Manmohan Singh is an Indian economist, academic, and politician who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. The first Sikh in office, Singh was also the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term

 

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Manmohan Singh Kohli
Nickname	Mohan
Profession(s)	Economist, Bureaucrat, Politician
Physical Stats & More
Height	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in feet inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 60 kg in pounds- 132 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Grey
Economics
Doctoral Advisor	Ian Malcolm David (I.M.D.) Little
Thesis	"India's export performance, 1951–1960, export prospects and policy implications"
Book
Major Designation(s)	1966–1969: Worked for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 1969: Appointed as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Trade by Lalit Narayan Mishra 1969-1971: Professor of International Trade at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi 1972: Chief Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance 1976: Secretary in the Finance Ministry 1980–1982: Member of the Planning Commission 1982-1985: Governor of the Reserve Bank of India 1985-1987: Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (India) 1987-1990: Secretary General of the South Commission, an independent economic policy think tank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland 1990: Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Economic Affairs during the tenure of V. P. Singh 1991: Chairman of the University Grants Commission
Awards, Honours, Achievements	1952: Panjab University awarded him the University Medal for standing first in B.A. (Honors Economics) 1954: Panjab University awarded him the Uttar Chand Kapur Medal for standing first in M.A. (Economics) 1956: Adam Smith Prize by the University of Cambridge, UK 1983: Panjab University awarded him Doctor of Letters 1987: Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India 2009: Panjab University created a Dr. Manmohan Singh chair in their economics department 2002: Outstanding Parliamentarian Award by the Indian Parliamentary Group 2005: The University of Oxford awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree 2005: Top 100 Influential People in the World by Time Magazine 2006: The University of Cambridge awarded him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law Degree
Politics
Political Party	Indian National Congress (INC)
Political Journey	1991: Elected to the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from Assam for the first time and became the Finance Minister of India in the P. V. Narasimha Rao Government. 1995: Re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam. 1998-2004: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. 1999: Contested for the Lok Sabha from South Delhi but lost to BJP's Vijay Kumar Malhotra by over 30,000 votes. [1] 2001: Elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for the third time. 2004: On 22 May, became the 13th Prime Minister of India to the 14th Lok Sabha. 2007: Elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for the fourth time. 2009: On 22 May, elected the Prime Minister of India to the 15th Lok Sabha. 2013: Elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for the fifth time. 2014: On 17 May, resigned from the post of the Prime Minister of India; after Congress' loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. 2019: Elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan
Personal Life
Date of Birth	26 September 1932
Age (as in 2019)	87 Years
Birthplace	Gah, Punjab, British India (Now Punjab, Pakistan)
Zodiac sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Amritsar, Punjab, India
School	• A Village school in Gah, Peshawar (Name Not Known) [2] • Khalsa High School for Boys, Peshawar, British India (now, in Pakistan)
College/ University	• Hindu College, Amritsar • Government College, Panjab University, Hoshiarpur (now, in Chandigarh) • University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England • Oxford University, Oxford, England
Educational Qualification(s)	• B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from Government College, Panjab University, Hoshiarpur (now, in Chandigarh) in 1952 • M.A. in Economics from Government College, Panjab University, Hoshiarpur (now, in Chandigarh) in 1954 • Economic Tripos from University of Cambridge in 1957 • Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Oxford in 1960
Religion	Sikhism
Caste	Khatri; Kohli (sub-caste; Kukrain) [3]
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian Note: He prefers vegetarian food
Address	9, Safdarjung Lane, New Delhi
Hobbies	Poetry, Reading, Writing, Listening to Music
Controversies	• In 1993, a parliamentary investigation report criticised his ministry for not being able to anticipate a US$1.8 billion securities scandal. [4] • During his a decade long tenure as the Prime Minister of India, the opposition often criticized him for being a "weak" Prime Minister. The Independent also criticized him under a headline- "Manmohan Singh – India's saviour or Sonia's poodle?" [5] • His image was tarnished during his second tenure as the Prime Minister of India (from 2009 to 2014) as the UPA Government was accused of various corruption scandals. [6] • Mr. Singh also attracted controversies for his alleged inaction and indecisiveness in the 2G Spectrum Case and the Indian Coal Allocation Scam.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	14 September 1958
Family
Wife/Spouse	Gursharan Kaur (Homemaker)
Children	Son- None Daughter(s)- 3 • Amrit Singh (Human Rights Lawyer) • Daman Singh (Writer) • Upinder Singh (Historian)
Parents	Father- Gurmukh Singh (a Clerk) Mother- Amrit Kaur Step-mother- Sitawanti Kaur
Grandparents	Grandfather- Sant Singh Grandmother- Jamna Devi
Siblings	Brother- 1 (Name Not Known; died at a very young age) Half-Brother(s)- 3 • Surinder Singh Kohli (Politician) • Daljit Singh Kohli (Politician; joined BJP in 2014) • Surjeet Singh Kohli (Politician) Sister- None Half-Sister(s)- 6 • Gobind Kaur • Pritam Kaur • Nirman Kaur • Narinder Kaur • Gyan Kaur • 1 More (Name Not Known)
Favourite Things
Favourite Leader	Mahatma Gandhi
Favourite Poet	Iqbal
Favourite Colour	Grey
Favourite Food	Missi Roti, Vadiyaan, Pulao & Chhole
Style Quotient
Car	Maruti 800 (1996 Model)
Money Factor
Salary (as a Member of the Rajya Sabha)	₹50,000/month + Other Allowances
Assets/Properties	• Two flats worth ₹7.27 crore- one in Chandigarh and another in New Delhi • 150.8 gm Gold Jewellery worth ₹3.45 lakh
Net Worth (approx.)	₹11.6 crore (as in 2013)

