Dummy editions of The Sunday Standard, the weekly newspaper from the Madras-based New Indian Express group, have begun doing the rounds. The eight-page dummy printed on standard newsprint seems to suggest that the 21st century weekend paper will have a conventional, 1990s design.
Edited by former India Today editor Prabhu Chawla, the paper was originally slated to be launched on March 20, and is now rumoured to see the light of day in “early April“.
The Sunday Standard will compete with M.J. Akbar‘s Sunday Guardian, and the Crest edition of The Times of India for weekend readership. Former India Today executive editor, the cartoonist Ravi Shankar, is among the more familiar bylines in the dummy issue of The Sunday Standard.
The Sunday edition of the original Indian Express of Ramnath Goenka used to be sold under The Sunday Standard masthead, before the split in the family. The old title is being revived by the south-based Manoj Kumar Sonthalia to gain a foothold in Delhi in a manner that will circumvent the no-compete clause with the north and west-based Viveck Goenka.
IJR 
Do we need another Sunday newspaper at all?
Judging by the present Sunday edition of The New Indian Express, one is not sure if the new Sunday paper is going to make much of an impact,unless it marks a complete break from the existing Sunday papers. There is already the Crest edition of The Times of India [published every Saturday] which still has to find its feet. From what I know, not very many in Chennai seem to have even heard of this newspaper. Let’s wait and see how the new Indian Express paper looks like, before passing final judgment.
Does it mean the southern editions of the new sunday express will also become
THE SUNDAY STANDARD .
May be on other week days NIE group will launch in DELHI – THE INDIAN STANDARD . Where will it lead INDIAN EXPRESS .Will it launch a counter attack in southen India where ever NIE editions are there with their own editions in different name .
I definitely need a sunday newspaper. I hope Indian express, DNA et al also beef up their distribution. The New Indian Express is not even available sometimes. Local newspaper sellers don’t distribute less selling papers, thus making people like me read only Crest.