire funeral ceremony of Pramod Mahajan. Aarushi Murder Case The Aarushi murder case was an important news story which without a doubt needed to be covered. However, media blew the case out of proportion and took its so-called Freedom of press to a whole new level. The media made a mockery out of itself with the way they covered this case. They not only tortured her father after he was held as the accused in the murder but also assassinated Aarushis character by presenting stories like she had sexual relations with the servant Hemraj. The following article from The Hindu says it all. Media on trial Driven by sensationalism INDIRA JAISINGH It spells disaster when the media tries to take on for itself the role of the justice delivery system. The law has always had an ambivalent relationship with the media. On the one hand, the requirement of open trials would demand unrestricted access to the press. One of the nonnegotiable issues of the justice delivery system is that justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done. I have believed that the time

has long come for court proceedings to be televised so that the nation can judge our judges in the same way that they now judge our MPs. The sunlight of the press is in and of itself a mechanism of accountability much needed in the judiciary. It is in the public interest therefore that the press is given pride of place in reporting on judicial proceedings. There are however, very vital restrictions on this rule, which are as much in the public interest as the need for open justice. The press cannot be allowed to sit in judgment over matters of life and death for those facing a trial. It is for this reason that the law allows reporting of judicial proceedings but without comment while the case is being tried. This rule balances the interest of the public in knowing the truth about pending cases and the interests of an accused in safeguarding his or her reputation. Problems begin when the press does not stop at reporting but goes on to build theories of guilt, all this when a trial is pending and the accused is presumed innocent until proved guilty. There is a clear and well defined line between reporting facts and expressing opinions on them. This line has often been breached by the press. The rule therefore must be strictly observed in order to prevent any pre-judging of the issue. Indeed, so sacred is the right to a fair trial, that in the U.S. for example, where trial is by jury, in significant cases, jury members are not allowed to read the press or leave the court until the case is decided. Thankfully, in India, we do not have jury trials, but judges are exposed to daily media coverage of pending cases in which the press has crossed the limits of its legitimate right to report. Judges may say they are brave hearts and not influenced by press reports, but these reports are intended to build up public opinion in a negative manner which by itself can influence the outcome of a case. An example of this is the SMS polls run by television channels on controversial issues. This is what happened in Afzal Gurus case. All television channels ran polls on whether Afzal Guru should be given the death penalty, a first in Indian legal history, when an SMS poll could decide the penalty by influencing public opinion. That public opinion, in any case something not measurable by any means, did influence the outcome of the case is evident from the fact that the judges who decided the case said that the collective conscience of society was outraged by the attack on parliament! In a manner of speaking the judiciary itself has lowered the bar for itself by relying on what it calls the collective conscience of society. Right to privacy While not minimising the role of the press as an instrument of accountability for the legal system, especially when other channels do not exist, it is also important to remember that there is an equally

great public interest in protecting the privacy, dignity and reputation of individuals facing the law. The press needs to remember that there are laws governing it functioning and it is accountable to the law too and to those whose reputations are at stake. The harm done by the press to reputation is irreparable and it needs to adopt preventive measures before the damage is done. A case in point is the obscene manner in which the Aarushi murder was covered by the press. There were channels which went to the extent of recreating what they imagined to be the case, a sexual encounter between Arushi and the domestic servant under the blankets. Email exchanged between Aarushi and her friends which came into the possession of the Police were released to the press and displayed over and over again to convey the impression that she was of loose character, forgetting that she was no more than 13 years of age. There was nothing short of a media trial taking place here. And while some may voluntarily submit to media trials, this was a case where there was an on going police investigation and the matter was sub judice and should not have been reported in the manner it was. There is all over an unholy nexus between the police and the press. Much of what passes off as investigative journalism is nothing but press hand outs. The police release premature opinions to come out looking good in investigating crime and the press laps it up as an exclusive story. Both are happy. The law needs to step in here and hold the police responsible for damaging reputations and prevent them from sharing investigation reports with the press. Violation of ethics Apart from violating the fundamental rights of citizens, the press also here violated its own journalistic ethics. The Press Council of India in its norms forbids the press from publishing private details of individuals unless relevant to public interest. The norm forbids the press from divulging details about any person in a manner which raises doubts about the chastity and privacy of a woman. All these norms were violated in the Aarushi case. That apart, even a dead person cannot be criminally defamed and Aarushi was quite clearly defamed by a substantial section of the media. Yet another law, the Indecent Representation of Women Act, was also violated. So under-used is this law that the press is probably unaware of its existence. It is one law which requires the press to report on women in a responsible manner that does not violate their dignity. This law is all too often used only to seize pornographic material, though it is meant for all manner of reporting in news and advertising. Need for code of conduct

By far the most important lapse is that of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in failing to enact a binding code of conduct on reporting in a manner that does not violate laws of defamation, contempt of court and the Indecent Representation of Women Act. There is an urgent need to bring print and television media under scrutiny for the manner in which they report. The only reason why the press is not sued for compensation in this country is because of the enormous court fees that a person would have to pay to bring a suit. At the end of the day, weak law enforcement encourages defiance of the law. We need also to deal with the declining ability of the judiciary to deliver timely justice, if we wish to avoid being tried by the press. The battle at the end of the day is for the re establishment of the rule of law, so that all can live in dignity and peace. While the press is often credited with having brought issues like the failure of justice in the Jessica Lal case to public notice, we cannot forget that the real heroes are the family members of those who lost their lives. Without a Neelam Katra, who continues to fight a valiant battle for the rights of victims in the criminal justice system, there would be nothing to report. The centrality of the issue is often lost in media hype. No matter how significant a role the media can play in exposing the failure of justice, it cannot replace the justice delivery system. For, to allow that to happen would be to succumb to the lynch mob mentality. The press has as much of a stake in the maintenance of the rule of law as do individual victims of crime. Media is Elitist:

