Exorbitant Magazines

Why are magazines imported into India are so expensive? The US editions of GQ and Esquire, to name just two at random, are between Rs 400 and 500, and even Scientific American is similarly priced. Given that the cover price of all these publications is $3 to $5, why should we have to pay so much more than the exchange rate? In the case of books, one either pays the cover price or the special Indian price. Why, then, this discrimination when it comes to magazines? Would the worthy folk at India Book House/Distributors care to elucidate?

NB. And since one is in rant mode, why is it that publications here can't think beyond Bollywood when it comes to putting people on the cover? Man's World has Esha Deol; Maxim has Amrita Arora; Marie Claire has Preity Zinta; why, even Good Housekeeping has Hrithik and Rakesh Roshan. What next, Rakhi Sawant on the cover of India Today? Not so unthinkable, actually...