Centre on Wednesday nominated four new members to Rajya Sabha who represent various South Indian states including PT Usha, Ilaiyaraaja, Veerendra Heggade, KV Vijayendra Prasad, said a press release.
The four nominated members include a woman, a Dalit, and a member of a religious minority (Jain community), added a statement.
Born in a small village in Kozhikode district in Kerala, PT Usha is one of India’s most iconic sportspersons.
PT Usha has been a role model and inspiration for lakhs of young girls across the country who have dreamt of taking up a career in sports, especially track and field events.
Popularly known as the Payyoli Express, she has represented the country and won medals at various international sporting events, including the World Junior Invitational Meet, Asian Championships, and Asian Games. She has set and broken many national and Asian records during her career.
In the 1984 Olympics, she missed winning India’s first medal in track and field in a photo-finish as she stood fourth in women’s 400M hurdles and lost the Bronze medal by 1/100 second.
Ilaiyaraaja, born in a Dalit household in a village in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu, is regarded as one of India’s greatest music composers.
During his career, Ilaiyaraaja had to face innumerable hardships and caste-based discrimination. However, he overcame all such hurdles and emerged as one of the country’s leading musicians.
In a career spanning more than five decades, he has composed over 7000 songs for more than 1000 movies and performed in more than 20000 concerts across the globe.
In 2018, he received the Padma Vibhushan. He has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Veerendra Heggade has served as the Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple in Karnataka since the tender age of 20.
He has been a devoted philanthropist for more than five decades. He has led various transformative initiatives for rural development and the promotion of self-employment.
KV Vijayendra Prasad, born in Kovvur in Andhra Pradesh, KV Vijayendra Prasad is one of the country’s leading screenwriters and film directors. He has written the story for many prominent Telugu and Hindi movies.
His notable works include some of the highest-grossing Indian movies, such as RRR, the Baahubali series, and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. (ANI)
