Indian Printer Publisher

 The third edition of the T Prasad Memorial Print Competition for students at the Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology ( NRIPT ) took place on 7 June. The competition, named in honour of educator T Prasad, celebrates his contribution to modernizing print education in India. Prasad, who served as principal from 1982 to 1993, also played a crucial role in upgrading several government and university printing presses and was a visiting faculty member at Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, now MNIT, Allahabad. Organized annually by the Offset Printers’ Association ( OPA ), the competition encourages students to stay abreast of the latest developments and innovations in the printing field. This year, all NRIPT diploma students were eligible to compete for the title of Best Student of 2024. The competition began with a preliminary written test, featuring multiple-choice questions evaluated by a five-member jury, including Diptendu Chowdhury, former Principal of RIT K...

  God Studio, a commercial printer in Coinmatore, has installed a new Ricoh Pro C7500 11-colour digital production press supplied by Monotech Systems . Ravi Ram, managing director of God Studio, says they have been in the region’s commercial printing market over the last 19 years. “However, when we started facing some troubles in maintaining print quality and flexibility in colors, we desperately looked out for an upgraded machine to move ahead of conventional CMYK printing. We continuously enquired and checked with a number of vendors, but our ultimate choice fell to the Ricoh Pro C7500 introduced in India by Monotech Systems,” he adds. He adds, “We visited expos and went to a client’s facility where Ricoh Pro C7500 was running productively to experience the machine’s capacity and capability firsthand. We were impressed with the quality in print outputs, production capacity, colour gamut and many other advanced features of the digital colour production press. This Ricoh press is i...

  First of all, I will not pontificate on drupa here – why give free advice when both exhibitors and exhibition organizers are loathe to act on advice from mere ‘journalists.’ However, I will reiterate that we saw several instances of an important trend at drupa – even though it was in a way contrary to the thinking of the organizers, who believe that technology drives growth. The significant trend that is widespread, especially in the emerging economies of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, is that technology is merely a lever. What drives growth in print and packaging is content, education, knowledge, communication, and transactions of goods and services. It’s the economy and the aspiration to growth that stems from being able to reproduce your population and produce agricultural and consumer products, goods, and services. Without going into politics, I will dare to say that the printers of India are looking to an increase in the expenditure on public education – s...

  In a previous article, Indian Printer and Publisher had interacted with the lead designers of Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Hindu, which won accolades along with Deccan Herald and Malayala Manorama at the 6th International Newspaper Design Competition awards announced recently. Part one focused on the award-winning designs. In this article, Anup Gupta of Hindustan Times , Kannan Sundar from T he Hindu and Bivash Barua from T he Indian Express discuss the road ahead for newspaper design and the challenges in getting younger readers on board. Attracting younger audiences Newspapers can attract young readers by ditching the cluttered layouts favored by some papers and instead focusing on clean, functional design, Barua shared. “Young people today are smart and used to the intuitive interfaces of their favorite websites and apps. They expect the same from their news sources. A functional design makes it easy for them to find the news they want quickly and avoid inform...

  Underlining its offset print heritage, Fujifilm announced a commercial deal with newspaper company DPG Media, during drupa. The Netherlands-based newspaper firm confirmed its investment in six XStream thermal CTP platesetters, along with a significant volume of Fujifilm Superia ZX-N processless plates. The deal is part of Fujifilm’s Platesense program. As part of this initiative, Fujifilm delivers plates to its customers when they need them, along with all associated CTP equipment and consumables. Fujifilm manages waste and aluminium collection (helping to protect printers from aluminium price fluctuations) and provides comprehensive processor maintenance, service and support. Andre Fokkema, director printing at DPG Media, says, “We came to Fujifilm because of its established presence in the market and its proven, high quality printing technologies. We want to achieve unattended plate production. In addition, with the help of the Platesense program taking away the stress of pla...

 A few controversial proposed and enacted digital laws are in the news again. Over 18 and 19 June, the Indian Ministry of electronics and information technology held consultative meetings with stakeholders and think tanks on the Digital Competition Bill and its potential impact on the industry. For the uninitiated, the proposed law, somewhat on the lines of Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) enacted earlier this year, is aimed at curbing anti-competitive practices of the Big Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, which are accused of favoring their own services over competitors. The meetings, skipped by the Big Techs, evoked diverse views. Though the proposed law seeks to rein in the alleged monopolistic trade practices of the IT giants, a section of participants in the meetings, including the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), argued whether there was a need for an EU-like ex-ante regulatory framework or anticipatory measures. They felt such measures ...

  Environmental conservation, wildlife protection and sustainability are the need of the hour as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are on the rise, consistently inducing climate change. Encroachment of forest land and grasslands by industrial plants and deforestation due to human greed has had a massive impact on endangered species. It is, thus, important to bring public attention to these burning topics, and what better way to gain knowledge and express concern for environmental issues than through the visual medium of comic strips and cartoons ? Nagpur-born Rohan Chakravarty has carved a niche as an environmental cartoonist – creating comic strips on sustainability, climate change, wildlife, environment, and nature conservation. His website and column Green Humour for The Hindu brings to the fore the intricacies and trivia surrounding the natural world, making it accessible to the common man and nature and wildlife enthusiasts alike. His cartoons motivate readers to reflect on envi...

