(1909-) Indian writer. He wrote about Indian independence from the perspective of a village in S India in Kanthapura 1938 and later, in The Serpent and the Rope 1960, about a young cosmopolitan intellectual seeking enlightenment.
Rao was born at Hassan, Karnataka. He studied at Montpellier and the Sorbonne in France. Collections of stories include The Cow of the Barricades 1947 and The Policeman and the Rose 1978.

P(amulaparti) V(enkata) (1921-) Indian politician, prime minister of India from 1991 and Congress (I) leader. He governed the state of Andhra Pradesh as chief minister 1971–73, and served in the Congress (I) cabinets of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi as minister of external affairs 1980–85 and 1988–90 and of human resources 1985–88. He took over the party leadership after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Elected prime minister the following month, he instituted a reform of the economy. He survived a vote of confidence 1993.