Missing out on the bull run

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

celebrated the third consecutive day of a rise in the Sensex. "Famous for frequently breaking its own records, the Sensex rose 105 points in initial trades and touched 14,906 points. Investors are now waiting for it to breach the crucial psychological level of 15,000," the paper said. The paper didn't expect the DLF IPO, which opened on Thursday, to do very well since, it said, the market had already touched new peaks.

Rajasthan Patrika discussed the proposed airport at Greater Noida in its July 5 edition. The proposal for the airport project was first received by the ministry of civil aviation from the state government in 2001 and technical approval for the selected site was conveyed to the ministry in 2003, the paper reported. The ministry has now promised the in-principle approval of the central government would be granted in three months, the paper added.

The clashes at Islamabad's Lal Masjid which left 21 persons dead and 150 injured, were also covered in the Hindi newspapers. Punjab Kesari took the story as the lead in its July 4 edition. The report was accompanied by a picture of jehadis caught in gunfire outside the mosque. In the next day's edition, the paper took on the front page the news of the chief cleric of the Masjid being caught by Army troops as he tried to escape wearing a burqa.

The Sensex hitting new highs did not make news in the Kannada press. All the leading dailies carried the news agency reports on the business pages. There were no follow-ups. Local issues dominated the front page of the Kannada newspapers. Monsoon rains have caused extensive flooding in the central region of the state. This continued to receive in-depth coverage.

Naxal activity in the forest area of Western Ghats has increased. Recently, they torched a state transport bus. Also, the government withdrew its list of Naxal sympathisers after protests from various quarters. All these issues received extensive coverage in the Kannada press.

The news on the Sensex reaching an all-time high did not hit the front pages of Tamil daily Dinamalar.

During the past week, reports and photographs on the visit of the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier Nimitz to Chennai dominated the pages of the Tamil daily. It carried photographs and reports on Nimitz crew members' visit to various places in Chennai regularly. A couple of editions carried the photos and reports on the front pages.

Besides, the visit of the UPA's presidential candidate Pratibha Patil to Chennai, the Naxal issue, the surrender of the 15-year-old 'boy surgeon' before the court after the arrest of his doctor parents who made him perform a caesarean section at their clinic, among others, dominated the pages of the daily over the past week.