Veteran journalist passes away

Senior journalist and writer Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passed away here.

He was 79.

Rao had not been keeping well for some time and the end came late last night, sources said.

Rao, a native of Khammam district, worked in different Telugu and English newspapers.

He also authored several books, the sources said.

He played an active role in the separate Telangana agitation in 1969 and the state government honoured him during the Telangana formation day celebrations recently, a release from the Chief Minister's office said.

Condoling the death of Venkateswara Rao, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao recalled his services to achieve separate Telangana as well as in the fields of journalism and literature, it said.