The mainstream media overlooks the real stories and always covers the stories which affect the elites of the society. There are so many real news in the nation which havent been covered. There are so many issues that havent been put light upon. For instance, the secessionist movement and the tension in the north eastern region needs to be covered. These are serious issues which need coverage. Similarly, Irom Chanu Sharmilla, a lady activist who went on strike in 200 over killings of 14 people by the military on false grounds was covered only recently. Still, most of the people are not aware of this lady. This lady and this whole Imphal issue needs to be covered in a very recognizable way. Giving it a small coverage is not doing justice to the news story. Similarly, the Kashmir military or even the Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh have been accused of raping women and causing violence themselves

rather than the terrorists. However, talking against the army would lead to that particular news channel or publication as Anti-National. However, these are real stories wherein authorities appointed to help them are themselves terrorizing people. Failure of Audience:

Putting all the blame on the media is not really unfair. Because after all the media sells because the audience buys it. It is really shocking to see that thesesenseless news channels get a very high TRP and also a publication like The Times of India which has shamelessly proclaimed that they indulge in selling space would continue to get the highest viewership. The audience fails to acknowledge the media enterprise which, if not world-class, is good and has the potential of becoming world-class. The Indian Express, the publication known for its Journalism of Courage is not even in the top ten newspapers on IRS 2009. A magazine like Tehelka goes bankrupt which has the reputation of having exposed so many corruption scandals. The Audience would rather prefer Kabootaron par grenade ka aatank over watching We the people or The Verdict. People watch those astrology and religion based shows on India TV but not serious news on Times Now. People would rather watch Shrivardhan Trivedi than Pranoy Roy (not that they are comparable). Moreover, Radio has become a mere source of entertainment. When you board the train you tune radio in your mobile phone to 91.1 FM to listen to songs. Radio is no more a source of news. Internet, which should be used for the purpose of information and news (excluding the times you use Google for you projects) is just a medium of social networking and chatting with your friends. The audience not only fails to recognize the good media but also people who symbolize serious journalism. They come up with hate groups for eminent journalists and just discuss over how these journalists should be taken off air. They write blogs and abuse (literally) these journalists.

It just doesnt therefore rest in the hands of the media alone to be good and world-class, the viewers and the readers have to help them grow, develop and become one of the best.

GQ (originally Gentlemen's Quarterly) is a monthly men's magazine focusing upon fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books.

History
Gentlemen's Quarterly was launched in 1931 in the United States as Apparel Arts, a men's fashion magazine for the clothing trade, aimed primarily at wholesale buyers and retail sellers. Initially it had a very limited print run and was aimed solely at industry insiders to enable them to give advice to their customers. The popularity of the magazine amongst retail customers, who often took the magazine from the retailers, spurred the creation of Esquire magazine in 1933. Apparel Arts continued until 1957 when it was transformed into a quarterly magazine for men which was published for many years by Esquire Inc.[1] Apparel was dropped from the logo in 1958 with the spring issue after nine issues, and the name Gentlemen's Quarterly was established. In 1979 Cond Nast Publications bought the publication and editor Art Cooper changed the course of the magazine, introducing articles beyond fashion and establishing GQ as a general men's magazine in competition with Esquire. Subsequently, international editions were launched as regional adaptations of the U.S. editorial formula. Jim Nelson was named editor-in-chief of GQ in February 2003; during his tenure he worked as both a writer and an editor of several National Magazine Award-nominated pieces.[citation needed] During Nelson's tenure, GQ has become more oriented towards younger readers and those who prefer a more casual style. Nonnie Moore was hired by GQ as fashion editor in 1984, having served in the same position at Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar. Jim Moore, the magazine's fashion director at the time of her death in 2009, described the choice as unusual, observing that "She was not from men's wear, so people said she was an odd choice, but she was actually the perfect choice" and noting that she changed the publication's more casual look, which "She helped dress up the pages, as well as dress up the men, while making the mix more exciting and varied and approachable for men."[2] GQ has been closely associated with metrosexuality. The writer Mark Simpson coined the term in an article for British newspaper The Independent about his visit to a GQ exhibition in London: "The promotion of metrosexuality was left to the men's style press, magazines such as The Face, GQ, Esquire, Arena and FHM, the new media which took off in the Eighties and is still growing.... They filled their magazines with images of narcissistic young men sporting fashionable clothes and accessories. And they persuaded other young men to study them with a mixture of envy and desire." GQ launches in India GQ India: an accompanying Indian-focused website gqmagazine.in launched simultaneously Cond Nast unveiled the 15th global edition of its men's magazine GQ by launching in India. The first issue came in October 2008.

