Tag Archive for 'N Murali'

First non-family editor for The Hindu since 1965

Published on July 21, 2011 in Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

The Hindu’s national bureau chief Siddharth Varadarajan has been appointed editor of the 132-year-old daily. He is the first editor of the paper in nearly five decades who does not belong to the family that runs it.

Siddharth is India’s leading commentator on foreign affairs, national security issues and politics. He has an excellent blog Reality, one bite at a time (see our blogroll).

His appointment has led to several resignations in The Hindu group: N. Ravi as editor, Malini Parthasarathy as executive editor and Nirmala Lakshman as joint editor after the board of directors of Kasturi and Sons, which brings out the newspaper, passed a resolution appointing Siddharth Varadarajan as the Editor. N. Murali announced his retirement with effect from 11 August, when he turns 65.

Ravi, Parthasarathy and Lakshman resigned saying it was not possible for them to continue after the appointment of an Editor who was not only far too junior to them but also appointed in an “unseemly hurry” without following any selection procedure, prior consultation or evaluation.

Seven board members voted in favour of the resolution and five against it.

Varadarajan’s appointment will be with effect from 30 July and he will report to editor-in-chief N. Ram.

In Mint: The owners of the Chennai-based newspaper have been involved in a bitter legal battle since an April board meeting in which seven of the 12 board members led by N. Ram called for a non-family member to become editor. The majority also supported the removal of Ravi and Parthasarathy from their posts. The minority group on the board consists of Ravi, Parthasarathy, Lakshman, Murali and director Nalini Krishnan.

The appointment came two days after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the family dispute, which was a blow to Ravi, Parthasarathy and Murali, who had moved the apex court to overturn a 1 July high court order that favoured Ram.

N. Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu, explains the decisions taken during Wednesday’s board meeting and the road ahead for the paper. In Mint

Read why N. Ravi quit as editor in his own words here [via sans serif]

The Hindu family feud: Update

Published on March 26, 2010 in Business, India and Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The story so far: A bitter battle has broken out among family members for control of one of the country’s oldest and most respected media companies, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, the publisher of the 132-year-old English newspaper The Hindu and business daily The Hindu Business Line. At the heart of this battle is the proposed retirement of publisher and the group Editor-in-Chief N Ram and his decision to dig his heels in, reported The Indian Express. Read The Hindu: Divided family

“The Hindu war” is now in the open, reports The Indian Express:

Stripped of his powers by publisher and group Editor-in-Chief N Ram, Managing Director and his brother N Murali has hit back saying that he will not quit. And that he would try to “make Ram see reason and retire as Editor-in-Chief as committed by him in September 2009 and ensure a smooth transition.”

Ram, incidentally, has denied that he made such a commitment.

“Some members of the Board of Directors have been trying to systematically undermine and erode my authority and responsibilities and rights and obligations,” Murali wrote in an email to “colleagues” in the company today. “I will not allow that to happen.” More:

The Hindu Editor-in-Chief N Ram has decided to sue The Indian Express. Read here

And in Business Standard, The Hindu family war may become legal battle

The Hindu: Divided family

Published on March 25, 2010 in Business, India and Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

From The Indian Express:

A bitter battle has broken out among family members for control of one of the country’s oldest and most respected media companies, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, the publisher of the 132-year-old English newspaper The Hindu and business daily The Hindu Business Line.

At the heart of this battle is the proposed retirement of publisher and the group Editor-in-Chief N Ram and his decision to dig his heels in.

The first casualty in the battle is N Murali, Ram’s younger brother and the company’s managing director. He was divested of his powers this week and replaced with K Balaji, a member of the extended family and also a board member. According to people close to the developments, the board is split, one group supporting Ram and the other seeking his retirement. More: