B. Ramachandra Adityan (79), Managing Editor of Malai Murasu, a Tamil eveninger, passed away on Wednesday at his residence in Adyar due to prolonged illness.
He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The funeral will take place on Thursday.
Mr. Adityan was the eldest son of Daily Thanthi founder Si. Balasubramania Adityan.
His younger brother, B. Sivanthi Adityan, owner of Daily Thanthi, died in April also due to prolonged illness.
Apart from managing Malai Murasu for over 50 years, Mr. Adityan was instrumental in launching weeklies and magazines such as Devi, Kanmani and Penmani and Tamil daily Kathiravan.
Mr. Adityan played a vital role in rescuing Tamilnad Mercantile Bank after the bank went out of the control of Nadar community to the Essar group in 1990s. The Nadar community were the original promoters of TMB.
In the condolence message, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said she was aware of the role played by Mr. Adityan in rescuing TMB. While striving hard for the growth of Tamil language, he carved a niche for himself by presenting the news in a simple manner so that it could be understood by the common man. “He was a simple and amiable person. His death is a big loss to the newspaper industry. I convey my deepest condolence to the grieving family members and to newspaper fraternity,” she said.
DMK president M. Karunanidhi said Mr. Adityan took special care of Tamil language development.