The October issue opens GQ's Indian account by featuring the country's leading lights of Bollywood, cricket and fashion - respectively Saif Ali Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Arjun Rampal. The monthly magazine distributed 35,000 copies of its first issue in 40 Indian towns and cities priced at R100 (1.17). The launch issue also features an exclusive interview with steel tycoon Aditya Mittal. Che Kurrien is the editor of GQ India. He comes from Reuters where he was a correspondent and before that at Time Out Mumbai as Assistant Editor and Indian Express as Staff writer. Che has a post-graduate degree in journalism from New York University. Cond Nast's plans to launch an Indian edition of the upmarket men's magazine were made public in April 2008, as the publisher announced its aim to follow the success of Vogue's launch in India. Cond Nast launched Vogue India in September 2007 after gaining permission from the Indian government to own 100% of its Indian subsidiary. A change of regulation in 2005 allowed non-news and current affairs publications to be wholly foreign-owned. Cond Nast India was one of the first companies established under the new rules. Like Vogue India, Cond Nast collaborates with a leading distribution company, the Living Media Group, to make the GQ available throughout India, where it will be on sale at 5,500 different outlets. GQ was first launched in America in 1957 as Gentleman's Quarterly, a fashion spin-off from Esquire. Cond Nast took over the magazine in 1983 and launched it in the UK in September 1988. GQ's launch aimed to tap into what Conde Nast described as "the red hot expansion of the luxury market catering to men who are earning and spending like never before". In response to this growing demand, a number of premium brands have entered the Indian market, with GQ hot on their heels. Nicholas Coleridge, vice-president of Conde Nast International, said: "[From launching last September] Indian Vogue rapidly dominated the women's magazine market, far surpassing expectations in both circulation and advertising. It has given us the confidence to start a second title, and GQ is the logical choice." The magazine is art directed by Brendan Allthorpe, who joins the magazine from GQ Russia. And has Iain Ball as features editor. Iain has worked as Chief Copy Editor Vogue India and previously as Consulting Editor to TimeOut Delhi, Assistant Editor to Time Out Mumbai, and Copy Editor / staff writer to the Indian Express. Alex Kuruvilla, the managing director of Conde Nast India, said: "There is a huge vacuum in the men's luxury magazine space. We have been inundated by requests from advertisers and readers to launch GQ in India. Like its international counterparts, GQ India is stylish, opinionated and celebrate the finest journalism India has to offer." Editor of GQ India Che Kurrien said that the magazine is targeting Indias growing affluent male population. He said: "The new Indian man is earning and spending like

never before, driving consumption in Asia's third-largest economy, attracting a slew of luxury lifestyle brands. GQ will be his guide to all things cool and stylish." India Magazine Industry Thriving, Big Players Moving In When Conde Nast launched its premium lifestyle magazine Vogue in, it carried a whopping 168 pages of advertisements of a total 400 pages. Then, the publisher launched its luxury men's magazine GQ and expects a similar rush of advertisers in Asia's third-largest economy, where rising incomes and growing literacy are boosting readership and revenues of magazines and newspapers. From specialist magazines on whiskey, golf and parenting, to regional-language newspapers and financial dailies, new titles are coming thick and fast in one of the few markets in the world where advertising and readership for print media are expanding. "It's a fast growing economy and with consumption so robust and with incomes rising, it's a fertile ground for the print media," says Vivek Couto, executive director of Hong Kongbased research firm Media Partners Asia. "There is also a buoyancy in print advertising that is encouraging new launches and niche publications in particular." Print publication advertising revenues in India generated Rs 9,400 crore ($2.4 billion) in 2007, or 48 per cent of all of the country's media advertising revenues, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) said in a recent report. TV ads generated 41 per cent. With the economy having grown at an average rate of 8.75 per cent in the last four years, middle class incomes have risen, boosting demand for niche magazines on health, leisure and finances. Growing prosperity in rural areas is also encouraging demand for publications in India's more than 20 official regional languages. Revenue for newspapers and magazines in India, where reading at least one newspaper in the morning is sacrosanct, grew at an average rate of 15 percent in the last four years, higher than anywhere in the world, PWC said. The growth is helped by a young demographic, more working women, rapid urbanisation and smaller households, the report added. The print publication boom in India contrasts sharply with more mature markets in the West where circulation figures and advertising revenues are down as readers move to the Internet.

Boom
India in 2005 allowed 100 per cent foreign investment in non-news publications, keeping the cap for news at 26 per cent.

Early investments included Independent News and Media's 26 per cent stake in newspaper publisher Dainik Jagran, Pearson Plc's 14 per cent in Business Standard newspaper, Henderson Ventures' investment in HT Media and BBC Worldwide's magazine venture with Bennett, Coleman & Co. More recently, private equity firm Blackstone Group put $150 million in regional publisher Ushodaya Enterprises, Warburg Pincus moved $33 million into the Dainik Group and DE Shaw invested $39 million in Amar Ujala Publications, according to research firm Venture Intelligence. News Corp, which has a content alliance for The Wall Street Journal with HT Media's business daily, is keen on more launches. Pearson, which has sold its Business Standard stake, is reported to be in talks for a new venture. "There's huge investor interest in the growth potential, because the segment is still quite under-penetrated," said Atul Phadnis, chief executive of consultancy Media e2e. Local firms are also seizing the opportunity: Business Standard and Bennett, Coleman's Economic Times have launched Hindi and Gujarati-language editions of their financial dailies. Deccan Chronicle Holdings has launched a business daily to compete with five others, and new regional-language and city papers are hitting the stands nearly every day. The boom in advertising revenue is not limited just to print. As new media grows and controls are eased in television, these will attract greater investments and advertising revenues. Specialist publications have a better chance of scoring with advertisers and readers in the increasing clutter, says Phadnis. "Niche publications are almost immediately profitable: Advertising more than makes up for lower subscriptions, and there are easy synergies with other verticals, like radio or internet."

