Bhubaneswar: Gitanjali Aiyar, one of India’s first English female news presenters on national broadcaster Doordarshan, passed away on Wednesday. She was in her mid 70s.
Aiyar, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, collapsed after returning home from a walk, sources close to the family said.
The award-winning news presenter graduated from Kolkata’s Loreto College. Aiyar joined Doordarshan in 1971 and was awarded the best anchor four times. She also won the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for Outstanding Women in 1989.
Aiyar, a diploma holder from the National School of Drama (NSD), had also been a popular face in several print advertisements. Aiyar is survived by a son and daughter Pallavi Aiyar, who is also an award-winning journalist.
