Native name	Dhanbad
Type	city
Locator position	right
State name	Jharkhand
District	Dhanbad
Altitude	222
Population as of	2001
Population total	1065,423
Population density	1120
Area total	2052
Area telephone code	0326
Postal code	826001
Vehicle code range	JH-10
Website	www.dhanbad.nic.in
Languages	Hindi, Bengali,Maithili, Khhottha, English

Dhanbad () is a city in the state of Jharkhand, and is also known as the 'Coal Capital of India'. Dhanbad is the 79th fastest growing city in world. According to the 2001 census, Dhanbad is among the 35 cities of India with a population of more than one million. Among the Rail Divisions of Indian Railway, Dhanbad Rail Division is the second largest in terms of revenue generation.

Dhanbad is famous for coal mining. Tata Steel, BCCL, ECL and IISCO are some of the companies having coal mines in the district. Coal-mining, coal washing, and coke making are the main coal related industries in the city. IISCO (Indian Iron And Steel Company) is now owned by SAIL, while BCCL & Eastern Coalfields Limited are subsidiaries of CIL (Coal India Limited); these two companies are the largest operators of coal mines in Dhanbad, and have open cast mines as well as underground mines, whereas Tata Steel has mostly underground mines. These companies have developed townships for their employees.

Geography and climate

Dhanbad has an average elevation of . Its geographical length (extending from North to South) is 43 miles and the breadth (stretching across East to West) is 47 miles. It shares its boundaries with West Bengal in the Eastern and southern part, Dumka & Giridih in the North and Bokaro in the west. Dhanbad comes under the Chota-Nagpur Plateau.

Dhanbad features climate that is transitional between a humid subtropical climate and a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer starts from last week of March and ends in mid June. Peak temperature in Summer can reach 47^oC. Dhanbad also receives heavy rainfall. In winter, the minimum temperature remains around 12^oC with a maximum of 22^oC. Damodar River is the main river flowing through the District. Katri, Jamunia, Gobai, Khudia and Irji are the other rivers flowing through the district. The Red soil is found in the area and is not that much fertile for good agricultural produce. Due to presence of two large Dams in the district, many people are involved in pisiculture. Forest present in the district are of northern Tropical Dry Deciduous type. In many of these forest, people are engaged in sericulture.

History

Dhanbad has a rich history of growth, urbanisation and migration of people. The early history of the Dhanbad is shrouded in mystery. Details of even later periods are difficult to trace. The present district used to be a part of Manbhum. In the Settlement Report for Manbhum (1928) it was stated that no rock inscriptions, copper plates or old coins were discovered and not a single document of copper plate or palm leaf was found, during the Survey and Settlement operations. The oldest authentic documents produced were all on paper and barely even a hundred years old. Dhanbad was in Manbhum district from 1928 up to 1956. However, on 24 October 1956, Dhanbad was declared a District on the Recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission vide notification 1911. And from 1956 to 14 November 2000 it was under Bihar. At present it is in Jharkhand, after the creation of state on 15 November 2000.

