New Delhi | Veteran journalist Mark Tully, a chronicler of India and an acclaimed author, breathed his last at a private hospital here on Sunday, his close friend said. Tully was 90.

The award-winning journalist was ailing for some time and had been admitted to the Max Hospital in Saket for the past week.

“Mark passed away at Max Hospital Saket this afternoon," Satish Jacob, veteran journalist and a close friend of Tully, told PTI.

Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on October 24, 1935, Tully was the chief of bureau for the BBC, New Delhi, for 22 years.

An acclaimed author, Tully was also the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Something Understood’.

He was knighted in 2002 and received the Padma Bhushan from the government of India in 2005.

Tully has written several books on India, including ‘No Full Stops in India’, ‘India in Slow Motion’, and ‘The Heart of India’.