Glut
But it's not all good news. The large number of players jostling in the market place could lead to a drop off in advertising revenues in the coming years, analysts say. "One of the worries is that publishers are taking ad revenues for granted," points out Phadnis. "Everyone thinks it will keep rising, but as early as 2009 we are going to see a glut in inventory in TV, print and the internet because of so many players. We will see intense price competition, and smaller firms may be forced out," he says. Investors are also chasing only a handful of large media firms, he adds, nudging up already high valuations: Deccan Chronicle shares trade at 10.3 times forecast earnings, while Jagran Prakashan trades at 19.3 times and Mid-Day Multimedia quotes at 19.7 times forecast earnings. Rising newsprint prices are also bumping up production costs. Still, Conde Nast expects Vogue will break even in its first or second year of operation compared to an average break-even period of five or six years in more mature markets, says Alex Kuruvilla, managing director in India, referring to Europe and the US. "We are

optimistic and bullish," he says of the potential. "But also cautious: In this market, you have to be smart." Attracting the attention of vendors who hawk magazines at traffic lights and getting space on shelves in overcrowded news stands across Mumbai is not easy for new entrants. "I am already running out of space," says K.B. Singh, pointing to a low wooden bench on a busy sidewalk piled high with dozens of glossy magazines and newspapers. "Where will I put the new ones?"

Publication House

Type Subsidiary Founded 1907 Headquarters Cond Nast Building, New York City Revenue $5 billion estimated USD, FY 2007 Parent Advance Publications

Cond Nast Publications Cond Nast Publications, Inc. is a worldwide magazine publishing company. Its main offices are located in London, Madrid, Miami, Milan, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Cond Nast is run by S.I. Newhouse Jr.

History
Cond Nast is credited with creating the now widely used magazine marketing strategy emphasizing magazines focused on a particular class or interest, sometimes known as lifestyle magazines. Many Cond Nast magazines have their principal focus in fashion,

although the company's publications also include travel, food, home, culture, and other interests. The company's most recent publication, a business monthly called Cond Nast Portfolio, was shuttered after just over a year, in April 2009. By 1998 the group included 17 such publications, many of them the largest in their markets. It had an average total circulation of over 13 million issues a month, and an estimated actual readership five times larger than that. The Cond Nast family of publications also includes Fairchild Publications, a former competitor before it was bought by S.I. Newhouse Jr. Fairchild publishes many successful monthly magazines in addition to the specialized daily trade publication Women's Wear Daily. Cond Nast Publications was founded by Cond Montrose Nast, who took over the flagship magazine, Vogue, in 1909. In 1959, S.I. Newhouse, Sr. purchased a controlling interest. It is now part of the holding company Advance Publications which is owned by the Newhouse family. Charles Townsend is the current CEO/president of Cond Nast, Richard D. Beckman is the president of the Cond Nast Media Group, David Carey is the current Group President. Thomas J. Wallace, who was promoted from his position as editor-in-chief of Cond Nast Traveler, is the editorial director. Cond Nast Media Group is the corporate sales and marketing arm of the company and the creator of the 3-year-old fashion and music spectacular on CBS called Fashion Rocks, which airs the first week in September. On October 31, 2006, Cond Nast acquired the content aggregation site reddit. On May 20, 2008 it was announced that another popular technology-oriented website, Ars Technica, had been acquired. Cond Nast folded the women's magazine Jane with its August issue in 2007. Its website was later shut down. One of Cond Nast's oldest titles and one with a paid circulation of nearly 1 million, the 106-year-old US edition of House and Garden magazine, ceased publication after the December 2007 issue. In late September 2009, Conde Nast was forced to cut 25% of their budgetciting decrease in advertising sales. The cut comes amid a failing print media industry that is struggling with a transition to a digital business model. On October 5, 2009 Cond Nast announced the closure of four of its publications: Cookie Magazine, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. Gourmet Magazine will cease monthly publication with its November 2009 issue. The Gourmet brand will continue to focus on television programing and cookbooks.

Current publications
The company publishes one of the most recognizable magazine portfolios in the industry.

Fashion and lifestyle

Vogue

Men's Vogue Teen Vogue W Glamour Allure Self GQ Details Lucky Easy Living

Home
Architectural Digest Maison & Jardin Vogue Decoration House and Garden

Bridal
Brides

Golf
Golf Digest Golf World Golf for Women

Food
Bon Apptit

Travel
Cond Nast Traveler

Technology
Wired Ars Technica Webmonkey Reddit

Culture
Vanity Fair The New Yorker

Defunct publications
Cond Nast Portfolio Domino House and Garden (defunct in U.S.; still published in U.K.) Jane Vitals Men Vitals Women Modern Bride Elegant Bride Gourmet Cookie Cargo Your Prom

List of mergers and acquisitions by Cond Nast

Cond Nast Publications is an American magazine publishing company based in New York City, New York. The company was founded in 1909 by Cond Montrose Nast when he acquired Vogue magazine after the death of its founder, Arthur Baldwin Turnure. Businessman Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. purchased a controlling interest in the company in 1959 and merged it into his holding company, Advance Publications, owned by the Newhouse family. The company is under the control of Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr., who is the chief executive officer of Advance Publications and its subsidiaries. Cond Nast has acquired thirteen companies and purchased stakes in three companies. Cond Nast has not released the financial details for most of these mergers and acquisitions. Cond Nast's first acquisition was Signature Magazine from Citigroup, a financial services company, on December 30, 1987. Cond Nast acquired Knapp Communications on April 20, 1993 for US$175 million. This acquisition was described as a "a perfect fit" with Cond Nast's other magazines, "notably Gourmet, the publishing company's lavish food and travel magazine, and HG, the elegant home decoration publication", because of Knapp's magazines such as Architectural Digest and Bon Apptit. Cond Nast bought Fairchild Publications from its previous owner, The Walt Disney Company, on December 1, 1999, which brought over magazines to Cond Nast that included Details, Women's Wear Daily, and W.

