Southern States - Karnataka   

INS concern over 'price wars'

BANGALORE SEPT. 19. Expressing concern over the "predatory pricing policy" and "price wars" prevailing in the print media, the Indian Newspaper Society president, Abhay Chhajlani, today urged the industry to nip such practices in the bud.

In his presidential address to the 64th annual general meeting of the society, the outgoing president said that though the industry appeared to be sailing smoothly in placid waters overcoming many hurdles, "beneath the surface, there are undesirable trends gaining strength, like predatory pricing to eliminate healthy competition".

Referring to the "price wars" relating to cover prices of newspapers at several cities, he said there was competition for space within the print medium. However, it should remain healthy and did not become cutthroat in nature.

On flouting of ethical norms by some newspapers, he said though the industry needed to be market-savvy it should not throw overboard time-tested and honoured norms. "The way in which certain newspapers have been offering incentives or even selling editorial space is not consistent with the moral imperatives to which we should remain committed," he said.

Mr. Chhajlani said the newspaper industry was the only one where wage rates were fixed by statutory wage boards. The Manisana Wage Board Award had imposed a heavy wage burden on it.

M.P. Veerendra Kumar, CMD of Mathrubhumi and former Union Minister, was today elected president of the INS for the year 2003-04. He took over from Abhay Chhajlani of Nai Dunia, Indore.

Pradeep Guha (Times Group - Filmfare) was elected deputy president and Hormuzji N. Cama (Bombay Samachar Weekly) was elected vice-president. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta (Daily Tej) is the honorary treasurer and P.K. Lahiri, secretary-general.

The Executive Committee consists of Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar), B.S. Adityan (Vaarantari Rani), Vivek Goenka (Indian Express, Mumbai), Vijay Darda (Lokmat), Mammen Mathew (Malayala Manorama), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Hind Samachar), Pratap G Pawar (Sakal), Abhay Chhajlani (Nai Dunia), Girish Agarwal (Dainik Bhaskar), M.J. Akbar (The Asian Age), Shobhana Bhartia (The Hindustan Times), Mohini Bhullar (India Today), Sakti Dasgupta (Bartaman), Shekhar Gupta (The Indian Express), R.N. Gupta (The Tribune), C.R. Irani (Statesman), Vineet Jain (Maharashtra Times), Bharat Kapadia (Chitralekha), Rajan Kohli (The Hindustan Times), Gulab Kothari (Rajasthan Patrika), Aniruddha Lahiri (Ananda Bazar Patrika), Atul Maheshwari (Amar Ujala), Jacob Mathew (Vanitha), N. Murali (The Hindu), Paresh Nath (Women's Era), Jose Thomas Pattara (Deepika), Indira Rajkhewa (Sentinel), T. Venkatram Reddy (Deccan Chronicle), P.K. Roy (Aajkal), Bahubali S. Shah (Gujarat Samachar), K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald), Manoj K. Sonthalia (Dinamani), I. Venkat (Sitara Film Weekly), M. Venkataraman (The Economic Times), Kundan R. Vyas (Janmabhoomi), Sunil Dang (Day After), Somesh Sharma (Rashtradoot Sapthik), Tariq Ansari (Mid-Day), Kiran B. Vadodaria (Sambhav) and Samahit Bal (Pragativadi).

UNI

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