Manmohan Singh

Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister of India.

Biography
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India. Dr. Singh completed his Matriculation examinations from the Punjab University in 1948. His academic career took him from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. Dr. Singh followed this with a D. Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962." In 1964, he published the book India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth.

Singh began as an academic, at Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics. "He had a brief stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat as well, during these years." From 1987 to 1990, he served as the Secretary General of the South Commission in Geneva.

His career in government began in 1971 when he served as Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry. The next year, he was appointed Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance in 1972. "Among the many Governmental positions that Dr. Singh has occupied are Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Advisor of the Prime Minister; and Chairman of the University Grants Commission."

Manmohan Singh is perhaps most notable - or notorious - for his role in India's New Economic Policy of 1991. He served as Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996 at a time when he was named as part of "India's neo-Thatcherite trio" along with then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and then Minister of Commerce P. Chidambaram. Together, the three announced "the formulation of the most radical program of economic liberalization in independent India's history."

"In his political career, Dr. Singh has been a Member of India’s Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991, where he was Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2004. Dr. Manmohan Singh was sworn in as Prime Minister on 22nd May after the 2004 general elections and took the oath of office for a second term on 22nd May 2009."

Honors and Awards

 * 1955: Wright’s Prize for Distinguished Performance at St. John’s College in Cambridge
 * 1956: Adam Smith Prize of the University of Cambridge
 * 1987: Padma Vibhushan
 * 1995: Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress
 * 1993 and 1994: Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year
 * 1993: Euro Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year


 * Trustee, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
 * Honorary Member, Club of Rome

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * U.S.- India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative
 * Ngaire Woods
 * David M. Cote
 * India's New Economic Policy of 1991
 * Indian Fertilizer Subsidies
 * Indian Farmer Suicides