Why India? Why South Asia? Why IANS?

" If India were a stock, I would buy it."

With India now gaining increasing importance in international strategic and economic thinking, news from India and about India is becoming progressively relevant to the rest of the word.

South Asia is one of the world's most populous regions with more than 1.3 billion people in seven countries, India alone accounting for over a billion. The sheer mass creates news.

The global war on terrorism and a realisation that not enough attention had been paid in the past to the polity, society, business and culture of the region are impelling the West (and the world) to look at South Asia - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and now Afghanistan - its processes of development and change, its business transformations and technological revolutions, its championing of democracy and struggles with human rights, its militant movements and social conflicts, the successes of small communities and larger institutions, and the voices of some of the best minds that are making an impact.

Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) has geared itself to be the primary news and information resource on India, Indians and South Asia. The New Delhi-headquartered media group is not just a news agency with a growing international reach but a reliable content provider, knowledge resource and publishing outsource for clients in India and overseas.

News Service

IANS has carved a niche for itself not only in reporting India, South Asia and the large Indian diaspora spread across the world, but also global events that are of interest to and impact on India, its geopolitics, is economy, its culture, society and national aspirations.

IANS has been breaking through the often cliched and stereotyped reporting about India with objective and unbiased news, views and analyses that portray the country, and the region, in a global perspective.

Our team of talented journalists and eminent contributors - some of the best in India - produce a steady output of news, features, situationers, analyses and commentaries. The subjects span politics, foreign policy, strategic affairs, corporate affairs, science, health, aviation, energy, technology, environment, the arts, literature, entertainment, social trends, human interest, religion and sports.

Over the years IANS reporters have broken many hard-hitting stories and conducted several sensational interviews. It is testimony to IANS' daily output of high quality, diverse and reliable content that it is now increasingly sought out for subscription by media organisations, both inside and outside the country.

Our USP remains the coverage of the Indian diaspora, numbering about 25 million in 110 countries. We believe the Indian story is incomplete unless one writes about the achievements and distinctions, the trials and tribulations, business and lifestyle, the problems and prospects of the diaspora that has transplanted a little bit of India into the countries they have settled in around the world.

The service offers a cost-effective support system to international media organisations, institutions, think tanks, overseas missions and multinational companies. News, features and views from the subcontinent reach subscribers instantaneously via the Internet and serve as a powerful information and interpretational backup for all those based in India or dealing in various ways with India and South Asia.

The IANS Pedigree

Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) - formerly India Abroad News Service - was instituted in 1986 to act as an information bridge between India and North America and chronicle their growing ethnic, business and cultural links.

It was this two-way information flow, gradually spanning other regions of the world, which has been at the conceptual heart of the present day IANS.

With interest in the country among the diaspora growing exponentially, IANS - with its clear, concise, reader-friendly and well-researched writing - has evolved as the preferred content provider to ethnic Indian and South Asia-focused publications and websites around the globe.

IANS Publishing

While IANS is primarily known as a wire service, a key driver of its growth has been in an area of activity not usually associated with a news agency - contract or custom publishing.

IANS not only provides content to newspapers outside India but has harnessed contemporary technology and its expertise in the area to generate and present content - even entire newspapers, periodicals and magazines - that is outsourced to it at a fraction of the cost.

The publishing division is currently producing newspapers, periodicals and journals for clients in the US, Canada, Britain and the Gulf, besides India, not just in English but also in other Indian and foreign languages.

(See online presentation on IANS at Home)

IANS Solutions

IANS Solutions provides all solutions needed for the development of an Internet strategy.

IANS Solutions blends design, technology and marketing expertise to create a Web presence that delivers the results you are looking to achieve. Our talented website designers collaborate with our technology group to create a personalized website that is graphically superior and functionally sound.

IANS Mobile

To meet the emerging requirements of the new media, IANS is one of the first news agencies to harness cellular technology to launch Content2Mobile operations on both news and information fronts. This service is available in English, Hindi and other languages.

IANS Language Services

IN 1995 IANS started a Hindi Service. Today its subscriber base encompasses all leading newspapers, websites and other news outlets in Hindi.

In 1998 IANS broke new ground with the launch of an Arabic Service for the Gulf and the Middle East. Its Arabic website- www.alhindelyom.com - helps to bridge the information gap with a region that has a large Indian and South Asian population.

IANS Corporate

IANS is the brand name of IANS India Pvt. Ltd., an independent and integrated media company with no affiliation with any major business house, political or ideological group. The media group is driven by professionals with long years of experience and with a collective vision of carving a niche in quality of content and product in a media scenario that is getting increasingly crowded with new names entering the print, electronic and Web space.

In many ways, IANS is a trailblazer in the work it is doing.

The key people driving IANS are:

Tarun Basu, Director and Chief Editor of IANS, is a journalist of 30 years' standing and has worked in Indian and international media organizations.

K.P.K. Kutty, Director and Chief Mentor, is former chief editor and chief executive of UNI and has been in the profession for 42 years. He has been involved in production of TV news programmes and documentaries too.

Shibi Alex Chandy, Director is also Group Editor in charge of its contract publishing division. He has worked with several leading newspapers, television stations and magazines.

Arvind Padmanabhan, Group Business Editor, has over 13 years of experience in journalism, covering virtually all media streams - news agency, newspaper, magazine, radio, television and the internet.

M.R. Narayan Swamy, Chief News Editor, has been a journalist since 1978, starting with UNI. He was with AFP for 13 years, writing on Indian politics and Sri Lankan affairs. He joined IANS in April 2001.

P.S. Mitra, Technology Head, is the man who keeps IANS' extensive network ticking over. He also oversees IANS Solutions, the company's web Solutions division.