Dr. Manmohan Singh is a great economist, professor, civil servant, social worker and also the 13th and the current Prime Minister of India.  He is a Sikh and also the first non–Hindu Prime Minister of India since independence.  He is also the 7th Prime Minister from the INC (Indian National Congress) party.  He is also the only Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru who has returned to power after completing a successful full five year term.  Dr. Singh has worked under several Government sectors and has received innumerous accolades and many honors for his excellent work.  Later, he turned into a politician and under his governance; India has experienced many changes in its economic sector.  He is also known as the key architect of the Indian economy and financial renewal.  His talent and great leadership skills were not only recognized and acknowledged by India but also worldwide.

EARLY & PERSONAL LIFE:
Dr. Manmohan Singh was born to Gurmukh Singh and Amrit Kaur a Sikh Khatri family as one among the ten siblings on 26 September 1932 in Gah, Punjab.  His mother passed away at his young age and he was raised by his paternal grandmother.  Post Independence and after the partition of India, his family migrated to Amritsar, Punjab.  He studies at Hindu College and later attended the Panjab University in Chandigarh and moved to Hoshiarpur to study Economics and got his Bachelor’s degree in 1952 and Master’s in 1954.  He went to read the Economics Tripos at Cambridge as a member of St. John’s College.  He won the Wright’s Prize for his excellent performance and he was also one of the few recipients who received the Wrenbury scholarship.  Later, 1962, he studied at the University of Oxford as a member of Nuffield College.  His doctoral thesis “India’s export performance (1951 – 1960): export prospects and policy implications” has been the base of his book “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth”.

In 1958, Dr. Manmohan Singh married Gursharan Kaur and the couple is blessed with three daughters.  Upinder Singh (professor of history at Delhi University), Daman Singh (a graduate of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat) and Amrit Singh (a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union).  In 2009, due to ill-health Dr. Singh has undergone multiple cardiac bypass surgeries.

CAREER & HIGHLIGHTS:
In 1991, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao by the then Prime Minister of India has chosen Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister of his cabinet.  At that point of time India was economically struggling and has a loss which is close to 8.5 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).  Then the GOI (Government of India) has got some help from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) financially, while imposing conditions on the Indian economic policy.  One of them was the cancellation of ‘Licence Raj’ policy and Dr. Singh, one of the India’s most influential economic architects who has seen this as one good opportunity and opened the Indian economy to foreign investment and liberalization of the economy.  P.V. Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh wanted the Indian socialist economy to be more of a capitalistic one and they have overcome most of the problems on their way of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and they have initiated the privatization of public sector companies.  Dr. Singh has also served in the upper house (Rajya Sabha).  He was first elected by the State of Assam in 1991 and later got re-elected in 1995, 2001 and 2007.  He also served as the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha when BJP was ruling and in power. 

After the 2004 general elections, when UPA (United Progressive Alliance) came into power, their chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi declared Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.  Although he did not win any Lok Sabha MP seat, he was elected to serve as the PM of India and he has a clean, neat and uncorrupted image in politics among the public.  On 22 May 2004, he first took an oath as Prime Minister of India.  Since then and till now Dr. Singh has never looked back and continued to guide and serve the country.  He along with by the then Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram worked towards the growth of Indian economy and in 2007, India achieved their highest GDP growth of 9% and also became the second fastest growing economy in the world after China.

He is also a strong supporter of globalization and always supported the Indian labor delivering the Indian goods globally and also wants to see India as poverty free country.  In 2005, he introduced the VAT (Value Added Tax) replacing the Sales Tax.  In 2005, under his leadership his government’s health ministry has started the National Rural Health Mission all across the country for the rural residents.  Also in 2006, his government proposed and implemented the 27% reservation of seats of higher education for other backward classes which led to anti-reservation protests in the country.

Dr. Singh’s government has strengthened the anti-terror laws like UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and also created a new NIA (National Investigation Agency) soon after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  He then in 2009 also started the UIAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and implemented the MNIC (Multipurpose National Identity Card) to serve as a better objective which increases the national security and e-governance. 

Dr. Singh’s strong leadership and governance has maintained a good relationship with other countries.  Maximum efforts were made by him to end border disputes with the neighboring countries and also his government has tried to reduce the terror attacks in Kashmir.  In 2005, his government has signed the most controversial Indo – US Civilian Nuclear Deal which was opposed by other parties.  Under his government the relations were improved between Japan and the EU countries.

In 2009, the 15th Lok Sabha elections were held and the UPA government has again got into power and Dr. Manmohan Singh was re-elected as the Prime Minister of India. 


NOTABLE AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
•  1955 – Wright Prize for Distinguished Performance    from St. John’s College, Cambridge, UK
•  1956 – Adam Smith Prize University of Cambridge, UK
•  1987 – was awarded “Padma Vibhushan” by the Government of India
•  1993 – Finance Minister of the Year    by “Euromoney”
•  1993 – Finance Minister of the Year by “Asiamoney”
•  1994 – Finance Minister of the Year by “Asiamoney”
•  1994 – Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award (1994–95) by Indian Science Congress Association
•  1995 – Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award (1994–95) by Indian Science Congress Association
•  1997 – Nikkei Asia prize for Regional Growth by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc.
•  1997 – Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation Award by Justice K.S. Hegde Foundation
•  1997 – Lokmanya Tilak Award by Tilak Smarak Trust, Pune
•  1999 – H.H. Kanchi Sri Paramacharya Award for Excellence by Shri R. Venkataraman, The Centenarian Trust
•  2000 – Annasaheb Chirmule Award by Annasaheb Chirmule Trust
•  2002 – Outstanding Parliamentarian Award by the Indian Parliamentary Group
•  2005 – Top 100 Influential People in the World by the Time Magazine
•  2010 – World Statesman Award by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation