Ex-PTI journalist NVR Swami passes away

Veteran journalist NVR Swami, who was with the Press Trust of India PTI for four decades, passed away on Wednesday.Swami 85 was hospitalised in Hyderabad three weeks ago after he fell and broke his hip, family sources said. He was to return to his home in New Zealand in the next couple of days.After his long innings in PTI, Swami worked in Africa with Thomson Publications.

Veteran journalist NVR Swami, who was with the Press Trust of India (PTI) for four decades, passed away on Wednesday.

Swami (85) was hospitalised in Hyderabad three weeks ago after he fell and broke his hip, family sources said. He was to return to his home in New Zealand in the next couple of days.

After his long innings in PTI, Swami worked in Africa with Thomson Publications. He had been living in Auckland since 2002, and occasionally contributed to political opinions in local media.

Swami, who was close to leaders like Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe and Kenneth Kaunda while in Africa, was put behind bars by the Ugandan army while reporting a coup there in 1984, said his brother N Pattabhi, also a former PTI journalist.

Swami was among the survivors of the crash of an IAF TU-124 aircraft carrying then PM Morarji Desai, near Jorhat on November 4, 1977.

The aircraft was carrying 11 crew and 9 passengers. Five of the crew in the front portion were killed while some of the passengers and other crew were injured, some seriously, including Desai's son Kanti and the then CM of Arunachal P K Thungon.

Swami is survived by wife Sumati, three children, and six grandchildren.

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