'The UPA's claim of growth at 9.5 percent was absolute nonsense and a fraudulent claim because the country did not grow; it was only statistical growth.' 'I do believe that when there is a determined leader who wants to bring a desired change, the system will begin acting. Today, people think there is policy paralysis, but there is functional paralysis also.' 'When things start moving, people will invest. Many companies are holding cash, many people are not investing. Nobody is making any move. Everybody is waiting for the elections to get over.' Economist and Swadeshi Jagran Manch convenor Swaminathan Gurumurthy in conversation with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'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.'
Stalwarts of Indian sports paid rich tributes to former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday, describing him as a visionary, who had quiet strength and humility.
Recalibrating data of past years using 2011-12 as the base year instead of 2004-05, the Central Statistics Office estimated that India's GDP grew by 8.5% in the financial year 2010-11 and not at 10.3% as previously estimated.
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.
'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
'To identify with the common man, Modi had to look like one.' 'The disastrous suit with his name written on it never made its reappearance.' 'Frequent dress changes during the day, which led Arvind Kejriwal to calculate that Modi spent crores on his attire ever year, too stopped.' 'Instead, a newer Modi emerged: Humble and eager to serve.' Narendra Modi has cleverly repositioned himself as a man of the masses in the past three years, says Aditi Phadnis.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Obama, a great admirer of the Prime Minister, is expected to informally meet with Manmohan Singh during the two-day summit on September 24 and 25, authoritative administrative sources told PTI.
This is the full text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to media persons ahead of his interaction with them in New Delhi on Friday
'I had to persuade him. I think he was a sceptic to begin with, but later on he was convinced that what we were doing was the right thing to do, that there was no other way out.'
United States President Barack Obama will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in London on April 2, on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit, the White House announced.
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.
He did not believe in any fiscal puritanism. In 2012, when it was almost certain that the government will breach the 2012-13 fiscal deficit target, he wrote that in abnormal times, abnormal measures are required to get back to normalcy.
'Shashi Tharoor is destroying the history of India.' 'He is distorting facts about the Congress party.'
What Indians think of the political crisis in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have vowed to move forward with plans to work together to build US-designed nuclear reactors in India. The decision was made during their meeting at the White House, where they also agreed to significantly expand energy cooperation. The move comes after India announced plans to amend its nuclear liability law and the Atomic Energy Act, which had previously been obstacles to the implementation of the US-India civil nuclear deal.
Dr Ramakanta Panda, who will perform heart bypass surgery on Dr Manmohan Singh at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, on Saturday, is an expert in revision (repeat) bypass surgeries. Dr Panda, who is attached to the Asian Heart, is credited with performing more than 700 repeat bypass surgeries in the past.
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday effusively praised each other after their first substantive meeting with the US President calling the Prime Minister a man of "honesty and integrity" who has helped unleash India's "extraordinary economic growth".
'Geopolitically and diplomatically it's a very difficult situation for India.'
US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cozied up to each other at a summit of the G8-G5 groupings at L'Aquila in Italy on Thursday.
Ahead of his visit to Beijing, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said India-China relations are in "very good shape" and negotiations are underway to resolve the "complicated" border issue.
Tharoor said his remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by India's responsible respect for the LoC and the IB.
Indian government's record of taking care of prime ministerial villages leaves much to be desired.
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif today said he will invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan for his oath-taking ceremony as the new premier.
Expressing deep appreciation for the enormous contribution the Indian-American community's creativity, hard work and good citizenship in bringing India and America together, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday evening in Washington, that solving the many challenges in the global environment of the 21st century required both imagination and innovation to succeed, and added that people of Indian origin worldwide can contribute mightily to this effort.
RS Chairman Dhankhar called Kharge making the claim a "very sad moment" and asked him to withdraw his statement, the Leader of Opposition insisted the government give the correct figures and continued with his speech.
What was the "locus standi" of Sonia Gandhi when she along with the then prime minister Manhoman Singh inaugurated legislative buildings in Manipur and Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Wednesday while countering the Congress's criticism over the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Keen to remove irritants in bilateral ties arising out of the spate of attacks on Indians in Australia, its Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of the steps being taken by his government to contain such assaults.
The visibly elated actor talked to rediff.com's Ajit Jain hours before the State dinner.
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
Answering a question whether Singh's visit was delayed due to lack of tangible result, Aslam said Pakistan is keen to see tangible results. "We are keen to move forward in the bilateral dialogue process.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani's meeting at Bhutanese capital Thimphu is a positive development but the meeting could not be called as a big breakthrough' as neither any agenda for further talks nor was ant decision to resume the composite dialogue taken, say Pakistani experts
Praising Dr Singh as an "excellent economist", Zardari told the then National Security Advisor Gen (rtd) James Jones in a meeting in Islamabad on June 25, 2009 that the Indian Prime Minister was unaware of what it took to change the mindset of the Pakistani establishment.
"In 1948, Indian armed forces were in a decisive position to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but then PM Jawaharlal Nehru declared unilateral ceasefire," Amit Shah said. In 1971, Shah said, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered and India had 15,000 sq km Pakistan territory under control, but still PoK was not taken back. During the 1962 war with China, then PM Nehru bade goodbye to Assam in a speech on Akashvani, he said.
Manmohan Singh's reign as prime minister has been severely criticised by his former ministerial colleague Natwar Singh, who says he leaves no legacy after being in power for 10 years.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances