May 29, 2025 10:13 pm
Full News

Manmohan Singh, Indian ex-PM and architect of economic reform, dies at 92

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has died at the age of 92.
Singh was one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers and he was considered the architect of key liberalising economic reforms, as premier from 2004-2014 and before that as finance minister.
He had been admitted to a hospital in the capital Delhi after his health condition deteriorated, reports say.
Singh was the first Indian leader since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after serving a full first term, and the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post. He made a public apology in parliament for the 1984 riots in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed.
But his second term in office was marred by a string of corruption allegations that dogged his administration. The scandals, many say, were partially responsible for his Congress party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 general election.
Singh was born on 26 September 1932, in a desolate village in the Punjab province of undivided India, which lacked both water and electricity.
After attending Panjab University he took a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and then a DPhil at Oxford.
While studying at Cambridge, the lack of funds bothered Singh, his daughter, Daman Singh, wrote in a book on her parents.

“His tuition and living expenses came to about £600 a year. The Panjab University scholarship gave him about £160. For the rest he had to depend on his father. Manmohan was careful to live very stingily. Subsidised meals in the dining hall were relatively cheap at two shillings sixpence.”
Daman Singh remembered her father as “completely helpless about the house and could neither boil an egg, nor switch on the television”.

Singh rose to political prominence as India’s finance minister in 1991, taking over as the country was plunging into bankruptcy.
His unexpected appointment capped a long and illustrious career as an academic and civil servant – he served as an economic adviser to the government, and became the governor of India’s central bank.
In his maiden speech as finance minister he famously quoted Victor Hugo, saying that “no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come”.
That served as a launchpad for an ambitious and unprecedented economic reform programme: he cut taxes, devalued the rupee, privatised state-run companies and encouraged foreign investment.
The economy revived, industry picked up, inflation was checked and growth rates remained consistently high in the 1990s.

Related News
Indian Police arrested culprit who threatened SRK
China Approves World’s Largest Hydropower Dam Project
Maldivian President Holds Nearly 15-Hour Long Press Conference, Breaks World Record
A peace merchant turns into an anarchist
Arsenal ‘Grief’ for not Scoring 10 Goals to Tottenham
Russia and Bahrain Near LNG Supply Agreement – Sources
Related Posts
MIT Shuts Down DEI Office Amid National Debate and Trump Administration Pressure
GOP Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Rename D.C. Metro as “Trump Train”
Kamala Harris’s 2028 Nomination Is Hers to Lose — and She’s Losing It
Trump Sees Major Wins in Latin America
SpaceX Starship Setbacks Raise Concerns Over NASA’s 2027 Moon Mission
Lashkar-e-Taiba Claims Role in Bangladesh Uprising, Raising Alarms Over Regional Security
More News

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban on National Security Grounds

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous 9-0 decision on Friday, upheld a federal law mandating the divestiture of TikTok by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Sunday. This law, supported by a strong bipartisan majority and signed by President Joe Biden, asserts national security concerns over TikTok’s data practices and ties with China. The […]

India’s All-Round Military Strength vs Pakistan’s Nuclear Focus: An Unequal Battlefield

April 27, 2025 — If a direct military conflict were ever to erupt between India and Pakistan, it would be a deeply unequal battle, analysts warn — with India standing as a fully equipped, multi-dimensional military power, while Pakistan remains heavily reliant on its nuclear deterrent alone. Over the decades, Pakistan has built significant expertise […]

Bangladesh’s Economy Faces Major Blow from U.S. Tariffs Imposed by President Trump: UNCTAD Report Warns of Long-Term Impact

Dhaka, May 2025 — Bangladesh’s economy is bracing for a significant setback following the imposition of new tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump. Although a 90-day suspension on implementation offers a temporary reprieve, the long-term consequences are expected to be severe, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and […]

India’s Pharmaceutical Sector Sees Significant Growth Under Modi’s PLI Scheme

India’s pharmaceutical industry is experiencing substantial growth thanks to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme introduced by the Modi government. The scheme has successfully boosted the manufacturing of high-value drugs, including biopharmaceuticals, complex generics, and treatments for cancer, autoimmune disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. According to a report from the parliamentary standing committee on chemicals and […]

US May Place “Very Big Bounty” on Taliban Leaders, Says Secretary of State Rubio

WASHINGTON, Jan 25, 2025 – The US may place a “very big bounty” on the top leaders of the Taliban, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Saturday. Rubio stated that he had received information suggesting the Taliban held more American hostages than previously reported. “Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than […]

2025-2026 White House Fellowship

The application for the 2025-2026 White House Fellows Program is now open. Today, Rose Vela, Director of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, announced the opening of the application season for the 2025-2026 White House Fellowship year: “This uniquely non-partisan program has a distinguished legacy that reaches back more than half a century, and […]

Indian Police Volunteer Convicted in Kolkata Doctor’s Rape and Murder Case

Kolkata, India — A police volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was convicted on January 18 for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The crime, which occurred in August 2024, sparked nationwide outrage over women’s safety and security in public hospitals. The victim’s body was discovered in […]

Protests Erupt in Bangladesh Over Israeli Attacks: American and Israeli Flags Burned

In a fiery demonstration at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on Monday, a group of Islamist students took to the streets to protest Israel’s military actions in Palestine. The protest, held in front of the university’s Shaheed Minar, saw students burning Israeli flags and stomping on American flags and photos of Israeli Prime […]

India Strongly Protests Bangladeshi Advisor’s Facebook Post: Calls for Caution in Public Remarks by Officials

India has lodged a strong protest over a Facebook post by Bangladeshi Advisor Mahfuj Alam that depicted a map of “undivided Bengal,” including regions currently part of India, such as West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and Manipur.“We have taken this up with the Bangladeshi government and registered our strong objection,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal […]

Iran’s Alleged Chemical Weapons Program Sparks Geopolitical Concerns

A comprehensive review by the Institute for Science and International Security (TheGoodISIS) has raised alarms over Iran’s alleged development of chemical weapons based on pharmaceutical-based agents (PBAs). The findings suggest links between Iranian research and development (R&D) efforts and the military apparatus, prompting calls for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to […]