 

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manmohan Singh

• Does Manmohan Singh smoke?: No

• Does Manmohan Singh drink alcohol?: No

• Dr. Singh was born into a Sikh Family of a village named Gah in British India.

   

  

  Manmohan Singh Old House In Gah Pakistan

• After his birth, his parents had taken him to Panja Sahib, one of the most sacred of Sikh shrines, fifty kilometres from Rawalpindi. Following the custom, the priest opened the holy Guru Granth Sahib at random, the first word that appeared on the page began with “M,” and the baby was named “Manmohan.”

   

  

  Panja Sahib Gurudwara

• He was raised by his paternal grandmother; as he lost his mother when he was very young.

• His father, Gurmukh Singh was a Clerk in a firm of commission agents that imported dry fruits from Afghanistan to supply across India.

• He was first admitted to a village school in Gah, Peshawar; where his roll no. was 187. The schoolmaster’s name was Daulat Ram.

   

  

  Manmohan Singh’s School in Gah Pakistan

• According to sources, Singh’s father mostly remained outside the town and would rarely make a visit to Gah.

• After his primary schooling, Manmohan Singh had to move to Chakwal, a town in Pakistan, where he was admitted to Khalsa High School for Boys. It was there that his father showed up after a long time; who had remarried a while ago. He took Manmohan to live with his second family in Peshawar. Manmohan was not very happy at this. Manmohan Singh was 11-year-old at that time.

   

  

  Khalsa High School in Chakwal Where Manmohan Singh Did His Schooling

• After moving to Peshawar, the fears that Manmohan Singh had about his new family were soon banished; as his step-mother, Sitawanti Kaur was very warm and affectionate to him, and soon, he developed a good rapport with her.

• In Peshawar, Manmohan was admitted to the Khalsa High School for Boys, where he started taking part in debate competitions. Although he wasn’t good at athletics, he loved to play hockey and football.

• In 1945, he topped his school in class 8th examination, and it was then that Mr. Singh’s academic brilliance was acknowledged for the first time.

• The following year, i.e., in 1946, he quit history, geography, and civics; opting instead for chemistry, physics, and physiology.

