The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policy of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and part of the India-ruling National Democratic Alliance.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, often referred to by his initials as M. K. Stalin, is an Indian Tamil politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin has been the president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party since 28 August 2018. He served as the 45th Mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002 and 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2009 to 2011. Stalin was placed 24th on the list of India's Most Powerful Personalities in 2022 by The Indian Express.
Rishibala Naval,, known professionally as Simran is an Indian actress, producer, dancer and singer who works predominantly in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is considered to be one of the most versatile actresses of her time and is recognized for her dancing skills. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including three Filmfare Awards South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
Muthulakshmi Reddy was an Indian medical practitioner, social reformer and Padma Bhushan award recipient.
Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj was an Indian industrialist. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a close and beloved associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who is known to have often declared that Jamnalal was his fifth son.
Mina Swaminathan was an Indian educationist in the field of pre-school education. As a teacher at St. Thomas's School, New Delhi, she developed methods using drama in education and language learning, both inside and outside the classroom. In children's drama, she developed techniques for creative improvisation, and in writing and production of documentary mime plays. Meena Swaminathan was married to Indian Agricultural Scientist, and "Father of Green Revolution" M.S. Swaminathan, whom she met in 1951 while they were both studying at Cambridge.
Krishnammal Jagannathan is an Indian social activist from the state of Tamil Nadu. She and her husband, Sankaralingam Jagannathan, protested against social injustice and they are Gandhian activists. Her work includes upliftment of the landless, and the poor; she has sometimes fought against governments as well as big industries. She was earlier involved in the Indian independence movement, along with her husband, and was also a close associate of Vinoba Bhave. In 2008 she received the Right Livelihood Award, which she shared with her husband. She was given the Padma Bhushan; India's third highest civilian award; in 2020.
Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy by the Government of India until 2022. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London. She is also the first Carnatic musician to perform in Oud Festival of Israel (Jerusalem).
Sarojini Varadappan was an Indian social worker from the state of Tamil Nadu. She was the daughter of former Chief Minister of Madras, M. Bhaktavatsalam.
Immanuel Vasanth Dinakaran, better known as D. Imman, is an Indian film composer and singer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema. Also worked in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi film industry. His first film as music director was Thamizhan in 2002. Since then he has composed music for more than 100 films. He is the fifth Tamil music composer to win the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. He has also won the Filmfare Awards South and he has received 4 Filmfare Awards South nominations. He has also won 1 Tamil Nadu State Film Award, 2 Vijay Awards, 1 Edison Award, 1 Ananda Vikadan Cinema Award and 1 Zee Tamil Award. D. Imman is appointed as the Ambassador for Tamil Chair in University Of Toronto, Canada (2019).
The Working Women's Forum (WWF) is a women's organisation in southern India. It was founded in 1978 by Jaya Arunachalam in Madras (Chennai). The WWF aims to empower poor women in southern India by providing microcredit, a trade union, health care and training. It works with the poor women working in the informal sector, such as street vendors, silkworm growers and silk weavers, handicraft producers, washerwomen and fisherwomen.
Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Raadhika. He is a former chief member of the Tamil Nadu Film Artistes' Association. He is known for his roles as antagonists in Tamil films and a he acted in the serial Chellamae. He is also known for his controversial criticism of other film personalities.
Biswanath Pattnaik was a well-known veteran Gandhian, Sarvodaya and Bhoodan leader. He won the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2008 for his social, medical, and education work in the tribe-dominated areas of Kujendri and Baliguda, Odisha state, India.
Rajammal Packiyanathan Devadas was an Indian nutritionist, educationist and a former chancellor of Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, popularly known as Avinashilingam Deemed University. She was a member of the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Commission for Women and the elected vice president of the World Food Conference. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1992.
Sudha Kongara Prasad Profesionally known as Sudha Kongara is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. She made her directorial debut with the Telugu film Andhra Andagadu in 2008, and later directed the Tamil film Drohi. In 2016, she directed the bilingual Irudhi Suttru for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil. She subsequently directed the film's Telugu remake, Guru (2017). In her 15 Year long Career, working over 3 Languages, She Has Won Two National Award, Two Filmfare Award South and Two SIIMA Awards Respectively.
Supriya Sahu is a senior Indian bureaucrat of Additional Secretary rank from the 1991 batch of Indian Administrative Service. Currently, she is posted as Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests. Earlier, she also held additional charge of The Tamil Nadu Small Tea Growers’ Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories’ Federation Limited (INDCOSERVE), Coonoor as Principal Secretary-cum-Managing Director. Earlier, Sahu served as the Director-General of Doordarshan between July 2016 to September 2017. She was also the Co-Vice President of Asian Broadcasting Union, and was elected to the post at the 55th General Assembly of ABU.
Jothimani Sennimalai, also known mononymously as Jothimani, is an Indian politician, writer, and social worker. A member of the Indian National Congress, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Karur, Tamil Nadu in 2019. Having joined politics at a young age, Jothimani served separate terms as the General Secretary and Vice President of Indian Youth Congress and Tamil Nadu Youth Congress respectively.
Vanathi Srinivasan (/ʋaːnati/) is an Indian politician and a lawyer. As a lawyer, she has practiced in Madras High Court since 1993. She is a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Coimbatore South constituency. She currently serves as the National President of the Women's Wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Vani Bhojan is an Indian actress who works in Tamil cinema. She made her Telugu film debut with Meeku Maathrame Cheptha in 2019 and her Tamil film debut with Oh My Kadavule in 2020.
Shashikala Sinha is an Indian scientist. She is known for her role as a project director in the Endo-Atmospheric Interceptor Missile Advanced Area Defence programme, part of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme. As of 2019 she is graded as a 'Scientist H' in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and leads a team of around 300 scientists.
