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| Date of Birth: | September 26, 1932 |
|---|---|
| Place of Birth: | Gah , West Punjab |
| Prime Minister of India | |
| Tenure Order: | 13th Prime Minister |
| Political party: | Congress (I) |
| Took office: | May 22, 2004 |
| Predecessor: | Atal Behari Vajpayee |
Manmohan Singh (ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ in Gurmukhi) (born September 26, 1932 in Gah, West Punjab -- now in Pakistan -- is the thirteenth prime minister of India. He is from the Indian National Congress party. A member of the Sikh faith, Singh was sworn in on May 22, 2004 as India's first non- Hindu Prime Minister.
Singh is widely regarded as the architect of India's economic reform programme. His policies of economic liberalizations and reforms as finance minister under the Narasimha Rao government in the 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn, including reduction of several redundant socialist policies, brought the country back from a looming economic bankruptcy. He is an economistAn economist is someone who studies Economics. See also List of economists. The Economist is also a news journal published in London. Life, physical, and social science occupations Social science occupations., formerly connected with the International Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund IMF is an international organization responsible for managing the global financial system and for providing loans to its member states to help alleviate balance of payments problems. Part of its mission is to help countries and was educated at Nuffield College, Oxford, St John's College, Cambridge and Punjab University.
Although his economic policies were widely popular, especially among the middle class, he lost his election to the Lok Sabha from South Delhi in 1999. He has been the member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam since 1991 and the Leader of the Opposition ( 1998 - 2004).
A rather low-key politician, Manmohan Singh has had a "squeaky clean" image and was advisor to Sonia Gandhi throughout the election campaign in 2004. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2002.
Singh has been married since 1958, and has three daughters. His appointment is also notable as it comes 20 years after India witnessed significant trouble between the Indian government and Sikhs, which ultimately led to the assassination of Indira Gandhi.