Minister of Communications & IT

Bio-data of Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran

Name:	Dayanidhi Maran

Date of Birth:	05.12.1966

Educational Qualifications:	Schooling at Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Egmore, Chennai Graduated in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai (1986-89) Attended Major Management Programme “Owner/President Management Programme” [OPM] in Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.

Background:	Associated for well over a decade with print media and its management as well as visual media.

Family Details:	His father, Late Murasoli Maran, was an ardent journalist, an active leader of DMK, a Parliamentarian for 36 years beginning from 1967 and Union Minister for different periods from 1989. His mother’s name is Mrs. Mallika Maran. His lineage towards public service comes from his granduncle, Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, is the Founder and President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Party (DMK) and also Chief Minister of the State of Tamil Nadu. Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran is married to Mrs. Priya Dayanidhi Maran and has a daughter & a son.

Political Background:	Contested as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Party candidate to the 14th Lok Sabha from Central Chennai Constituency in Chennai in the State of Tamil Nadu in Parliamentary Elections held in April – May 2004 and elected as a Member of Parliament by winning with a margin of over 1,34,000 votes and securing over 62% of the votes polled. Appointed as Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology w.e.f. 26.05.2004. He is also the Member of the various Cabinet & Group of Ministers Committees / Commissions.
Honours and Awards:	GSMA Honours Indian Government for Achievements in Mobile Communications (13th February, 2007) Awarded Bharat Asmita Jana-Pratinidhi Shrestha Award by MAEER’s Maharashtra Institute Technology (MIT) School of Management, Pune for the best young exponent of Parliamentary Practices and promotion of Democracy. The Award was handed over by Thiru. Somanath Chatterjee, Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha in a grand function held in the Institute Campus on 3rd February, 2005. Dayanihdi Maran to receive young global leader award at the maiden summit in SWITZERLAND (24th June, 2005) Hon'ble MOC&IT was awarded Sigaram-15 Achiever Award in the field of Politics by India Today Group at Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai on 25th August, 2005. The Award is given to those who have influenced politics and contributed their time for public service.
Hobbies:	Voracious reader of books and journals in the areas of Current Affairs, Political Science, Social Science, Commerce, Finance, Global Trade and Information Technology. Interest in Golf, Cricket and Tennis Travelled extensively all over the world and attended various Seminars, Conferences and Expositions in the field of Political Economy, Management, Visual and Print Media.