Deepti Hajela. (Photo, as it appears on www.saja.org)

Deepti Hajela, an Associated Press journalist, was elected president of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) for 2005. Hajela earlier served as its vice president. Vikas Bajaj, a business and government writer at the Dallas Morning News, was named vice president and convention chair.

Monika Mathur, a news researcher at Asso-ciated Press, was named secretary while John Laxmi, a freelance writer, continues as treasurer. Sreenath Sreenivasan, a Columbia journalism professor and WABC-TV technology reporter, continues as the group’s administrator, a SAJA press release said.

(Compiled from a press release by M. Chooki)