Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan, an Executive Editor at IANS, died of cardiac arrest here early on Wednesday.

Padmanabhan, who would have turned 50 next month, breathed his last at the Holy Family Hospital.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu said he was "saddened by the sudden and untimely demise of veteran and seasoned journalist Arvind Padmanabhan".

Naidu tweeted that it was a "huge loss to the media fraternity".

Padmanabhan is survived by his mother Shanta, wife Ponna and daughter Tara.

His father was the late G. Padmanabhan, who worked for many years with the Press Institute of India and the Indian & Eastern Newspapers Society (IENS, now INS).

Arvind Padmanabhan was born in 1967 at Tirunelveli, Tamul Nadu.
 

He was widely admired in the journalistic community for the thoroughness he displayed in reporting, writing and editing.

Padmanabhan had a long inning at IANS, joining the India Abroad newspaper that was then part of the wire service in 1999 as in-charge of its Business Section.

He steadily took on greater responsibilities in the news agency, first assuming charge of the Business Bureau of the wire service and subsequently rising to become, first, the Business Editor of IANS and then the Bureau Chief.

He was soon elevated as the Executive Editor and headed the business and economy team.

He was earlier with the PTI, The Times of India and TV18.

Padmanabhan till the end remained a simple and unassuming person and always a friend to his juniors.