Of all the countries in the world, most newspapers and magazines are sold daily in India and China. India, China and Japan account for 62 of the world's top 100 best-selling dailies1. According to statistics from the World Newspaper Association (WAA) in 2007, about 100 million copies of newspapers and magazines are sold every day in India, which, according to experts, is due to the growing population, increasing literacy rates and the rapid spread of printing technologies in the country.

This is in contrast to the situation in Russia and the United States, where the number of paper publications and their circulation is falling.

The development of information and communication in India is evidenced by the circulation and number of periodicals published, for example, in 5 states (see Table 1) - the area of activity of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Mumbai. It publishes the largest number of newspapers and magazines in the country as a whole.

Publications in local languages traditionally compete very seriously with English-language periodicals. In the first place in popularity - publications in the official languages of the states. This feature is most clearly seen in daily newspapers (see Table 2).

The most important public and political information carriers are, first of all, daily newspapers. The popularity rating among them distributed by subscription and through retail sales is as follows: in English: 1 - "Times of India", 2 - "Indian Express", 3 - "Hindustan Times", 4 - "DJ / Daily News and Energy", 5 - Age, 6-Free Press Journal; in Marathi: 1-Maharashtra Times, 2-Loksatta, 3-Sakaal, 4-Saamna, 5-Kesari, 6-Lokmat; in Gujarati: 1 - "Gujarat samachar", 2 - "Divya bhaskar", 3 - "Mumbai samachar", 4 - "Janmabhumi" ².

In the state of Maharashtra, the most popular publications are in Marathi. The Maharashtra Times newspaper (circulation 290 thousand copies, published since 1962) is very popular among business circles and intellectuals. "Loksatta" is in demand among a significant part of the masses due to its simple and understandable language, accessible presentation of material (circulation of 370 thousand copies, published since 1947). Very reputable publications are the newspapers "Lokmat" (circulation of 180 thousand copies, published since 1971) and "Sakaal" (circulation of more than 600 thousands of copies, published since 1932). Moreover, the first one expresses the interests of the Indian National Congress party, the second of the Nationalist Congress Party.

Among the local intelligentsia, the intellect of-

Table 1

Table 2

one of the oldest newspapers in India - Kesari (circulation 60 thousand, published since 1881). An important place among the leading political and news press of the state is rightfully occupied by the daily newspaper Saamna (circulation 200 thousand copies, published since 1989).)- the press organ of the nationalist Hindu Shiv Sena Party ³.

The total circulation of various magazines published in these states exceeds 2 million copies. However, only the following publications devoted to business and economic issues can be attributed to socio-political topics:: "Economic and Political Weekly", "Business India", "Capital Market", "Chemical Age of India", "Chemical Engineering World", "Indian Architecture and Builder", "Tools and Electronics" and some others.

It should be noted that the Economic and Political Weekly (EPU) appeared in Bombay in 1966, and in 1978 the Business India magazine began to be published here twice a week. Both journals still hold a strong position among similar publications, providing the Mumbai business community with proven and up-to-date information and valuable analytical materials. EPU skillfully combines economic and political problems, publishes articles that are the result of painstaking research work. Later, in the 1990s, the Samiksha Trust company, which publishes this weekly, created a special research fund - the EPW Research Foundation, designed to promote the development of economic journalism.

As for the magazine "Business India", it quickly gained popularity, first of all, for its professionalism, high quality of printing and illustrations. Unlike other financial and economic publications, Business India devotes all its 130-140 pages only to the Indian economy, finance, the work of companies, commodity and stock markets, while the editorial board does not deal in principle with politics and other non-economic topics.⁴

It should also be noted that in these states, as in all of India, central thematic publications published in English are traditionally in high demand. Among them are such magazines as "Outluk", "Business Today", "Business and Economy", "India Today", "Frontline", "Week", "Business World" and others.

In recent years, in addition to the traditional materials devoted to disagreements and conflicts of political parties, corruption, current issues of development of megacities and agricultural regions of the country, health and public education, problems of combating illiteracy, the issue of press freedom has been raised on the pages of newspapers and professional publications. A 2006 report by Reporters Without Borders ranked India only 105th out of 166 countries in terms of press freedom. According to local analysts, the government's anti-terrorism measures restrict the activities of the press and journalists. Following the theme of freedom of the press, the publication of materials in the central socio-political periodicals that analyze the ongoing inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflicts in the country is becoming an actual trend.

Undoubtedly, the Indian press is quite an influential force in the country. First of all, political and economic journalism, which has a well-established reputation and whose materials are published in English, has this power. According to local experts, India still has strong traditions formed under the influence of the English school of journalism. The presentation of the material and the style of publications in the Indian English-language press are clearly marked by a long experience of communicating with the British press. In the journalistic environment, it is widely believed that the best professional staff is concentrated primarily in the editorial offices of English-language newspapers and magazines recognized as the most influential and informed publications.

In addition to Indian periodicals, Mumbai, as well as a number of other cities, has received first editions of leading Western foreign newspapers and magazines since the end of 2005. In addition to the Financial Times, an American business newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, began to be published in India, using the printing base of the Times of India publishing house. Then there were Indian versions of Forbes and Business Week magazines.

Recently, the development of the national economy and economic reforms have aroused increasing interest among a significant part of the Indian population. The business press, which publishes economic and financial information, is in high demand, its circulation is growing, and its Internet sites are visited by millions of people.

Experts who study the peculiarities of Indian political and economic journalism predict its further growth, despite the negative factors of the global financial and economic crisis, which have manifested themselves in the publishing business.

¹ World Newspaper Association data for 2007 - http://www.ruprint.ru/2008/07/03/

² The Indian Newspaper Society. Press Handbook 2005 - 2006. New Delhi, 2006.

³ The editor-in-chief of the publication is the permanent leader of the party B. Takre.

^{Kruglov E. V.} 4 Istoriya indiskoi ekonomicheskoi pressii [History of the Indian Economic Press]. Moscow, 2005 - www.journ.msu.ru/rijc/ind_econompress2005-kruglov-1.htm

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