Manmohan Singh Birth :

Manmohan Singh Birth Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur on 26
September 1932,in Gah, Punjab (now in Chakwal District, Pakistan), British India, into a
Sikh family. He lost his mother when he was very young, and he was raised by his paternal
grandmother, to whom he was very close. He was a hard working student who studied by
candlelight, as his village did not have electricity. After the Partition of India, he migrated to
Amritsar, India, where he studied at Hindu College. He attended Punjab University,
Chandigarh studying Economics and attaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952
and 1954 respectively, standing first throughout his academic career. In 1997, the University
of Alberta presented him with an Honorary Doctor of Laws. The University of Oxford
awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree in June 2006, and in October 2006, the
University of Cambridge followed with the same honour. St. John's College further honoured
him by naming a PhD Scholarship after him, the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship

Childhood Education :

Childhood Education He won the Wright's Prize for distinguished performance in 1955 and
1957. He was also one of the few recipients of the Wrenbury scholarship. In 1962, Singh
completed his DPhil from the University of Oxford where he was a member of Nuffield
College. The title of his doctoral thesis was "India’s export performance, 1951–1960, export
prospects and policy implications", and his thesis supervisor was Dr I M D Little. From this
thesis he published the book "India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained
Growth"

Early career :

Early career After completing his D.Phil, Singh worked for United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1966–1969. During the 1970s, he taught at the
University of Delhi and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Trade with then Cabinet Minister
for Foreign Trade Lalit Narayan Mishra and for Finance Ministry of India. As a Minister of
Foreign Trade, Lalit Narayan Mishra was one of amongst first to recognize the potential of
Dr Manmohan Singh and appointed him as his advisor at Ministry of Foregin Trade. The Mr.
Singh-Mr. Mishra’s first meeting coincidently happened in an India-US-Chile flight. Mr.
Mishra the minister for commerce (then called minister for foreign trade) was on his way to
Santiago, Chile, to attend a meeting of the UNCTAD. In 1982, he was appointed the
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held the post until 1985. He went on to become
the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987.

Finance Minister of India :

Finance Minister of India In 1991, India's then-Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, chose
Singh to be the Finance Minister. At the time, India was facing an economic crisis. Rao and
Singh implemented policies to open up the economy and change the socialist economic
system to a capitalist economy. The economic reform package included dismantling the
Licence Raj that made it difficult for private businesses to exist and prosper, removal of many
obstacles for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and initiating the process of the privatisation of
public sector companies. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out
in 1996 due to non-performance of government in other areas.

Career in the Rajya Sabha :

Career in the Rajya Sabha In 1993 Dr. Singh offered his resignation from the post of Finance
Minister after a parliamentary investigation report criticised his ministry for not being able to
check and anticipate a $1.8 billion dollar securities scandal. The then Prime Minister P. V.
Narasimha Rao refused the resignation, instead promising to punish the individuals
mentioned in the reportSingh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya
Sabha, in 1991 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2007. From 1998 to 2004, while the Bharatiya
Janata Party was in power, Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. In
1999, he contested for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but was unable to win the seat. Some
opposition parties have criticised Singh's election as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam,
arguing that he was not eligible to become a Member of Parliament from a state where he
does not reside

Foreign Policy :

Foreign Policy Manmohan Singh's Government has continued the pragmatic foreign policy
that was started by P.V. Narasimha Rao and continued by Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal
Bihari Vajpayee. The Prime Minister has continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated
by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Exchange of high-level visits by top leaders from
both countries have highlighted his tenure, as has reduced terrorism and increased prosperity
in the state of Kashmir. Efforts have been made during Singh's tenure to end the border
dispute with People's Republic of China

Foreign Policy :

Foreign Policy Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India which was followed by Singh's visit
to Beijing in January 2008. A major development in Sino-Indian relations was the reopening
of the Nathula Pass in 2006 after being closed for more than four decades. As of 2010, the
People's Republic of China is the second biggest trade partner of India. Relations with
Afghanistan have also improved considerably, with India now becoming the largest regional
donor to Afghanistan.During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August
2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of
more schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence.[17] Under the leadership of Singh,
India has emerged as one of the single largest aid donors to Afghanistan. Singh's government
has worked towards stronger ties with the United States. He visited the United States in July
2005 initiating negotiations over the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.

Economic policy :
Economic policy Singh first became the finance minister of India in the year 1991. During
which time India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product; the
balance of payments deficit was huge and the current account deficit was close to 3.5 per cent
of GDP. Essentially the country was hemorrhaging money. It was during this time Singh
opened the Indian economy to foreign investment and introduced competition. At the time
Indian foreign reserve was barely a billion dollars as compared to $283 billion today. Singh
also freed India from the strong hold of License Raj – which created social instability and low
economic growth – and essentially liberalising Indian economy, which put the country on fast
track for development. Singh, along with the former Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, have
presided over a period where the Indian economy has grown with an 8–9% economic growth
rate. In 2007, India achieved its highest GDP growth rate of 9% and became the second
fastest growing major economy in the world.

Healthcare and education :

Healthcare and education In 2005, Prime Minister Singh and his government's health ministry
started the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilised half a million community
health workers. This rural health initiative was praised by the American economist Jeffrey
Sachs Dr. Singh has announced that eight more Indian Institutes of Technology will be
opened in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The Singh government has also continued the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan programme, begun by his predecessor, Mr. Vajpayee. The programme has
included the introduction and improvement of mid-day meals and the opening of schools all
over India, especially in rural areas, to fight illiteracy. he important National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Information Act were passed by the
Parliament in 2005 during his tenure. While the effectiveness of the NREGA has been
successful at various degrees, in various regions, the RTI act has proved crucial in India's
fight against corruption

Security and Home Affairs :

Security and Home Affairs Dr. Singh's government has been criticised by opposition parties
for revoking POTA and for the many bomb blasts in various cities, like in Mumbai,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, etc. and for not being able to reduce the
Naxal terrorism that is menacing rural areas in Eastern and Central India. Singh's government
has, however, extended the ban on the radical Islamic terror group Student's Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI). Manmohan Singh administration initiated a massive
reconstruction effort in Kashmir to stabilise the region but after some period of success,
infiltration and terrorism in Kashmir has increased since 2009.[33] However, the Singh
administration has been successful in reducing terrorism in north-east India.

Personal life :

Personal life Singh married Gursharan Kaur in 1958. However, the family has largely stayed
out of the limelight. Their three daughters – Upinder, Daman and Amrit, have successful,
non-political, careersUpinder Singh is a professor of history at Delhi University. She has
written six books, including Ancient Delhi (1999) and A History of Ancient and Early
Medieval India (2008).Daman Singh is a graduate of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and
Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat, and author of The Last Frontier: People and
Forests in Mizoram and a novel Nine by Nine.Amrit Singh is a staff attorney at the ACLU.
Singh has undergone multiple cardiac bypass surgeries, most recently in January
2009.Eminent writer Khushwant Singh lauded Mr. Singh as the best Prime Minister India has
had; even rating him higher than Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. The
Low-Down on Life, Death and Most things In-between where after losing the 1999 Lok
Sabha elections, Mr.Singh immediately returned Rs 2 lakh he had borrowed from the writer
for hiring taxis. Terming him as the best example of integrity, Mr. Khushwant Singh stated,
"When people talk of integrity, I say the best example is the man who occupies the country's
highest office."

Thank you :

Thank you Thank you for all your patience…