M.P. Veerendrakumar, chairman and managing director of the Mathrubhoomi group of newspapers, was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of Press Trust of India (PTI) after the annual general meeting of the agency's shareholders here on Wednesday.
Mr. Veerendrakumar, who has served as PTI chairman twice earlier, succeeds Vineet Jain, Managing Director of the Times of India Group.
R Lakshmipathy, Publisher of the Tamil daily Dinamalar , was elected vice-chairman.
A former Union Minister, Mr. Veerendrakumar has also served as president of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS). He has written 18 books in Malayalam, one of which won the Kendra Sahitya Akademy Award last year.
Mr. Lakshmipathy is a leading figure in the media industry. He has been president of the INS, chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and a member of the Press Council of India. He runs several educational institutions.
Members of the PTI Board are: Vineet Jain, Vijay Kumar Chopra ( Hind Samachar ), N. Ravi ( The Hindu ), Aveek Kumar Sarkar ( Ananda Bazar Patrika ), Shekhar Gupta ( Indian Express ), K.N. Shanth Kumar ( Deccan Herald ), Mahendra Mohan Gupta ( Jagran Prakashan ), Hormusji N. Cama ( Bombay Samachar ), Riyad Mathew ( Malayala Manorama ) and Sanjoy Narayan ( Hindustan Times ).
The directors from outside the newspaper industry are Prof. E.V. Chitnis, Justice S.P. Bharucha and Fali S. Nariman.
