Parthasarathy resigns as editor of The Hindu

Malini Parthasarathy, the first woman editor of The Hindu, published by Kasturi and Sons Ltd (KSL), resigned on Tuesday.

While Parthasarathy and KSL board chairman N Ram couldn't be reached for comment, sources told Business Standard that KSL board would meet on January 20 to appoint the new editor. Suresh Nambath, national editor of the Chennai-based daily, has been appointed interim head of all editorial operations.

Last month, The Hindu launched an edition in Mumbai, with Sachin Kalbag as the resident editor. According to sources, some members of the KSL board objected the way Mumbai edition was launched and the amount of money spent on it at a time when the paper was making losses.

Parthasarathy took charge as editor-in-chief of one of India's oldest dailies in February 2015. When she became editor, KSL had restored control of the newspaper to the Kasturi family that owns it. Earlier, in 2011, it had departed from this tradition when Siddharth Varadarajan was appointed the editor. He resigned from the post in 2013.

K Venugopal, the oldest member of Kasturi family with journalistic background, is being seen as a strong contender for the job. Venugopal was the editor of The Hindu Business Line for many years.*

Other journalists in the family are much younger. While Vidya Ram, daughter of N Ram, is the Europe correspondent for Business Line, Narayan Lakshman is the US correspondent for The Hindu. Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent for India Today, used to write for The Hindu till mid-2014. KSL publishes of The Hindu, The Hindu Business Line, Frontline, Sportstar, and The Hindu (Tamil).

*Business Standard competes with The Hindu Business Line in some markets