www.deepika.com made history in October 1997 by becoming the first Malayalam Daily on the World Wide Web. Receiving over three million hits per day and combined with its unique features including easy accessibility, personalized websites .Our Internet edition is today the largest read online Malayalam Daily reaching 125 countries.
www.deepikaglobal.com, the English edition is one of the premier Internet English editions in South India. 'Helping the Helpless' the online charity fund promoted by deepika.com, continues to receive tremendous response and to-date, under its auspices, over five million rupees has been given to the needy and deserving in society, on behalf of well-wishers and philanthropists from all over the world.
Deepikamatrimonial.com is an exclusive website dedicated to matrimonial advertisements. Its features detailed profiles of prospective brides and grooms in search of life partners and thus paves the way for developing strong and fulfilling family relationships. Providing 24* 7 accessibility to a potential world wide audience,commercial advertisers are sure to widely benefit by promoting their products and services on the site.
Deepikaclassifieds.com is an upcoming website,specially promoting classified advertisments such as those related to real estate. The site has the distinct advantage of providing a detailed description of the plots/products being put up for sale along with photographs; conveniently providing providing prospective buyers a direct view of the same at their desktops.
Class of Readers...
Rashtra Deepika publications have the distinction of being widely read by the affluent, educated and influential class of Kerela society, mostly middle and upper middle class Christian families, who form the bulk of its readership. Many of our readers have distinguished and established themselves at the summit of diverse fields of economic, political and social activities. Top Engineers, Doctors. Bankers, Jewelers, Share brokers, Industrialists, Businessmen, Agriculturists etc. are regular readers.
Our readers are also receptive as well as widely considered market creators and market movers.
Still Strong and Gallant
In an increasingly aggressive and dynamic market, Rashtra Deepika Ltd. has significantly enhanced its reader base, advertisement revenue and popularity of its publications. Professional Directors with considerable business experience have joined the organization, giving it added vitality and vivacity. The company also has some of the finest journalistic talent in Kerela, many of who have won laurels; regional, national and international.
The Internet edition, with value- added features and several million hits daily, habitually makes waves and is a major source of news and information for Keralites the world over. Added to this, the unstinted support of its readers together with the invaluable support and confidence reposed by shareholders has helped the organization grow in strength and stature over the years. Equipped with all this, Rashtra Deepika Ltd. gallantly marches on in the twenty first century, continually setting landmarks and milestones in its relentless pursuit for excellence.
The dawn of April 15, 1887 witnessed a rare moment in the history of publishing in Kerela when Deepika, (Nazrani Deepika- as it was initially named) India’s first Malayalam Newspaper was first published. A marvel at that time, it was the realization and fulfillment of a long-cherished dream of many, which its Founder Editor Fr. Emmanuel Nidhiry (Nidhirikal Mani Kathanar), a renowned priest and perceptive, creative thinker of those times, initiated and shaped.
The newspaper was initially printed on a crude, hand-made wooden press built by the legendary and far-sighted visionary Carmelite Monk, Fr. Kuriakose Elias Chavara (now Blessed Chavara) at Mannanam; a remote hamlet near the town of Kottayam in Central Kerela over a quarter century before then. This event further marked the epoch-making but humble dawn of organized, elite, free press journalism in Kerela. The Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) congregation managed the newspaper till 1989, when it was converted into a Limited Company with public participation named Rashtra Deepika Ltd.; with a view to giving it fresh impetus, added professionalism and new ethos.
The newspaper’s founders had high and noble ambitions for this unique project that served as a major milestone in the evolution and advancement of literacy in Kerela. Under the dynamic leadership of Fr. Emmanuel Nidhiri, (a versatile genius and renowned philosopher of those times) and his team of thinkers, Nazrani Deepika marched unflinchingly over the years into the 20th Century, growing in stature and spreading its wings further. The printing frequency gradually increased from weekly to twice a week and later thrice a week. Correspondents and contributors were from virtually all segments of society.
On January 3, 1927, Nazrani Deepika was converted into a Daily, the first ever of the State, re-emphasizing the noble goals that its founding fathers had put forward in its very first issue, namely :
-> To represent the needs of the common man to the rulers.
->To protect and safeguard the inalienable rights of the people.
->To fight for Truth, Justice and Freedom and to unite the separated brethren of Kerela.
On August 1, 1939, the newspaper shifted to Kottayam, which has since become a nerve center for printing and publishing in the state. To give it a more secular outlook, its name was also then changed to Deepika. Over the years, Deepika has continued to make a strong impact on the masses, becoming the voice of the voiceless, staunchly standing out for truth, justice, freedom and equality for all. It is today a credible, authentic, secular and dignified newspaper committed to genuine social, cultural and ethical values. It is a mouthpiece of the oppressed, a source of inspiration for many and has carved out a distinctive personality for itself in the world of newspapers in Kerala; bravely and boldly leading by example from the front.
In 1986, Deepika’s year-long centenary celebrations were inaugurated by Pope John Paul II and the newspaper commemorated its 100th year of publication in April 1987. Well over the past 126 years, Deepika has grown in strength and stature, standing out boldly for the people, fearing and favoring none. It has relentlessly fought for the well being of farmers, the weaker sections and the rights of the minorities, irrespective of caste or creed. It has also maintained a neutral political stand, earning the appreciation of politicians and leaders, both national and regional, which has helped it earn added credibility and respect.
In August 1989, Deepika was converted into a Public Limited Company, Rashtra Deepika Ltd. This was to facilitate the organization to gain corporate dimensions, stimulation and new ethos so as to enable it to meet the myriad challenges of the ever growing and highly competitive world. The event has been the turning point in the history of the organization, which has grown leaps and bounds,ever since.
