Journalist Ashok Sharma passes away

Senior journalist Ashok Sharma, who was the Editor of Univarta, the Hindi news agency of United News of India (UNI), passed away here tonight after a brief illness. He was 60.

He is survived by his wife and a son. His body will be cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat here tomorrow, his former colleagues in Univarta and friends said.

Mr Sharma had suffered a massive heart attack on January 12 and had undergone a bypass surgery on January 14. But he never quite recovered and remained admitted in the hospital since then.

Mr Sharma, who had studied at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, joined Univarta, soon after its inception in the early 1980s after a stint in the Hindi news agency Samachar Bharti.

He rose through the ranks to become Chief of Bureau in Delhi and Associate Editor before being named the Editor. He retired from service in September, 2009.

NNN