Cond Nast purchased stakes in three companies: Wagadon in 1988, Wired Magazine in 1994, and Ideas Publishing Group in 2001. The company's largest acquisition was Fairchild Publications for $650 million in December 1999. Cond Nast made the most acquisitions in both 2002 and 2006 with two in each year: Modern Bride Group and Ideas Publishing Group in 2002, and Lycos Inc-Wired News and Nutrition Data in 2006.

Contents of the Magazine

COVER STORY Cover story of the magazine FASHION Photoshoots. Editors Letter - Letter from the Editor Contributors - Bytes from famous personalities on any general question of current interest GQ Access Page 3 party Where to Buy Contact details of the stores & designers of the merchandise featured in the magazine Open Letter - An op-ed article with GQ Indias byline. FEATURES Columns, profile or interview of happening personalities around the world and India. FYI Everything you need to know the current month (music, movies, books, tech, man skills, drinks, etc.) Also has a column on GQ woman of the month. STYLE The Rules By Designer The Wardrobe By Actor/Corporate The Advice By GQ style guy Arjun Bhasin The Line-up A line of any of the garment, for e.g. shirt, scarf, pants, etc., with info on how, what and when to wear, brand & pricing plus a style tip. The Guide How to carry a garment. Intro, look one, two & three, etc. and a tip The Design The interiors EXCEPTION any new topic if necessary like The Essentials, The Suit, The Fairs, etc. OFFICE Working life, opinion, space, success the columns on corporate world DRIVE information & article on any new automobile launched

TALK Dont miss this month things recommended by celebs Sex a column

Sport a column Movies review Art review Money a column Society a column

THE GOOD LIFE articles on travel, food & drink GROOMING grooming advice, necessary current style & editors picks(editors choice of perfumes, etc.) ACTIVE Action A sports article with sportmans profile Fitness columns on Workout, gym Sex Sex advice by Mia Evonne Uyeda

Analysis of the 1st Issue

CONTENT OCT 2008 Inaugural Issue COVER The Good Life Saif Ali Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Arjun Rampal cool down with the hottest babes of the year. Put the bubbly on ice, and jump on in! By Pascal Chevallier (page 210) FASHION Goa Standard Time Real guys in timeless clothes, a GQ fashion shoot that fuses the past with the present By Prabuddha Dasgupta (page 250) Paris traveller Frontier-crossing fashion , featuring looks any stylish global nomad can slip into By Stefano Galuzzi (page 226) Smooth operator GQs Autumn/Winter collections, bringing you the sharpest clothes on the planet By Guzman (page 240) Editors Letter (page 38) Contributors (page 42) Introduction to GQ (page 46) Testimonials (page 48)

GQ Access (page 318) Open Letter (page 324) FEATURES Page 122 An Italian in India Gildo Zegna, the maestro of menswear, is taking Asia by storm. By Che Kurrien Page 148 The Karan Johar interview Aditya Mittal The man of the moment talks money, fame and women with our star interviewer in his most revealing one-on-one yet Page 166 The Duke of Delhi Why the capitals best-loved bad boy has no regrets. By Che Kurrien Page 172 Introducing Mia Our very own resident reveals (almost) all. By Leo Mirani Page 177 Fasten your seatbelts A peak inside Mumbais fastidious Kingfisher Training Academy. By Iain Ball Page 184 Chart your way to success Our foolproof guide to making it big in the New India, whatever your age. Page 190 Knockin on heavens door How sleepy Meghalaya became the Indian centre of rock n roll. By Altaf Tyrewala Page 204 The natural Ballsy, brainy and beautifulwhy Charlize Theron is the perfect guys gal. By Alex Bilmes Page 264 Keith Richards The iconic rocker who just keeps on rollingand how he does it.

By Michael Hainey Page 272 Trading Spaces The worlds stock exchanges exposed. By Genevieve Smith FYI Page 59 Everything you need to know this month including Movies, Music, Books, Tech, Luxury and what people are saying about Amitabh Bachchans beard STYLE Page 95 Patently brilliant: the LV dress shoe; Paul Smiths rules; Rahul Khannas classic cuts; Style Shrink; tips for velvet virgins; shirts and ties; coffee tables Page 113 The watch fairs Welcome to Switzerland: telling time has never been so stylish OFFICE Page 129 My working life: Ravi Krishnan; hedging your bets on the future; how Harsha Bhogle broke through; power pens DRIVE Page 141 Bring on that beast of cars the Bentley; Dilip Chhabrias new Nano; cutting-edge car gadgets Page 144 Roadtripping with Porsche Test-driving the snazzy new Porsche Cayenne TALK Page 159 Sex Why the sari releases my inner slut, by Chastity Fernandes Page 161 Sport Kapil Devs entertaining English, by Sanjay Manjrekar Page 162 Movies Bollywoods big-mouthed boys, by Rajeev Masand Page 163

Art Playing the gallery game, by Mortimer Chatterjee Page 164 Society Partying on the circuit with VJM, by Suhel Seth THE GOOD LIFE Page 281 Vir Sanghvis ode to tea; whats in chef Nikhil Chibs fridge; posh pesto; throw a singles party; bubbly tales Page 281 Around the world in 80 martinis Welcome to the biggest bar crawl on the planet GROOMING Page 299 Stylish a short crop; two minutes with Osh Bhabani; moisturizers that work; the GQ spa; fresh fragrances; grooming advice; editors picks ACTIVE Page 311 Squash star Ritwik Bhattacharyas tips; Mia spices up your sex life Page 314 Build a Bond body Tips from the man who turned Daniel Craig into 007 After Vogue, GQ is the second launch in India by Conde Nast India Pvt. Ltd.. In the month of October, when Vogue India is celebrating its 1st anniversary, Indian edition of GQ is also stepped in Indian market. The acclaimed authority in style & culture, Gentlemens Quarterly well, GQ is launched as monthly magazine in India to conquer the heart of urban Indian men (not the boys). Conceived in 1958 in US, GQ with the 14 international editions has established a respect for its high standard of writing, stunning photography & fashion features. It now in India..!

