Guwahati: A pioneer in the printing industry in the country Ramendra Narayan Dutta Baruah expired here on Saturday. He was 65.
He was suffering from heart and lungs diseases and breathed his last at a city hospital at 0115 hrs on Saturday.
He is survived by his wife, three sons and a host of relatives.
Dutta Baruah was the first person from North East to adorn the post of president of the All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) in 2007-08, after having served in various capacities in the same organisation earlier.
Among his various pioneering initiatives in the printing industry, Dutta Baruah was the founder-editor of English daily ‘The News Star’ in 1982, which was the first daily colour newspaper in India.
He was among the first in the publishing world to produce daily newspaper on DTP.
Dutta Baruah was the first to install offset printing machine in NE and introduced Photo Typesetting Alpha-Comp.
He was the founder principal of Lalit Chandra Bharali College, a primer college of Assam, founder rector of Institute of Printing Technology, run by All Assam Press Owners’ Association, and founder director of Institute of Mass Communication and Media, run by Media Trust, Assam.
Dutta Baruah was at present the chief-editor of ‘Saptahik Nilachal’.
He was also a Trustee, Media trust, Assam, and Down Town Charity Trust, Assam, and Director, Down Town Hospital Ltd, the largest corporate hospital in NE.
Dutta Baruah was involved in Srimanta Sankar Kristi Vikash Samiti for a long time. His demise has been widely mourned. (UNI)
