One of India’s most respected and senior Print Journalists’ Dileep Padgaonkar passed away in a Pune hospital today after being unnwell for a few days.
He was born in 1944 in Pune itself. He was just 72 years old and very active for his age. Just few days ago he had written and spoken also about Trump becoming US President.
He was a former editor of the The Times of India. He began his career in journalism at the age of 24 and joined Times of India as its Paris correspondent after receiving a doctorate in humanities from the Sorbonne in June 1968.
He served as its editor for six years from 1988. From 1978 to 1986, he worked with UNESCO in Bangkok and Paris. Recently he was among the Kashmir interlocutors appointed by the UPA. He was always regretful that successive governments did not follow up on the report he submitted on the Kashmir issue.
Padgaonkar’s demise is mourned by other senior journalists like Veer Sanghvi and Rajdeep Sardesai.
Rajdeep Sardesai hailed him as “a man of culture and intellect.” “My first editor Dileep Padgaonkar, a man of culture and intellect, someone who encouraged young talent, has passed away,” he tweeted.
Founder editor of the online news website The Wire Sidharth Vardarajan said it was a “terrible loss, feel gutted.” “Just heard that my friend and former editor, Dileep Padgaonkar, passed away in Pune. Terrible loss, feel gutted,” he said on Twitter. Sidharth Vardarajan
