By IANS
New Delhi : Ramesh Arora, a senior editor at IANS who for decades covered the diplomatic beat, died here early Wednesday after battling lung cancer for several months. He was 65.
Ramesh, as he was widely known, joined IANS after retiring from UNI, which he joined in the late 1960s, passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims) shortly after 4 a.m. He leaves behind his wife Neelaxi and sons Amit and Neeraj.
A product of old school journalism, Ramesh was widely admired in the journalistic community for the thoroughness he displayed in both writing and editing. In IANS, he was a senior editor who filtered all outgoing copy.
“My brother was a committed journalist and a man of integrity,” Surendra K. Arora, a former Indian ambassador, told IANS. “He always went for what he thought was eight. He never compromised with his principles.”
Ramesh was one of the most widely travelled journalists in India, and for years he was considered a must in the visits of Indian prime ministers and foreign ministers abroad. He covered major summits and bilateral visits around the world with distinction for UNI.
He rose to become its chief of bureau before retiring.
Till the end he remained a simple and unassuming person, always willing to be a friend to his juniors.