New Delhi, April 1
The National Herald founded 70 years ago by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru today published its last editorial as it “temporarily suspended” operations.

The Congress party, which finances the paper, is reportedly considering the feasibility of relaunching the newspaper with modern technology. The editorial department of the English edition did not have a computer. The press section had five-six computers and there was one computer in the teleprinter room, which was used by the editorial and advertisement staff to check mails.

Some senior editors brought their own laptops to work. The management had wanted to computerise Quami Awaz four years ago, but the proposal was shot down by the union as around 20 calligraphers would have been displaced.

The National Herald, which was started in Lucknow on September 9, 1938, by Nehru, and its Urdu edition Quami Awaz carried a small message on the front page announcing the closure.

The paper was running into losses for several years due to overstaffing, mainly non-journalists and in the press, and lack of advertisements. National Herald editor-in-chief T.V. Venkitachalam is keen that the paper does not become part of history. — IANS