• In 1946, his family moved into its own home in Guru Nanak Pura in Peshawar; after living in rented accommodation for several years.

   

  

  Guru Nanak Pura in Peshawar Where Manmohan Singh Had Lived

• The young Manmohan was very fond of exploring the city and would explore Peshawar on foot, by bicycle, or by tonga.

• After the end of World War II on 14 August 1945, sweets were being distributed at Khalsa High School for Boys, to which, Manmohan had protested on the pretext that even though it was a victory over Fascism but Britain was yet to release India from bondage.

• By the age of 13, Manmohan Singh had developed a knack for politics.

• After the Partition of India, Mr. Singh’s family migrated from Peshawar to Amritsar, where he attended the Hindu College.

   

  

  A Portrait of Manmohan Singh in The Corridors of Hindu College Amritsar

• Thereafter, he went on to attend the Panjab University (then in Hoshiarpur) to pursue his graduation and post graduation in Economics.

   

  

  Government College, formerly Panjab University College, at Hoshiarpur where Dr Manmohan Singh was a student and then a teacher in the late fifties

• Throughout his academic life, Mr. Singh was a brilliant student.

• In 1958, Manmohan Singh underwent an arranged marriage with Gursharan Kaur. The couple has three daughters. In an interview, Gursharan Kaur revealed that the first thing that Manmohan Singh had asked her was her division in her graduation, to which, she had replied- “second division.”

   

  

  Manmohan Singh With His Daughters

• He was directly elected as the finance minister of India by the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao with no political experience under his belt. He played quite a vital role as the Finance Minister by pushing the nation towards a Market Economy after it suffered an economic crisis in 1991. It was the time when India could afford just 2 weeks of import; because the foreign reserves were just $1 Billion. For that, he freed Indian Economy from Licence Raj, a source of slow economic growth and corruption in India.

   

  

  Manmohan Singh as The Finance Minister of India

• It was P. V. Narasimha Rao, who brought Manmohan Singh into active politics by making him a Rajya Sabha Member from Assam.

   

  

  Manmohan Singh With P V Narasimha Rao

• He has been representing Assam in the Rajya Sabha since 1991, which goes to a record five consecutive terms.

   

  

  This house in Guwahati officially belongs to Manmohan Singh

• Mr. Singh was the first Prime Minister of India since Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to be re-elected after a full five-year term. He also became the first Sikh Prime Minister of India in May 2004.

• It was a surprise to his wife, Gursharan Kaur, when Mr, Singh’s name was chosen for the post of the Prime Minister of India in 2004.

• She revealed in an interview that for his swearing-in ceremony, Manmohan Singh wore his regular clothes and didn’t go for any special clothes, such as the traditional ‘sherwani.’

• India, in 2007, under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh, achieved its highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 9% and became the second fastest growing economy in the world.

• Mr. Singh is known to keep his friendships always vital, and even after becoming the Prime Minister of India, he received his childhood friend, Raja Mohammad Ali, who had come from Pakistan to meet Manmohan Singh in 2008.

   

  

  Manmohan Singh Meeting His Childhood Friend Raja Mohammad Ali

• Sales Tax was replaced by the Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2005 by the Manmohan Singh Government.

• After the 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks, the need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realized. Manmohan Singh’s Government then created the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2009.

• Forbes ranked him #18 on the list of the world’s most powerful people in 2010. Magazine also described him as- “Universally praised India’s Prime Minister since Nehru.”

• His public image was tarnished because of several corruption allegations since the start of his second term as the Prime Minister of India in 2009. The opposition demanded his resignation over his alleged indecisiveness in Indian Coal Allocation Scam and 2G Spectrum Scam.

   

  

  A Caricature of Manmohan Singh of Coal Scam

• In 2016, Singh took up as the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

• Mr. Singh has some serious health issues and has undergone multiple cardiac bypass surgeries; the most recent one was in January 2009.