The first Indians to arrive and establish themselves in coal mining business (breaking the monopoly of British & European Miners & Mining companies) starting from 1895 to 1920 were Mistris of Kutch- the famous Railway Contractors tribe among whom notable were Seth Khora Ramji Chawda, Jetha Lira Jethwa, Narayan Chowra who established Jharia, Fatehpur, Balihari, Jeenagora, Bhagatdih, Govamal Jeevan Chauhan, established Pandubra and Gokuldih, Khimjee Dossa Jethwa, Tisra,Gangji Dossa Jethwa, Katrasgarh, Ramji Gangji Sawaria, Basra, Joyram Gohil, Joyrampur, Dhanji Ratanji Rathod, Dana Premji, Tisra, Rai Bahadur Jagmal Raja Chauhan, Manji Jairam Rathor, Rajapur,Dana Premji Maru, Jharia, Karamsinh Ghela Chawda, Khimji Valji Chauhan, Khengarji Triku, Dhanji Devshi, Ratna Mepa, Jairam Shivjee, Valji Narayan Chauhan, Veera Mavji, Dahya Valji of K.S.Nanji , Ruda Manji, Rai Bahadur D D Thacker, Jharia, Bibhuti Bhusan Bakshi, Rise Area Colliery. Seth Khora Ramji & Brothers were partners in Pure Jharia Colliery with D.D. Thacker. Rai Bahadur D D Thacker also started a Labour's School in Jharia to train labours for coalmines. The life-sketch of Seth Khora Ramji Chawda and Govaml Jivan Chauhan as pioneers in Jharia Coalfileds is mentioned by British Authorities in Encyclopedia of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa. In the lifesketch of Khora Ramji given in Encyclopedia of Bengal, Bihar & Orissa - the British have noted that - "In Jharia Coalfield he was first Indian to seize the opportunity and by his propmpt entry into colliery business, he was able to remove the stigma that would otherwise be levelled against his community as backward class.". While the Gujrati Primary School at Jharia for children was started by Kutch Gurjar Kshatriyas-Mistri Colliery owners, who felt the need of a Primary School at Jharia. The others were T.K. Khanna, Punjabi, J.K. Agarwalla, Kesabji Pitamber, Haithibhai Patel, Chaturbhai Sangjibhai, Kalyanji Mavji. Among the other Kutchis and Gujaratis and other communities that followed were Nandwana Amritlal Morarjee Worah, K D Worah, Amritalal Ojha, Lala Karamchand Thapar & the Chanchani Family, who made it big in these field, post World-War-I & II. Amritlal Ojha & Karamchand Thapar later went on to become President of Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1940. When the coal mines were nationalized a major chunk of these coal bearing region from Ranigunj-Paraskole was with the Chanchanis, Worah, Poddars & Mistris of Kutch. Together they controlled more than 250 mines. The Chanchani Group was pioneer in real estate development in Dhanbad. They came up with the Shanti Bhavan Complex at Bank More. These Groups are active in the region doing different businesses and operating Large and Medium sized industries. The Rathor & Chawda Mansion/Market, Gohil Cold Storage were built by Kutchi Mistris. After starting steel plant at Jamshedpur, Tata Steel started coal mines at Dhanbad in 1910. The first lease was granted in 1910 for Bhelatand coal mines, subsequently lease for Jamadoba, Sijua were given in 1918. For Malkera coal mines lease was given in 1931 . Some of these coal mines were closed during World Wars,other coal mines owner Trigunait , Pandey, Pandit, Bipin Bihari Bose, Seth Jhurumal, etc which were later nationalized by the govt. of India for the profit of nation. Among coal washeries Jamadoba coal preparation plant and washery commissioned in 1952, with Chance Cone Process. In 1995-96, Bhelatand coal preparation plant and washery was commissioned. One another mine called the Chasnalla Colliery was under the Tata Group of Mines, after nationalization disaster struck owing to wrong and negligent mining where many lives were lost.

Demography

India census, Dhanbad had a population of 2,397,102. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Dhanbad has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 89.54% and female literacy is 52.43%. In Dhanbad, 10.57% of the population is under 5 years of age. Majority of the population are people of Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal. Besides people of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal followed by Marwari's and Punjabi have also settled in Dhanbad.

Civic administration

Dhanbad is the Headquarter of the District and also the Headquarter of DMC (Dhanbad Municipal Corporation). DMC was formed as per the State Government Notification dated 1/02/06 with merger of areas Jharia NAC, Sindri, NAC, Chhatandih NAC, Katras NAC. Dhanbad city elects one Member of Parliament. Also some part of the district comes under Giridih seat of Lok Sabha. There are six Legislative Assembly seat; they are Sindri, Baghmara, Dhanbad, Jharia, Nirsa, Tundi.

Dhanbad has District court and Labour Court-Industrial tribunal. Along with Mumbai, Dhanbad is the only city having two Labour Court-Industrial tribunals. Mineral Area Development Authority (MADA) looks after the development of the district.

Economy

Dhanbad is famous for its coal mines and industrial establishments; it has 112 coal mines with a total produce of 27.5 million tonnes and an annual income of 7000 Million Rupees through coal business, most of which ends up in the bank accounts of ruthless landlords and corrupt politicians. There are also number of coal washeries present here. This city is also known for its power generation plants. Hydel Power is being generated at Maithon and Panchet. Tata Power and DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) are setting up 1050 MW Thermal power plant at Maithon. ONGC is using CBM (Coal beded Methane) for power generation at some of the coal mines. It is also famous for the prestigious Indian School of Mines where students from all over India come to study undergraduate and graduate courses.

Sindri is an industrial township situated in Dhanbad district. Sindri is among the first industrial townships of India. ACC Cement factory and Projects & Development India Ltd. (PDIL) are present in Sindri. Many sponge iron factory, refractory and ceramic factory are present in Dhanbad district. Dhanbad will also come under Indian Railways Freight Corridor.

