Malini Parthasarathy takes over as chairperson of The Hindu Group

Malini Parthasarathy has taken over as the chairperson of the board of directors of The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited. Parthasarathy, a member of the Kasturi & Sons family, was the newspaper's first woman editor, holding the position for 11 months in 2015-2016.

According to a statement by the newspaper, Parthasarathy succeeded N Ram, who stepped down as chairman of the board on attaining the age of 75. Parthasarathy was earlier the co-chairperson of the board.

The statement noted that at a board meeting on July 15, Parthasarathy "placed on record her appreciation of Mr Ram’s 'outstanding stewardship' of the company and the 142-year-old newspaper at a time when the media industry was in turmoil".

The Hindu's Mumbai edition was launched during Parthasarathy's tenure as editor. She resigned from this position after receiving "strong feedback" on "general dissatisfaction" on her performance.

In recent weeks, the Hindu has joined the ranks of other media organisations stumbling under the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The newspaper laid off 20 employees in June, though other reports place the layoffs as being much higher.

Parthasarathy was congratulated by numerous journalists and others on Twitter as news broke of her taking over as chairperson.

Update: This piece has been updated with more details from the Hindu's statement.