President nominates Mani Shankar Aiyar, four others to Rajya Sabha

New Delhi, Mar 19 : President Pratibha Patil on Friday nominated former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, well-known lyricist Javed Akhtar, Shimla based Indian Institute of Advance Studies director Bhalchandra Mungekar, Kannada theatre personality B Jayashree and scholar and music exponent Ram Dayal Munda to the Rajya Sabha.

According to an official release of the Rahshtrapati Bhavan, the President had nominated these personalities to fill the vacancies caused due to the retirement of nominated members.

Aiyar, 69, is a former career diplomat who left the Indian Foreign Service to join politics in the 1989.

Aiyar was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1999 and 2004.

He served as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports and North-Eastern Region Development from May 2004 to January 2006 during UPAs first term.

Apart from penning four books, Aiyar is also a columnist to various newspapers and magazines in India and abroad.

He was conferred the "Outstanding Parliamentarian Award" for the year 2006.

Akhtar, 65, is a well-known poet, lyricist and scriptwriter and was part of the script-writing duo Salim-Javed in the late 1970s and 1980s.

He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Munda is a former Ranchi University vice-chancellor. In 2007, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and was chosen for the Padma Shri this year.

Mungekar is a former University of Mumbai vice-chancellor and served the Planning Commission from 2004 to 2009.

He is currently President and Chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.

Jayashree is the granddaughter of Gubbi Veeranna, the architect of the famous Gubbi Company and is recognised as one of Karnataka's leading theatre personalities.

She has directed and acted in several plays under the banner of "Spandana.' She has won several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1997.