  For the metal printing sector, printing ink manufacturer Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG has launched an innovative ink series. The newly developed product, called MetalCure U30, is the successor generation to the well-known Uvalux U3 series, which incorporates more than 20 years of practical experience from the printing ink specialist from Eislingen.  According to Michael Rakoci, product manager for Metal Decoration at Zeller+Gmelin, one of the reasons for the development of the new ink series is the ongoing development of printing machines and processing systems. At the same time, the technical application requirements of print shops have increased.  “Another major challenge is the constantly growing number of legal regulations. This regularly restricts the choice of raw materials available, meaning that we have to constantly take both current and future requirements into account when formulating printing inks and coatings. With the new generation, we are therefore p...

 Kannan Sundaram, managing director and editor of Tamil Nadu’s Kalachuvadu Publications , was presented with the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite – a French order of merit with membership decided by the President of France – by Thierry Mathou, ambassador of France to India, at the French Embassy in New Delhi on 5 June 2023. The award was conferred in recognition of Kalachuvadu’s work to improve the relationship between the French and Indian publishing sectors. Presenting the award, Thierry Mathou, ambassador of France to India, said, “Under Kannan Sundaram's guidance and commitment, Kalachuvadu Publications has published numerous titles from women, marginalized communities as well as foreign writers. He has published the work of acclaimed authors in Tamil literature such as Perumal Murugan (who has won over the hearts of French readers), Sundara Ramaswamy (whose work often explores social and political themes), Ambai (a prominent feminist writer) and Salma (an acclaimed poe...

 

 Delhi's lieutenant governor VK Saxena has given the go-ahead to prosecute writer and novelist Arundhati Roy in connection with alleged provocative statements made at a 2010 event propagating Kashmiri separatism. The author will be prosecuted under Section 13 of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, media reports said.  Sheikh Showkat Hussain, former professor of International Law at the Central University of Kashmir, will also face action under UAPA for his alleged statements at the same event in New Delhi’s LTG auditorium in 2010. Eight months ago, the L-G granted permission to prosecute them under Sections 153A, 153B and 505 of Indian Penal Code. Section 13 of the UAPA deals with advocating, abetting or inciting any unlawful activity and is punishable with imprisonment for up to seven years. The FIR against was registered in October 2010 on a complaint by Sushil Pandit, following the orders of the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi. The ot...

  New Delhi-based Convertech Equipment showcased its range of doctor blade solutions for flexo and gravure printing applications at drupa 2024 in Düsseldorf. Convertech’s Sureprint doctor blades are exported to numerous countries worldwide and are available in a variety of configurations to suit diverse printing applications. “We are a key component supplier for the printing industry. So, it's always of interest to customers to come and see us and see what we can give to improve their print process. And that's what we say in our punchline,” said Ravi Sanon, director of Convertech Equipment . “We don't necessarily provide the most expensive business solutions. But we provide the smart ones. And I think that is what customers are really looking for. They are looking for somebody who would add value to their print process. And that's why they come to us,” he added. Sanon is extremely bullish about the packaging industry in India and Asia. “Indian market is just a part of ...

  Wan-Ifra , the World Association of News Publishers, has announced the launch of a broad-based accelerator program for over 100 news publishers in partnership with OpenAI. The Newsroom AI Catalyst is an accelerator program designed to help newsrooms fast-track their AI adoption and implementation to bring efficiencies and create quality content. The era of AI, and especially generative AI, brings significant opportunities for newsrooms and publishers: AI can assist in creating and improving content or help to do deeper analysis of information and data. It can also enhance the user experience on news websites. Newsrooms also use AI to find new formats for delivering information. But there are, at the same time, new challenges for journalists, publishers and society, like the potential growth and spread of misinformation and topics around privacy, copyright, bias and others. The Newsroom AI Catalyst accelerator program is not just about the opportunities; it’s about addressing thes...

  The latest ABC for the year 2023 is out. After this audit, which was taken as a whole year, it will be again a bi-annual audit as per ABC. Dinamalar, for five decades, has submitted itself for ABC audit for all its 10 editions, which helps us showcase our true strength in the market with real numbers. We also presume that it is only ethical to have it audited by an external body as this will help in the growth of the Print industry.  Many leading publications, having dropped huge circulation copies post Covid, have preferred to stay out of ABC as a strategic move. They influence the agency and clients based on perception, not on real numbers. In editions where they are truly strong with numbers they go for ABC audit, or they submit themselves to RNI for certification. Many of the leading publications both in the English and in the language space have moved to the RNI as it effortlessly gets them to show higher numbers. If clients and agencies are aware of how RNI and ABC fi...