Language

Languages spoken in the area are Hindi, Bengali, Bhojpuri,Maithili, Magahi, English, Santhali, Portuguese,Khorta,Punjabi, Sanjeevni

Education and research

Famous Professional Engineering and Medical Colleges in Dhanbad.

ISM ,The Indian School of Mines,was started by Britishers in 1926. Located in Dhanbad, it draws students from all over India through IIT-JEE, as well as other countries. It is one of the best universities in Asia. Indian School of Learning (ISM Annexe) is developing under ISM.

BIT, Jharkhand Government's only Engineering College, located in (Sindri), known as Birsa Institute of Technology (BIT Sindri).

PMCH, Patliputra Medical college and hospital (PMCH). Apart from these, there are many other colleges.

Other Educational Institutes in Dhanbad # P K Roy Memorial College, Dhanbad # Golden Marine Academy Pvt. Ltd., Katrasgarh, Dhanbad, Jharkhand (Corp. Off. - NEW DELHI) # P C I Computer Education, Katrasgarh, Dhanbad, Jharkhand # R S P College, Jharia, Dhanbad # R S More College, Govindpur # S S L N T M College, Dhanbad # K.K polytechnic, Govindpur # Adarsh College, Rajdhanwar # B S K College, Maithan, Dhanbad # Katras College, Katrasgarh, Dhanbad # Sindri College, Sindri # B B M College, Baliapur, Dhanbad # B P S B Workers Memorial College, Dhanbad # B S S Mahila College, Dhanbad # Baghmara College, Baghmara, Dhanbad # E-DATAPRO, Compter Education Division, 208 Sri Ram Plaza Dhanbad # Coalfield College, Bhaga, Dhanbad # Dhanbad Law College, Dhanbad # Gurunanak College, Dhanbad # Koilanchal S G Memorial College, Nirsa (Dhanbad) # Mahuda College, Mahuda # P N Memorial College, Gomoh # Rajgani College, Rajganj # S H S M College, Kumardubi, Dhanbad # Holy Mothers Academy,katras, Dhanbad # Chhotanagpur Institute of Information Technology & Management (CIITM) Hirapur, Dhanbad # Government Polytechnic ,Bhaga ,Dhanbad # Government Polytechnic ,Dhanbad # Government Mining Polytechnic ,Dhanbad

Schools In Dhanbad

# Zila School, Dhanbad # RAJENDRA BALIKA UCHCH VIDYALAYA, Katrasbazar, Dhanbad # RAJENDRA KIDS, Katrasbazar, Dhanbad # Zila School, Dhanbad # D.A.V. Model School,C.F.R.I. # High School Govindpur,Dhanbad #Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Dhanbad # De-Nobili School,CFRI/CMRI/Maithon/Mugma/Bhuli/Sijua/Sindri # Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Bhuli # Mount Carmel, CFRI/CMRI/Jharudih # Millat High School, Wasseypur, Dhanbad # Delhi Public School,Karmik Nagar,Dhanbad # Dhanbad Public School # Indian School of Learning, ISM/Jharia # Kids care, Ranibazar, Katras, Dhanbad # Kids Garden, Dhanbad # St. Xavier's International School, Hirak Ring Road # Children's School Of Learning, Naya Bazar # Mont Bretia School, Manaitand # Rajkamal Saraswati Vidya Mandir, (RSVM), Ashok Nagar # Usha Martini School, Ashok Nagar # Khalsa School, Bank More #D.A.V Public School Barora,Nawagarh # Doon Public School,Kusum Vihar # St.Anthony's School # D.A.V School, Dari Muhalla, Dhanbad # J N M S, Digwadih # Kendriya Vidyalaya # St.Anthony's School # Lions Public School, Sindri # High School, Dhanbad # B.R.H.S, Gomoh # Saraswati Shishu Mandir,Dhansar # Brilliant Public School, Bararee # Dhanbad City School, Wasseypur # Guru Gobind Singh Public School # Koylanchal Public School,Telipara,Dhanbad # D A V Public School, Koyla-Nagar/CFRI (Digwadih)/Lodna/Moonidih/Purana Bazar/Jamadoba/Sijua # Holy Mother's Academy, katras , Dhanbad # Abhoya sundari girl's high school,Hirapur,Dhanbad # International institute of fashion technology (IIFT)Dhanbad # Lucious public school, Bartand, Dhanbad

Chamber of Commerce

Fedration of Dhanbad Zila Chamber of Commerce & Industries ZILA CHAMBER a Business communities organisation which has membership of 30 (thirty) Chamber of Commerce who are affiliated with ZILA CHAMBER has membership of around 8000 Traders.

