The Hindu Group hosted “The Newspaper of the Future” contest at IIT Saarang 2026. The competition asked students to rethink how newspapers can attract 18–24-year-olds. The goal was to keep journalism's core values—credibility, public interest, and responsible reporting—while using new technology to improve storytelling and engage readers. About 100 students in 30 teams competed in the first round. From their ideas and visuals, 10 teams made it to the finals. They presented live at IIT Saarang before a jury from The Hindu Group including Sridhar Arnala and Nagaraj N. The winning team, Reporters, included Vir Jain, Shambhuraj Salunkhe, and Rajvardhan Waghmare. Vir Jain said, "We designed a Gen Z–focused newspaper that prioritises visual storytelling over long-form reading. Our concept features comic-style visual narratives to explain news flow, a ‘follow-a-case’ format for in-depth story tracking, and an AI reporter that reads and summarises news without compromising journalistic values." The Hindu Group served as the media partner for IIT Saarang 2026.