“Just a day after the New7Wonders Foundation based in Switzerland confirmed that the Table Mountain here has been given the ‘official’ status of one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature following a global voting process, President Pratibha Patil on Friday became the first international dignitary to visit Cape Town’s famous icon, which is around 260 million years old.”
That’s how The Hindu newspaper began its report titled “Pratibha atop a new Wonder of Nature“. The occasion was the state visit to South Africa of the Indian president, Pratibha Patil. The report continued:
“On World Environment Day in 1998, the then South African President Nelson declared the Table Mountain ‘a gift to the Earth.’ While announcing its new status, Bernard Weber, Founder-President of New7Wonders, noted that ‘along with possessing a biodiversity that is exceptionally important, given its proximity to a major city, Table Mountain is notable for the historic role it played in helping Nelson Mandela cope with his long years of imprisonment.'”
The Hindu is an English-language daily newspaper founded and published in Chennai since 1878. It has a circulation of 1.46 million copies and a readership of two million people, mainly in southern India.
Meanwhile, The Jagran Post titled its story: “Patil becomes first leader to visit Table Mountain in South Africa“. The report began: “President Pratibha Patil on Friday became the first world leader to visit the Table Mountain here, a day after it was named a New 7 Wonder of Nature following a three-year global race to choose the world’s seven most wonderful natural sites.
Patil who went round the mountain along with her grand children was told by a guide that it was more than a pleasant coincidence that she has visited the 1067 metre high natural wonder soon after the announcement.”
The Jagran Post is published in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and belongs to a group of nine newspapers printed in five different languages and distributed across the Indian sub-continent.