The Financial World, the business daily from the Tehelka stable, has made a quiet appearance on the stands, just three months after it seemed all but over for the newspaper promoted by the controversial entrepreneur and parliamentarian, K.D. Singh.
The 16-page, two-edition broadsheet hit the stands in New Delhi and Singh’s hometown, Chandigarh, on Monday, 18 April 2011, with Reliance Industries’ bossman Mukesh Ambani‘s financial sector plans as the lead story.
The imprintline of the daily reads:
“Printed & published by Dr Praveen Rathee on behalf of Alchemist Media Ltd.
Printed at Desh Sewak printers limited, Chandigarh.
Owner: Alchemist Media Ltd.
Executive editor: Vijay Simha. Deputy editor: Gunjan Batra.”
Curiously, the launch issue comes without the standard “mission statement” and without telling the reader that they were holding a new paper in their hands. The imprintline also suggests that the Delhi edition is printed in Chandigarh, four hours away from the national capital.
With almost all its original staff having been let go in mid-January, The Financial World depends on news agencies to fill up its launch issue. There are 126 agency stories with only three bylines, two of them on the edit page, one of Vijay Simha and the other of Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury.
Two weeks ago, K.D. Singh had denied rumours that he had turned off Rs 100 crore tap for FW and Tehelka editor Tarun J. Tejpal had claimed full responsibility in an Economic Times interview:
“All the calls, including the one to scale down the project and rejig it for a far more modest existence, were mine.”
Tejpal says Singh has never called asking for anything or suggesting anything.
“I hope it stays that way.”
Also read: Moneybag MP says he didn’t turn off FW tap
IJR 
Why every news paper publishing house is after a business daily. Is there enough ad budget to support so many pink dailies?