Singh, who opened up the economy as finance minister and served as prime minister for two consecutive terms, died on Thursday at the age of 92. "History will forever honour his pivotal role in the transformative 1991 reforms that reshaped India and opened its doors to the world.
'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.
'The demise of #ManmohanSingh ji who (looking back) presided over India's actual 'Acchey Din' feels like the end of an era when India was actually (more) democratic, when Indians were free(er) of fear & intolerance and when Indian public discourse had more decency.'
'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.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a brilliant economist with a visionary outlook on India's potential, combined with a fine sense of political feasibility, former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Friday. Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, passed away here late on Thursday at the age of 92.
Clinically diagnosed as trichophagia, or Rapunzel Syndrome, the psychological condition involves the victims picking their own hair for ingestion.
The India-US nuclear deal was aimed at ending India's nuclear isolation and nuclear apartheid, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
The BJP has accused the Congress of politicising the death of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and levelling "baseless allegations" of disrespect and mismanagement at his State funeral. The Congress has countered by alleging that the government's arrangements for the funeral were a "shocking display" of disrespect. The row comes as the Congress alleges that the Centre did not allow news agencies except for DD (Doordarshan) to cover the funeral, did not provide enough space for Singh's family around the pyre, and did not stand up for the national flag during the gun salute. The BJP has refuted all of these charges.
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
Recalling Singh as a very humble person, Kumar said, "Dr Singh used to live here. I was a child when his family shifted out. It was a very nice family." The house where the Singh family lived is in a dilapidated state now as no one stays there since they moved out a long time ago, Kumar said.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a 70-year-old Punjab farmer leader, is on his 21st day of a hunger strike demanding the Indian government address farmers' concerns, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. His health has deteriorated, and doctors have recommended immediate hospitalization. However, Dallewal, a cancer patient, has refused medical treatment.
Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister of India and architect of the country's economic reforms, passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92. Born in a village in undivided Punjab, now in Pakistan, Singh's family witnessed first-hand the tragic Partition. Throughout his long public life, he often spoke of communal harmony and democratic values. He served two terms as prime minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his wisdom and quiet demeanor.
Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in his latest book, argues that Pranab Mukherjee should have been made Prime Minister in 2012 instead of Manmohan Singh, who was then recovering from health issues. Aiyar believes this would have prevented the "paralysis of governance" and "doomed" any prospects the Congress might have had to form UPA-III. He also criticizes the government's handling of the Anna Hazare-led agitation and the Commonwealth Games scandal, which he believes contributed to the party's downfall in the 2014 general elections.
The Congress is nervous about the PM penning his memoirs.
'When his daughter's mother-in-law went to visit him, he did not use the office car to drop her home. Instead, he paid her taxi fare.'
Appraising Rediff.com about the meeting, a source close to Dr Singh said Modi sought Dr Singh's advice on the economy and foreign policy. Dr Singh told Modi that he concurs with the Reserve Bank of India's concerns about the Indian economy.
Modi's meeting with Dr Singh, totally unexpected and unique in all respects, will take place perhaps after Monday's swearing-in ceremony, and before his bilateral meeting with visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 1991 budget unshackled India's economy, significantly enhancing the economic prospects for hundreds of millions of Indians, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Gita Gopinath said on Friday.
His trip is now expected to take place after the Presidential polls on July 19.
There was more to him than he let on, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
Rahul's rage was not directed against the prime minister, but at his mother';s advisors who continue to thwart the Baba Army, feels Kamaraj Gopalan.
There is one part of India where the prime minister's campaign skills are being missed sorely, it seems.
Dr Singh will hold wide-ranging talks with President Putin.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday returned to his residence at 7, Race Course Road from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he had undergone a surgery.
As Swades turns 20, Aseem Chhabra looks back at the film that spoke to him.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Moscow for home on Saturday after concluding a three-day visit during which he attended the 12th annual Indo-Russian summit and witnessed the inking of five agreements, including one for technical assistance in joint production of 42 more frontline Sukhoi-MKI 30 jets. Dr Singh, who held talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, cleared the uncertainty over the Kudankulam nuclear power project on Friday.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to undertake a six-day visit to the United States from September 20, during which he will have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington besides attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In his condolence message to the late leader's wife Rinchin Drema, Dr Singh said in Khandu's passing away Arunachal Pracesh and the country have lost an experienced and 'Wable leader who spent long years in dedicated public service
'Our prime minister is highly educated, humble and has a great track record.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on Monday reiterated that bilateral relations were in a good state. Dr Singh and Wen, who met at Phnom Penh on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, reviewed the ties during a meeting that may well be their last, as the Chinese leader would be demitting office in March.
In an attempt to end the controversy over his purported remarks about his Indian counterpart, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that he never called Manmohan Singh a "village woman".
"Dr Singh will reach Arunachal Pradesh on the evening of January 30 and will return to Delhi the next day," Dr Sunjay Baru, information advisor to the Prime Minister, told rediff.com on Thursday evening. However, the details of Dr Singh's visit are still being worked out.
Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences sais that Dr Singh is fine and will need rest for a couple of days before he can get back to his hectic schedule.
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.
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