Banwarilal Purohit, TN governor

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit yesterday apologised to a woman reporter whose cheek he publicly patted on Tuesday, a gesture that provoked outrage by her and the journalist fraternity and protests by opposition parties. In a letter to Lakshmi Subramanian, the 78-year-old under-fire governor said she was like her "granddaughter" and that his gesture stemmed from "affection" and "appreciation" of her performance as a journalist.