Content
Lots of features to read, beautiful photographs to look at, style & fashion to explore... in short, all that you expect from GQ. Because it is the launch issue, it may be a reason that it is really a fat issue of 326 pages. A decent mix of very few pages of firangi with lots of desi content! Four major stories of inaugural issue are photograph-intensive stories and so are very prominent in the issue. Though I found cover story little unconvincing to be the lead story for the launch issue but Aditya Mittals interview by Karan Johar is really a joy to read. GQ Talk is another

section which has interesting material (one shouldnt miss) by famous columnists like Chastity Fernandes, sanjay manjrekar, Rajiv Masand & Suhel Seth. GQs top bar on the cover shouts-a-loud about luxury, style, sport, cars, gadgets, girls and it is right there in the issue. In the launch issue, where text on one hand is penned by sharpest columnists including Vir Sanghvi, Iain Ball, Altaf Tyrewala & Che Kurrien (editor- GQ India), on the other hand the issue is well supported by beautiful photographs contributed by cutting-edge photographers like Pascal Chevallier, Raghu Rai, Tom Parker, Prabhuddha Dasgupta & Stefano Galuzzi. Inaugural issue of GQ India has lots of proofing as well as subbing mistakes which is dangerous for its reputation.

Design
It is not impressive. Design is most critical aspect of any publication which itself should speak editorial philosophy without stating in words. It should be self-explanatory and reader should not interpret in his own way. Starting right from the cover up to inside pages, design & layout is very inconsistent. Localization of characteristics of a publication is fine but I found it downgrading from its US or UK editions! Why? Do GQ publishers think Indian readers that way only? They should have realized if people are buying US or UK edition here in India at Rs.650-800, they like GQ as it is. Stories can be localized by selecting local celebs but how can you give inconsistent & jumbled layout to the readers even if you are reducing cover price? The kind of photograph GQ India is carrying on the cover (I am talking about the main cover only, not the full fold-out), GQs parental edition doesnt carry at all... nor the cover story (unless it is a special issue And by the way, inaugural issue is not the special issue and that must represent how regular issues will look like). The cover shot is not looking editorial shot for GQ but is looking more of shot taken for a commercial for suiting-shirting! Too many colors & too many styles in a single issue! And thats why chances of errors become higher. Lots of pages have design errors which could easily taken care if things were simple & less complicated. Every single story is unnecessarily carrying too many color elements and typography as well. More number of elements, more things to manage. If you miss a bit, that causes scope for errors... and that kind of mistakes you can see on lots of pages. Few of pages are looking horrible because of cluttering of typefaces. Same is also valid for using photographs to make a collage. For instance, one page of the main cover story is made of such a poor collage that it looks like a page from a school kids scrap book. Few of pages have grid problems and some of the pages are not locked to the baseline and that is why design has got spoiled everywhere. Excessively prominent usage of particularly cyan, magenta, yellow & special green colors across the issue is just not understandable.

Printing
The strength of GQ lies in photographs and that is at excellence in the entire issue. And printing is also maintained its standard to do the right justice to that kind of photographs. A few pages shows registration problem which leaves a bitter taste while going through the issue.

Product
As GQ is a photograph intensive magazine, it requires very good quality of paper to support a class of printing. GQ India has used a very good quality of paper to justify its printing expectations which its readers have in mind. No matter if next issues come with lesser number of pages than its launch issue, still it is worth of Rs.100. As a conclusion, I can say that GQ India is going to be a tough competitor for already established magazines in this space in India like MW, Andpersand, 'm' & The Man etc.

Rating
---------------------------------------------------------Content ......................: Design & Layout .........: Printing .......................: Product .......................: Value for Money ..........: ---------------------------------------------------------VIRDICT .....................:

Content of some important issues

OCT 2009 Anniversary Issue
GQ Men of the Year 2009 GQ profiles our men (and one woman) of the year from Nobel laureates to Bollywood superstars. Page 2 Fashion A portrait of a gentleman David Gandy in our favourite designers dapper Autumn/Winter wear. By Arnald Anaya-Lucca Gold standard When it comes to watches, all that glitters may be gold. By J.C. De Marcos Timeless pieces Accessories that are as grown-up as you are. By Grant Harvey

Gothic rock GQ takes the leather look to the streets of old Prague. By Prasad Naik Page 3 Editors Letter Contributors Letters to the Editor GQ Access Behind the Scenes Where to Buy Open Letter Features Icon: Nehru A personal perspective on the architect of modern India. By Ramachandra Guha Downtown chalo Inside the world of New York City cab drivers. By Jonathan Allen Pirate of the Caribbean How cricket-lover Allen Stanford set up a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. By Aram Roston What really happened when America let its hair down A journey back to the Sixties and Woodstock. By Bill Prince The great wall of Facebook Google vs Facebook. This means war. By Fred Vogelstein Im not trying to be politically correct Arnab Goswami, Indias very own Bill OReilly, doesnt speak so frankly. By Anil Thakraney Reboot The untold story of Indias best football club. By Vivek Menezes FYI Jacqueline Fernandez; winners and losers of GQs first year; the brain of Sanjay Dutt; Saif Ali Khan in character; bamboo laptop; 20th-century classic cars; the rise of the robots; Indigo head chef Rahul Akerkars personal date-night dinner; Rubiks new challenge; fizzy drinks Style Travel bags; Ashish Rahejas wardrobe; Style Shrink; guide to belts; Narendra Kumars