Transport

Cycle Rickshaws are means of transportation within the city. There are numerous Cycle Rickshaws which ply within the city. Private and State Buses are available for inter-city traveling. National Highway 2 and National Highway 32 are the major highways passing through Dhanbad. NH 2 has now been converted into Golden Quadrilateral (GQ). Golden Quadrilateral starts from Kolkata and ends at Delhi. From Dhanbad to Kolkata, Golden Quadrilateral will be converted into six lane expressway; NH 32 connects Govindpur to Bokaro-Jamshedpur.

Dhanbad has a very good rail connectivity with the other major parts of the country such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Nagpur etc. Dhanbad Rail Division comes under East Central Railway zone. Grand Chord rail-line passes through Dhanbad junction, it connects Howrah and New Delhi. CIC rail line starts from Dhanbad and ends at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. There is one more rail line passing through the district, it starts at Kharagpur and ends at Gomoh, this rail line comes under South Eastern Railway. Dhanbad is connected with almost all states through rail network.

Currently there is no air-link though there is a airstrip near Barwaadda. A commercial Airport was planned to be set up at Barwaadda, but no significant progress has been made yet.

Politics

Mannan Mallick of Congress won in the 40 Dhanbad assembly constituency defeating Rai Kumar Sinha of BJP in 2009. Pashupati Nath Singh of BJP defeated Mannan Mallik of Congress in 2005, Prasadi Sao of RJD in 2000, and Ramadhar Yadav of JD in 1995. Surendra Prasad Roy of Congress defeated S.K.Shriva of JD in 1990 and Ram Chander Singh of Janata Party in 1985. Yogeshwar Prasad Yogesh of Congress defeated Gopi Kant Bakshi of CPI(M) in 1980 and Kalawati Devi of Janata Party.

Dhanbad assembly constituency is part of Dhanbad(Lok Sabha constituency).

Media and sports

Hindi newspaper are mainly published from the city, among them Hindustan Dainik is the most popular, followed by Dainik Jagran and Prabhat Khabar, HindustanTimes Supplementary, "Dhanbad Bokaro Live" is published from Dhanbad.

Doordarshan relay station is present in Dhanbad.

FM Radio is available as Vividh Bharti Service of All India Radio at 101.8 MHz.

In most of the places in Dhanbad, Cable TV is popular, operated by the local operators. DTH (Direct To Home) of all major companies are available. In terms of cinema, shooting of Bengali movies are done at Topchanchi. A documentary movie on Jharia "Hot as Hell" has been made recently.

Indian Idol 3 contestants Meiyang Chang and Puja Chatterjee have their homes located in 'Bank More' and 'Kumardhubi', respectively.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Dhanbad, followed by Football. Dhanbad is one of the centres where 34th National Games will be organised. Cricket Stadiums at present are at Tata Steel Stadium Digwadih and Nehru Stadium Jealgora, where Ranji Trophy matches are organised. Football matches of national level are played at Railway Stadium and Sijua Stadium.

Tourist attraction

*Maithon - The Lake at Maithon is spread across an area of 65 km². Boating is available here. A Bird Sanctuary and Deer park is also present near this place. From Dhanbad Railway Station, the distance is 45 km.This is the most popular picnic spot. During the 15th December to 20th January lacs of people comes for picnic.

*Kalyaneshwari temple - This temple of Maa Kalyaneshwari is very close to Maithon.

*Topchanchi Lake - This lake is a very famous Picnic spot. Situated at Golden quadrilateral, 37 km from Dhanbad railway station. This lake is surrounded by green hills of Parasnath and forest.

*Bhatinda Falls - The Waterfall is near munidih, 14 km from Dhanbad railway station. Surrounded by greenery, this place draws lot of crowd specially in winter.

*Panra - Panra is near Nirsa. This place has derived its name from Pandavas. According to the locals, pandavas spent some time here during their exile. A temple of Pandeshwar mahadev is also present.

*Shakti Mandir - This is one of the most famous Hindu Temple in Dhanbad. It is situated in the main city. Temple of Goddess Durga draws large crowd through out the year.

*Lillori-sthan Mandir - An ancient temple of Goddess Kali is present here. Situated on the bank of river katri. This Place is 19 km from Dhanbad Railway station.

*Chark- khurd - This place is known for its hot water spring. It is in tundi.

*Gopalpur - Situated in Nirsa. This place contains ancient structures built during the period of emperor Ashoka. A large stone image of emperor Ashok is also present here.

*Panchet Dam - Around 54 km from Dhanbad Railway station is a popular picnic spot.

