The Hindu Business Line : Maran dead

MR Murasoli Maran, a Minister without portfolio in the Union Cabinet, died at the Apollo Hospital here on Sunday after a prolonged illness. He was 69 and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The funeral will take place on Monday.

Mr Maran underwent an emergency valve replacement surgery in September 2002 and has been in hospital since then. In November last, he was flown to the US and admitted to the Methodist Hospital and Research Institute in Houston, Texas. He was brought back to Chennai on September 7, 2003 and re-admitted to the Apollo Hospital, where he breathed his last this evening.

A former Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Maran was made a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet reshuffle in November 2002. He was the nephew of the DMK President and former Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi.

Mr Maran, widely considered a party ideologue, was a votary of economic liberalisation and reforms. As Commerce Minister, he took a tough stand to protect the interests of the Third World at the Doha meeting of the World Trade Organisation. He insisted that the WTO limit non-tariff barriers to trade, such as anti-dumping laws and European subsidies on agriculture products.

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Maran dead