10 rules of style; how to dress for your next big date; Kanyes new Louis Vuitton kicks; the top accessories Drive Porche steps into unknown territory with the four-seat Panamera; Gautam Singhania talks drag racing in the Nissan Skyline; our car chick finds fame in the Lamborghini Gallardo; three topless beauties Talk Good Life A look at rare and expensive cocktails. By Anish Trivedi Movies In Bollywood, theres no such thing as bad publicity. By Rajeev Masand Sex Our resident sex goddess gives you a bedroom performance evaluation. By Chastity Fernandes Society Celebrating the GQ Year (and buttering up the editors). By Suhel Seth Sport The greatest heroes prove their worth off the field as well. By Ayaz Memon Money As far as infrastructure goes, India isnt exactly light years ahead. By Prashant Agrawal Grooming GQs guide to shaving: the timeless art of the straight razor shave; all your shaving queries answered; the spectrum of acceptable facial hair; the best shaving products; two minutes with Air Cool barber Bisharat Ali Sheikh Active Previewing the Hero Honda Indian Open; golf tips, tricks and tactics; crickets newest sensation: Manish Pandey; abdominal exercises; Mia on tantric sex and role playing

Jan 2010 new year issue last yr of the decade

Cover story Bombay confidential GQ catches up with Kareena Kapoor for our very first home-grown cover girl photo shoot. By Iain Ball Fashion Cine club Steve McQueen, Daniel Craig, Cary Grant, Michael Douglas you loved them on screen, now look as suave as they do in real life. By Franck Dieleman Twin set Seeing double in the neat lines, contours and silhouettes of modern mens fashion. By Lee Jenkins Mad men GQ takes to the elegant halls of Sterling-Cooper, inspired by Don Draper and the boys. By Toni Torres

Editors Letter Contributors Letters to the Editor GQ Access Behind the Scenes Where to Buy Open Letter Features Icon: Jerry Seinfeld How a kid from Queens made the greatest sitcom of all time, became the highest-paid TV actor in history and then walked away. By James Mullinger Tennis helps me network at high levels Mahesh Bhupathi talks tennis, business and how they combine. By Anil Thakraney GQ wine guide Our editors celebrate the oenophilic lifestyle, with part one of our three-part guide to wine. Atlantis 2.0 Soon enough, the Maldives will be swallowed up by the rising waters of global warming. Its young presidents plan to buy a new homeland is crazy so crazy it just might work. By Bucky McMahon FYI GQ s woman of the month: Gia Johnson-Singh; war games: DIY office weapons; manifesto: barbers vs salons; the coolest-ever desktop gizmos; celebrity chef Marut Sikkas perfect Anglo-Indian fish curry; how to prepare the ultimate sangria Style Guccis latest rock-inspired, badass boot; Armani GM Atul Midhas wardrobe; Style Shrink; 17 colourful scarves; Antonio Marras 10 rules of style; how to wear winter coats; Imran Khan gets his first made-to-measure suit; Piaget turns sporty Drive Rolls-Royces smaller, more affordable model for these troubled times; our car chick finds the Jaguar XF is definitely a car for todays generation; the tenth Indian Auto Expo Live to ride Harley-Davidson maker of the only true American motorcycle breaks into India Talk Movies Is Bollywood Cougartown? By Rajeev Masand Sex Enough with the sensitivity bring back the real men. By Chastity Fernandes Money Accelerated growth should be the only way forward for Indias economy. By Prashant Agrawal Sport On the pitch, quick feet and quicker thinking can make all the difference. By Ayaz Memon Good Life A designer dog is now mans latest trend what has the world come to? By

Anish Trivedi Society Predicting the goings-on of the new year. By Suhel Seth Grooming The worlds best unisex fragrances; editors picks; grooming advice; two minutes with celebrity stylist Asif Rajan Active Preview to the Chennai Open; world champion billiards player Pankaj Advani; Rahul Bose, the marathon man; the algorithmic workout; Ask Mia

FEBRUARY 2010 current month

Prison break After two decades as the king of Bollywood, does Shah Rukh Khan still reign? He answers this and more in an exclusive, tell-all interview. By Rajeev Masand On the cover: Printed vest by D&G. Waistcoat, jacket; both by Dior Homme. Watch by Tag Heuer Lisa Haydons endless summer The surfer-chick-turned-model-turned-actor takes a dip in our steamiest feature yet. By Tariq Engineer Editors Letter Contributors Letters to the Editor GQ Access Behind the Scenes Where to Buy Open Letter Features Icon: Michael Jackson No other figure in recent history ever reached the stratospheric highs and deep lows that the King of Pop did. By Tony Parsons Slash Sex, drugs and rocknroll: the guitar god on how he survived the most destructive band of all time. By Piers Morgan The GQ wine guide Discover the worlds best vineyards in part two of GQs comprehensive wine guide. Fashion The girlfriend experience An anonymous businessman, a dark hotel room, a lady in shadows. By Bharat Sikka

