Dayanidhi Maran
Encyclopedia
Dayanidhi Maran
(born December 5, 1966, Kumbakonam
, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
, India
) is a member of parliament
in India’s 15th Lok Sabha
from Chennai Central constituency
and Additional Deputy Leader of DMK. He was also the Minister for Textiles in the Union Cabinet, and has also served as the as the Minister for Communications and Information Technology before that. He resigned from the position of Minister for Textiles due to 2G spectrum scam
controversy.
He is the son of Late Mr. Murasoli Maran
and the grandnephew of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) president M Karunanidhi. He is the younger brother of Kalanidhi Maran
, the founder and managing director of Sun Network
.
He is an Amateur Radio Operator
. His HAM Radio Callsign is VU2DMK. He had his Schooling with Don Bosco, Egmore
, Chennai. He received initial education in Tamil Nadu and graduated in Economics from Loyola College in Chennai. He also attended the “Owner /President Management Programme” (OPM) from Harvard Business School (USA).
Contested and been elected twice as member of parliament from Central Chennai Constituency in Tamil Nadu as a DMK party candidate. His winning margin was of over 1,34,000 votes, i.e., 62% in the total votes polled.
He was appointed as Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 26 May 2004. For a quite brief time he was away from ministry. Later he was appointed as Minister for Textiles during the year 2009.
, he is an Indian millionaire
having declared assets of 16 million Indian rupee
s (approx. 360,000 US dollars).
On 7th July 2011, Maran quits office as CBI implicated him in the 2G Scam.
(born December 5, 1966, Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam , also spelt as Coombaconum in the records of British India , is a town and a special grade municipality in the Thanjavur district in the southeast Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located 40 kilometres from Thanjavur and 272 kilometres from Chennai, it is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam...
, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) is a member of parliament
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
in India’s 15th Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
from Chennai Central constituency
Chennai Central (Lok Sabha constituency)
The Lok Sabha constituency Chennai Central is one of three constituencies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Formerly it was known as Madras Central.-Assembly segments:-Before 2009:...
and Additional Deputy Leader of DMK. He was also the Minister for Textiles in the Union Cabinet, and has also served as the as the Minister for Communications and Information Technology before that. He resigned from the position of Minister for Textiles due to 2G spectrum scam
2G spectrum scam
The 2G spectrum scandal involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones...
controversy.
He is the son of Late Mr. Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
and the grandnephew of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK) president M Karunanidhi. He is the younger brother of Kalanidhi Maran
Kalanidhi Maran
Kalanithi Maran is the Chairman and Managing Director of Sun Network, which is the most profitable Television network in Asia.In June 2010, he acquired Spice Jet which was the most profitable airlines in India...
, the founder and managing director of Sun Network
Sun Network
Sun TV Network is an Indian media company based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, part of Kal Media Services, Sun Group. It has been named as Asia's most profitable media corporations and the largest TV network. Established on April 14, 1993, it created and owns a variety of television channels and...
.
He is an Amateur Radio Operator
Amateur radio in India
Amateur radio or ham radio is practised by more than 16,000 licensed users in India. The first amateur radio operator was licensed in 1921, and by the mid-1930s, there were around 20 amateur radio operators in India. Amateur radio operators played an important part in the Indian independence...
. His HAM Radio Callsign is VU2DMK. He had his Schooling with Don Bosco, Egmore
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School is located in Egmore, Chennai. The school was established in July 1958 with an initial strength of 140 students and Fr.Mallon as the Principal and has since grown to a strength of over 2700 students...
, Chennai. He received initial education in Tamil Nadu and graduated in Economics from Loyola College in Chennai. He also attended the “Owner /President Management Programme” (OPM) from Harvard Business School (USA).
Contested and been elected twice as member of parliament from Central Chennai Constituency in Tamil Nadu as a DMK party candidate. His winning margin was of over 1,34,000 votes, i.e., 62% in the total votes polled.
He was appointed as Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 26 May 2004. For a quite brief time he was away from ministry. Later he was appointed as Minister for Textiles during the year 2009.
, he is an Indian millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
having declared assets of 16 million Indian rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
s (approx. 360,000 US dollars).
On 7th July 2011, Maran quits office as CBI implicated him in the 2G Scam.
