22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
The prime minister was aggressive during his interaction with the media, but no one came away enlightened on issues of governance of this complex country after hearing him for 75 minutes, says Sheela Bhatt, who attended the press conference on Friday, January 3.
'A man who brought about the greatest set of economic reforms in the country, who changed the course of Indian history, cannot be considered weak.' 'A man who fought for nuclear reforms even though his majority in Parliament was threatened, he cannot be considered weak.'
As a leader, he was ambitious, not for himself but for India and its people. His was not the short-term election cycle calculation of individual political gain. His was a practical vision of how to better the lives of his fellow citizens, asserts Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, who served as foreign secretary and national security advisor when Dr Singh was prime minister.
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama sat down at the long table in Hyderabad House, the venue for the government's summit meetings, who were the ministers and officials present on both sides?
Seven years after Modi took office, merchandise exports were lower in 2020-2021 than when he had taken over from Manmohan Singh, points out Aakar Patel.
If the prime minister can show once more that he is capable of making difficult decisions, he could restore US-Indian ties to the earlier upward trajectory, believes Ashley Tellis.
How Li kept his promise; The press party; Why China rolled out the red carpet. Sheela Bhatt, who accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his official tour of China and Russia this week, files these and other anecdotes from the visit.
Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh continues to enjoy immunity in an alleged human rights violation case filed against him in a United States court even though he is no longer the head of the State, the US department of justice has said.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a "a nice man with no independence" to run his government the way he wanted to.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's music sense... Starlet Nupur Mehta's proud parents... Ghulam Nabi Azad is disillusioned... Congress's coup attempt... Anand Sharma, the already chief minister... All this and more in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday termed the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about Anna Hazare's detention "disappointing". The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the Opposition "rejects" the explanation given by Dr Singh on the events leading to the arrest of Hazare and his aides.
He was politely told not to bother, as it was a special flight for him.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has finally spoken!
We present six political scenarios that may or may not unfold after the PM's much-anticipated return.
Sheela Bhatt, who is accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his trips to Russia and China, speaks to a senior source in the government who says that New Delhi is keenly following the developments along the Line of Control.
Both India and China have realised that if border incursions keep reoccurring, other issues of mutual interest will remain unstable. Sheela Bhatt reports
Instead, increases in foreign-direct-investment levels; and reforms to make labour, land and capital more mobile.
'Let us also not expect that there will be a clean break with the past, much though the new government might like to think about it. In a functional democracy that is neither feasible nor desirable. But basic change it must be,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to allow us to project his real personality to let the people of India know exactly what he really was. He was always shying away from greater public exposure. Since the last two years we have seen enormous criticism, ridiculing the prime minister. He has been made into an object of jokes. It certainly hurts. I think this man deserves lots of good reviews... His contribution to social policy, his contribution to the economy, his contribution to coalition management, his contribution to foreign policy.' Dr Sanjaya Baru, Dr Singh's former media advisor who is in the eye of a storm over his book on the prime minister UPA speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.