Tuesday--March 27

The LTTE 'airstrike' gets front-page attention in all the morning newpapers, as it indeed ought to. The DC is the only paper of the three English papers I get--TOI, The Hindu and of course DC, which accorded--and quite aptly--page one status to the AP High Court's verdict asking the AP government and the HUDA "not to entrust any work relating to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) project to HUDA Secretary, P.Venkatarami Reddy ." The contention of the petitioners in the case (TD leaders), was that he was responsible for changes in the alignment of the project and that his relatives were into the real estate business.

B. Krishna Prasad's 'bottomline' story in the DC--'People get power to shock' on power consumers using the 'Citizen's Charter' to get compensation for delay or denial of service, is an excellent piece. It is the kind of a story that enlightens readers on their rights as power users.
The Munsif's first lead focusses on Iran's resolve to use nuclear energy for peaceful ends.

One thing is for sure--the Urdu newspapers are miles behind their English and Telugu counterparts, when it comes to investigative journalism. The notion that the publication of stories and statements on and from all and sundry, will help boost circulation isn't doing the Urdu papers any good. And, the fewer photographs they publish of their 'editors' and 'associates', the better it would be for them.