Speak English? Then fly

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Sitting in Delhi, reading only the English-language press, you'd be tempted to think the controversy over the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports was one of the more important things happening in the country during the week, more so given the fact that flight delays in both these airports is somewhat of a national shame. Yet, going by the play given to the events by the non-English language press, you'd think it either didn't matter or that only those reading English papers fly around the country and abroad.

In the north, the Rajasthan Patrika gave top billing to stories that the cash-for-queries MPs would be disqualified and the demolition derby in the country's capital, along with stories on how Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was coping with the crises. The paper even had a story on the business pages on how IATA felt the business models of various airports was faulty, but the story on the privatisation drama was buried.

None of the major Telugu dailies made a mention of the proposal to invite bids for privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports. Tamil daily Dinamalar, similarly, had no mention of either of the two airports over the past week. And in Mumbai, it was not just the Marathi press, but even the English language one, that more or less ignored the events. The Left parties' protest against the privatisation process didn't find any takers either, except for Loksatta. The Marathi daily reported in its Saturday edition the Left's Parliament walkout over the government's decision to go ahead with the privatisation of Mumbai and Delhi airports. Both the English language and the Marathi media chose to concentrate their efforts on Raj Thackeray's exit from Shiv Sena and related developments.

The controversy over the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports was not reported in detail by any of the three Kannada newspapers "" Praja Vani, Kannada Prabha and Vijaya Karnataka. However, the aspect of Reliance and GMR Group being shortlisted was reported in the inside pages of these papers. A two-column display was the most this issue got in Karnataka. All the newspapers relied on the wire agencies to cover this development.