Achievements
During his tenure as IT and Telecommunication Minister the call rates of mobiles and landlines were drastically reduced which in-turn influenced the growth of subscriptions than ever before.Controversies
- Maran has been accused of receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs 700 crore from Maxis CommunicationsMaxis CommunicationsMaxis Communications Berhad is a Malaysian cellular operator company headquartered at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was started in the year 1993. It uses the dialing pref ix identifier of "012" , "017" and “0142”. Their mobile services are provided over the 900 & 1800 MHz GSM band and as July 2005,...
. In reply, he has issued a legal notice to TehelkaTehelkaTehelka is an Indian weekly political magazine under the editorship of Tarun Tejpal known for its undercover exposé style of journalism. Its cover price is Rs 20 per issue. The publication began in 2000 as a news website, Tehelka.com...
the news magazine which have published the report.
- According to the CBICBI- Places and installations :* Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia, Canada* Center for Biomedical Imaging, a research facility of Boston University Medical Center* Central Bukidnon Institute, a secondary school in the Philippines...
, he had mis-utilized 323 telephone connections from BSNL during his tenure as the Telecom minister, and caused the Government of India a huge loss.
- CBICBI- Places and installations :* Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia, Canada* Center for Biomedical Imaging, a research facility of Boston University Medical Center* Central Bukidnon Institute, a secondary school in the Philippines...
is going to start fresh probe if Dayanidhi Maran had role in AircelAircelAircel group is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. The Aircel group is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited, whose current...
/Maxis CommunicationsMaxis CommunicationsMaxis Communications Berhad is a Malaysian cellular operator company headquartered at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was started in the year 1993. It uses the dialing pref ix identifier of "012" , "017" and “0142”. Their mobile services are provided over the 900 & 1800 MHz GSM band and as July 2005,...
deal, CBICBI- Places and installations :* Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia, Canada* Center for Biomedical Imaging, a research facility of Boston University Medical Center* Central Bukidnon Institute, a secondary school in the Philippines...
's investigations so far have been limited to decisions taken after 2007 by Maran's successor A Raja. - Maran has been accused of demanding the TataTata GroupTata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Tata Group is one of the largest companies in India by market capitalization and revenue. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,...
s 33.33% shares from the Tata-Rupert MurdochRupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
DTHDTHDTH may refer to:* The Daily Tar Heel, a student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill* Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City* Danmarks Tekniske Højskole, a previous name for the Technical University of Denmark...
project (Tata SkyTata SkyTATA Sky is a direct broadcast satellite television provider in India, using MPEG-2 digital compression technology, transmitting using INSAT 4A at 83.0°E....
) for the Sun Network. In reply, he has asked the news papers which have published the report to apologize and threatened to go to court seeking compensation of Rs. 1 croreCroreA crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
for personality damage from The New Indian ExpressThe New Indian ExpressThe New Indian Express is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as the Indian Express, under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. In 1991, following the death of the then owner Ramnath Goenka, the Goenka...
, Dinamani and Jaya TVJaya TVJaya TV is one of the major Tamil language satellite television channels based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV is one of the early Tamil channels to entertain the Tamil audiences spread across Globe....
.
- In May 2007 the Tamil daily newspaper, DinakaranDinakaranDinakaran is a Tamil daily newspaper distributed in India. , Dinakaran is the largest Tamil daily newspaper in terms of net paid circulation, which was 1,235,220...
, owned by his brother KMaran, published a survey whose results declared that 70% of the people of Tamil Nadu favoured Karunanidhi's younger son M.K. StalinM.K. StalinMuthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin is an Indian politician and former actor, better known as M. K. Stalin. He is the third son of famous politician of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi, and was born to his second wife, Mrs. Dayalu Ammal and was named after Joseph Stalin. Stalin completed his graduation in...
as his likely successor as against 2% for Stalin's elder brother M.K. Azhagiri. This resulted in M.K.Azhagiri's supporters burning down the office of Dinakaran in the city of MaduraiMaduraiMadurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
that resulted in the death of 3 employees and injuries to several others. This resulted in Karunanidhi removing Maran from his position as Union Minister. The Prime Minister refused to dismiss him, and the situation was not resolved till Maran himself resigned on 13 May.
- Maran resigned from Ministry of Textiles after CBICentral Bureau of InvestigationThe Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
accused Maran, a former telecom minister, of forcing the promoter of Chennai-based telecom company Aircel to sell his firm to Malaysian firm Maxis in 2006.