Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, faced financial difficulties during his time studying at Cambridge University in the mid-1950s, according to his daughter Daman Singh's book "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan". The book details how Singh, who was on a scholarship, often had to skip meals or live on a sixpence bar of Cadbury's chocolate to make ends meet. The book also offers insights into Singh's personal life, including his fondness for singing, his quirky sense of humor, and his habit of giving nicknames to people. Daman Singh describes her father as a man who was careful with money, had a good sense of humor, and was a loving husband and father.
Seventy six-year-old Dr Singh drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday morning from his 7, Race Course Road residence to greet Patil on the occasion, a PMO spokesperson said.
'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.'
Political conflicts with deep social roots are not resolved through ill-conceived surreptitious deals. They require a bold political vision to resolve them. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the recent annual conference on internal security showed a vision that is cynical, sterile and bureaucratic, writes RN Ravi, former special diretor of the Intelligence Bureau
'The preparedness of our defence forces and positioning of intelligence assets were very different in 2008, so we had to rebuild our assets and preparedness.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants to encourage what he hopes is beginning of change of the Pakistani mindset towards India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will probably want to forget the year 2011 as soon as possible. The recent hold back of the Cabinet decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in retail trade was just another humiliation that plagued his government, which still finds itself cornered by a plethora of allegations of scams, administrative excesses and outstanding misgovernance.
Dr Ramakant Panda performed bypass heart surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009, shortly before the general election. As the Asian Heart Institute, which Dr Panda built from scratch in Mumbai, completes 200,000 heart treatments, Dr Panda tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about the prime minister's current state of health.
In an open letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi senior analyst B Raman says that the credibility of the Manmohan Singh government is withering and what the nation needs is a psychological turnaround.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
While the Indian delegation comprised National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar, the US team included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns
As a 1000-strong Indian community applauded, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on a rain-filled Sunday evening unveiled a bust of and marker on India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Singapore's Asian Civilisation Museum.
Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
A change in recommendation in favour of Birla did certainly happen but the question is whether it was a bona fide decision. Jyoti Mukul reports
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh [ Images ] on Sunday night Indian time met United States President Barack Obama and is understood to have discussed nuclear security, India's concerns over American military aid to Pakistan and the volatile situation in Afghanistan.
The Congress is nervous about the PM penning his memoirs.
Opposition leaders have criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, calling it politically motivated and a misuse of official platforms during ongoing elections.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's effusive praise of US President George W Bush during their 2008 meeting in the White House is revisited as a testament to their close relationship and the impact of the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal. Singh's statement, while drawing criticism from the Left and BJP, highlighted the transformative nature of the relationship between the two democracies. The article explores the context of their meeting and the broader significance of their relationship in the context of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The much-awaited hotline between the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao finally became operational on Thursday, thereby setting up a direct communication between the leaders.
A new book reveals that Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected an offer to become President of India, a move that would have made Lal Krishna Advani Prime Minister. Vajpayee believed that a sitting PM becoming President would set a bad precedent for Indian democracy.
While China is bigger and feels mightier at the moment, Beijing's rulers would be well advised not to be tempted to provoke India, for that would only trigger a chain reaction around the world that would not serve anyone's interests, says Sanjaya Baru.
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had several meetings with Indian leaders during his nine-years at the helm, feels Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is a "nice man" for his country. Musharraf, who met Dr Singh a number of times, including during his visit to New Delhi in 2005, said he liked the Indian prime minister.
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.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday met a Sikh delegation in Teheran on the sidelines of his visit to Iran to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit. Dr Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur, who has accompanied him, visited the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha gurdwara, a Sikh shrine and an Indian school on Wednesday
First Look of Dr Manmohan Singh with British Prime Minsiter Tony Blair
Leaders of only a few Asian countries have visited Myanmar in the new era. Notably, China is not among them. Dr Manmohan Singh's visit, the first by a prime minister since 1987, is imbued with larger regional significance, says Rajiv Bhatia.
Dismissing talk that he is a "lameduck" Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday he has been entrusted with the job by the Congress party from which he has not heard "any contrary view".
Readers share their impressions of the man who will soon be India's prime minister.
Disappointed over the last minute holding up of the Teesta River Agreement, the Bangladesh government on Tuesday said that Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, must reassure the people of Bangladesh that the hold-up is temporary and that the agreement will be signed soon.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will go on a daylong visit on Tuesday to Leh, which has been hit by cloudburst and flash floods that claimed around 200 lives and left over 400 injured
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur will personally receive United States President Barack Obama when he arrives at the Delhi airport on November 7.
In a rebuff to the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress, the Congress on Thursday ruled out sparing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Presidential race as it rejected the three names proposed by the two allies, sending signals that it was not in a mood to bow before them.
United States Senator Mark Warner, the democratic co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and India's restraint in the face of continuing terrorist attacks is nothing short of remarkable and keeping with the best traditions of India.
The simple lesson that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should learn from his occasional interactions with the media is that he should do this more often. Of course, at a time and place of his choosing, focusing attention on issues he considers important (so that he can guide public thinking and political discourse) and addressing doubts uppermost in the public mind.
Gursharan Kaur and daughter Daman Singh pay their respects to Dr Singh's mortal remains at the AICC HQ in New Delhi.
Many will hope this is the beginning of a new phase in Dr Singh's tenure, when he lets his office, the government, his council of ministers, his party and coalition and the country know that he means business, that the buck stops with him, that his colleagues and officers must shape up or ship out, says Sanjaya Baru
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, V Narayanasamy on Tuesday rubbished Time magazine's description of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as an "underachiever".
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