Polo sport The sport of kings, in all its glory, gets the GQ treatment on the fields of Lastrup, Germany. By Horst Diekgerdes Winter tan Rustic leather and deep mahogany hues make for a timeless style statement. By Roger Rich Top drawer Luxury timepieces for every occasion. By Shin Suzuki FYI GQ Woman: Leighton Meester; how to spot a liar; the truth about Valentines Day; Chef Michel Tomadins signature fettuccine; Ankit Negandhis special Valentines Day cocktails Pimp your cube The must-have office tech for 2010 Style Quintessentially Herms ties; the MIDIval Punditzs wardrobe; Style Shrink; boxers or briefs, the eternal question; Donna Karans style rules; how to wear colour; Hublot has big plans for India Drive McLaren may just have created the greatest road car of all time; Naveen Ansal talks about the riding life; our car chick changes it up with the new Nissan Teana Talk Sex When planning a birthday, the devil is in the details. By Chastity Fernandes Society One gadflys personal guide to love and lust in a transient world. By Suhel Seth Money The unsung story of our least-known venture capitalist. By Prashant Agrawal Movies The fine line between funny and foolish. By Rajeev Masand Sport A cricketers skills are best used on the pitch, and kept far away from the green. By Ayaz Memon Good Life The comfort and camaraderie of smokers in exile. By Anish Trivedi Grooming GQ s detox guide: spend a long weekend at the luxurious Ananda in the Himalayas; grooming advice; the women of GQ test the best spa treatments to gift your lady this Valentines Day Active The Hockey World Cup offers Indias best chance of reviving its national sport; the greatest hockey player of all time, Dhyan Chand; golf tips; GQs personal trainer; Mia answers your bedroom queries, from doll fetishes to jerking off GQ Anniversary issue GQ India, India's luxury and lifestyle magazine for men, being one that has profiled the best of the best, whether it was a nobel laureates or a Bollywood superstar, GQ's

collector's issue is definitely one that needs to be owned. The celebration of this single issue was well timed with its first anniversary which started out with a tribute to the country's best and accomplished men, and two very special women. Taking the merrymaking further, GQ also launched its Men Of The Year awards in association with Chivas. Celebrated were sixteen inspirational Indian men and two outstanding women. Stated Che Kurrien, Editor, GQ India, "What better way to celebrate GQ's first anniversary in India than with a tribute to the country's best and brightest men (and one very special woman). We raise a toast to the most accomplished Indian men and have created an issue that's historic both in its scope and scale. Enjoy!" GQ India's Men of the Year and one outstanding woman (Katrina Kaif) on the October 2009 cover gatefold of GQ India magazine. Emcee Rahul Khanna played dapper host for India's first GQ Men of the Year awards, held at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai on September 27, 2009. On the night, Chivas and Cond Nast India celebrated 16 "inspirational Indian men" and two "outstanding Indian women." The one-hour special was aired on Sunday, 11th October,2009 on Star World. The list of of the winners : Writer of the Year: Neel Mukherjee Artist of the Year: Atul Dodiya Designer of the Year: Rajesh Pratap Singh Breakthrough Talent of the Year: Actor Abhay Deol Excellence of the Year: Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj TV Personality of the Year: Sreenivasan Jain, NDTV, Managing Editor Businessman of the Year: Aditya Puri, MD HDFC Bank Excellence of the Year: Actress Kareena Kapoor Outstanding Achievement of the Year: Actor Irrfan Khan Sportsman of the Year: Tennis player Leander Paes Excellence of the Year: Filmmaker and TV show host Karan Johar Inspiration of the Year: Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor Ultimate GQ Man of the Year: Actor Saif Ali Khan Global Indian of the Year: Dr Rajendra Pachauri Woman of the Year: Actress Katrina Kaif Young Leader of the Year: Member of Parliament Omar Abdullah Lifetime Achievement: Actor Amitabh Bachchan

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1st Issue Inaugural Issue

1 page ads 67 2 page ads 21 3 page ads 1 4 page ad 1 (Stephen Brothers Suitings brand) GQ ads one 2pg ad and VOGUE 1 2 page ad EXPECTION one 8 page ad of A. Lange & Sohne (timepiece manufacturer) on thick pages. Therefore from the 326 page magazine 100 pages covers ads and the cover page extended to a 3 page cover. So the content of the magazine comprises of 223 pages. Also the ads in the first issue of GQ India is mostly of watch brands.

May 2009 Issue After 6 months

1 page ads 35 2 page ads 6 GQ ads one 2pg and two 1 pg ad VOGUE two 1pg ad Therefore from the 172 page magazine 46 pages covers ads and 1 cover page. So the content of the magazine comprises of 125 pages

Jan 2010 Issue

1 page ad 29 2 page ad 4 4 page ad 1 (Tatvam Villas real estate) GQ ads three 1pg ads VOGUE ads one 1 pg ad 1 ad booklet of Mont Blanc 1 mount board size paper ad(front & back) of Royal Enfield Therefore from the 180 page magazine 38 pages covers ads and 1 cover page. So the content of the magazine comprises of 142 pages plus two ad supplements. Current months (February) Cover Story Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan is the featured star on the cover page of mens magazine GQ India for the month of February 2010. Spiky look and holding a placard which states Wheres The Love? The actor talks about a wide variety of topics in this issue such as his equation with the Bachchans, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan to his oddest quirks.

Conclusion Conde Nasts decided to launch their bestselling mens magazine GQ, also in September 2008 after Vogue India and the launch of GQ India co-incided with the anniversary issue of Vogue India. The five decades-plus magazine is perfect for India, according to the group, because nobody is in that space. Not Maxim? No, says Alex Kuruvilla(MD, Conde Nast), thats a laddie magazine with which premium advertisers might be uncomfortable. Not Mans World? Our standards are very different, he insists. We import our paper from Finland, our edit costs are very steep, we use global photographers to shoot our covers because thats what the market deserves and with an international size, around 225-250 pages and a cover price of Rs 100, GQ India has a classic mix of fashion, grooming, cars, watches, lifestyle, food and dining and wine, and relationships. Whatever the truth, one thing is certain, with GQ in the fray, at least the gentlemen can slug it out in style.