Mahendra Mohan Gupta, 84, of Jagran Prakashan Ltd, which publishes Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, was on Friday elected Chairman of the Press Trust of India’s Board of Directors.
Gupta’s election was announced at a meeting of PTI’s Board, following their annual general meeting at the news agency’s headquarters in New Delhi. Gupta replaces K N Shanth Kumar of The Printers (Mysore) Pvt Ltd. The Board elected M V Shreyams Kumar of Mathrubhumi Group as the Vice-Chairman.
The Non-Executive Chairman of Jagran Prakashan Ltd, Gupta has been associated with the media group since its inception. He had also held the position of Editorial Director of Dainik Jagran. With over 60 years of experience in the print media industry, he has held various key positions including the chairman of United News of India, president of The Indian Newspaper Society and Indian Languages Newspaper Association, council member of Audit Bureau of Circulations and member of Press Council of India.
Gupta holds senior honorary positions in various social and cultural organisations. He was a Rajya Sabha MP from April 2006 to April 2012, and is now a member of the Executive Committee of INS.
In May 2018, Jharkhand Rai University in Ranchi conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy in recognition of Gupta’s outstanding contribution to media leadership and public life. His work for the cause of society — Indian trade and industry in general and newspaper industry in particular — has been acknowledged by various social and cultural organisations.
Besides Gupta, Shreyams Kumar and Shanth Kumar, the 15-member PTI Board includes Aveek Sarkar (Anandabazar Patrika), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Punjab Kesari), Vineet Jain (The Times of India), N Ravi (The Hindu), Viveck Goenka (The Indian Express), Riyad Mathew (Malayala Manorama), Sameer Singh (Hindustan Times), L Adimoolam (Dinamalar), Hormusji N Cama (Bombay Samachar), eminent economist Professor Deepak Nayyar, retired foreign secretary and former NSA Shivshankar Menon and former executive director of Tata Sons Ltd R Gopalakrishnan.
