Sainik Samachar is a journal about the India's Armed Forces. The journal is published every fortnight in thirteen languages including English on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Sainik Samachar traces its descendants from the magazine Fauji Akhbar that started its publication on 2 January 1909. The first issue was published in Urdu and Roman Urdu. It was published from Allahabad. It was felt that a journal for the Armed Forces must be published for the Defence Services and among the British Raj officials as well. Pre Independence The cover of the first issue, dated 2 January 1909, showed some Indian troops with spikes in hand, but soon the front cover began to flaunt many countries and place under the British Empire, where then the sun literally did not set, and where Indian troops serving the British Indian Army were posted. The countries and places ranged from well-known France, Belgium, Egypt and Africa and to such obscure names as Assaye, Tel-El-Kebir and Tira. Not unexpectedly, the pages of Fauji Akhbar used to be filled with news from Great Britain and other countries of the Empire like grant of annual rank by the King- Emperor and summary of court cases in London. Indian news used to feature the Viceroy and senior British officers’ activities and movements with little or no news about Indians. Petty and often derogatory news about Indians used to be highlighted from the very first issue. Roman Urdu used to accompany the Urdu version so that the British officers and soldiers could learn and speak in Urdu while talking to the troops and to civilians. Awards to, and recognition of, Indians in the Army also found a place in its pages, probably to boost their morale. The tours and movements of British Army Officers were regular in almost every issue of the thirties. This was probably done to enable touring officers meet ex-soldiers at places where they went. There also used to be regular news about the food grains production and their prices, particularly in the prosperous Punjab State. As the shadows of the Second World War gathered, European and American politics with an obvious bias towards the British policy began to predominate. Pictorial supplements running to eight pages with emphasis on the Royalty and printed on art paper were carried, three to four times in a year. The meetings of Soldiers’ Boards, the antetype