Rivers

The Damodar is the most important river of the Chotanagpur plateau. It rises in Palamu and flows eastward between the plateaus of Ranchi and Hazaribag. It is joined by the Bokaro, the Konar and the Barakar rivers. The Damodar enters Dhanbad district at its confluence with the Jamuria, a stream which marks the western boundary of Dhanbad with Hazaribagh District. Further east, the Damodar is joined by the Katri River which rises in the foot hills below Parasnath and traverses through the Coal-field Area. The Damodar flows for about 77 km. through the district being joined by the Barakar at its eastern border near Chirkunda. The Panchet dam extending to roughly 6 km is built on river Damodar. The hydel station there generates 40,000 K.W. per hour (sicsic).

The Barakar, which forms the northern boundary of the district, traverses about 77 km. In the district. It flows in south westerly direction up to Durgapur and then south till it joins the Damodar near Chirkuda. The Maithon dam is located on this river about 13 km off its confluence with the Damodar. Attached to it is the Maithan Power Station with a generating capacity of 60,000 K.W.H.

Among other small rivers in the district are Gobai, the Irji, the Khudia besides the river Katri.

Shopping Centers and Malls

Bank More being the central hub for Shopping, now we have Malls and Shopping Centers spread across length and breath of Dhanbad City namely City Centre, Ozone Galleria Big Bazaar, Ozone Plaza (Bank More) , Sri Ram Plaza, Urmila Tower, The family Store, New Market, Park Market (Hirapur),Shankar Mall (Rangatar). These are the places where one can shop and many more upcoming, namely Prabhatam Grand, Center-Point Mall(With Bank,Retail Shops, Food Court containing Restaurants,Cinemax Multiplex), Shristi Plaza (First Green Project of Jharkhand) creating shopping paradises and housing major brands for people of Dhanbad.

Presently Fame is the only Multiplex in the City situated in the Ozone Galleria Mall, saraidhela. Fame is the First Multiplex of Bihar and Jharkhand!, Fame Dhanbad, the multiplex has 4 screens with a seating capacity of 996 people.

Festivals

Dhanbad is home to people from all across India. Vishwakarma Puja, Saraswati Puja, Durga Puja, Chhath, Deepawali, Holi, Eid, Moharram ,Guru Purnima and Christmas are among the long list of festivals celebrated in Dhanbad.

Gallery

References

External links

Website of the city of Dhanbad

Dhanbad City

Dhanbad travel guide

Category:Coal mining in India Category:Dhanbad railway division Category:Divisions of Indian Railways Category:East Central Railway Zone Category:Cities and towns in Dhanbad district

Name	Chetan Bhagat
Birthdate	April 22, 1974
Birthplace	New Delhi, India
Occupation	Novelist, columnist, script writer, former banker
Nationality	Indian
Genre	Fiction, management, humour
Spouse	Anusha Bhagat
Children	Ishaan Bhagat
Website	http://www.chetanbhagat.com

Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author who has written Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! , One Night @ the Call Center, The 3 Mistakes of My Life and . He has also written the script of Hello, the Hindi movie based on One Night @ the Call Center.

Bhagat was born in New Delhi in a Punjabi family and attended Army Public School (1978–1991), Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Delhi (1991–1995), and then studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad (1995–1997), where he was named "The Best Outgoing Student".

He is married to Anusha, who was a fellow student at IIM. They live in Mumbai, and have twin sons - Shyam and Ishaan.

Bhagat is also a motivational speaker, and has given talks in leading multinational corporations & institutions. Bhagat quit his international investment banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing and make change happen in the country.

The New York Times called Bhagat "the biggest selling English language novelist in India's history". Seen more as a youth icon than just an author, this IIT D/ IIMA graduate is making India read like never before.

A fictionalized version of his love story is given in his book 2 States: The Story of My Marriage. In 2010, Time magazine placed Bhagat in the Time list of 100 "World's Most Influential people".

He is a columnist with Dainik Bhaskar & The Times Of India, and writes on political issues.

Novels

1. Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT! was his first book. It tells the story of three students--Hari, Ryan and Alok--who come from three different backgrounds. The book is about their years in IIT Delhi and how they cope with the pressures of studies, family and relationships. The book was well received by the public, especially among the younger generation, and brought Bhagat a large following. It was adapted into a play by the theatre group Madras Players, and also by Evam. The book was adapted into a movie called 3 Idiots, though Bhagat has stated that he was not involved in the scriptwriting in any way. and was involved in a controversy with the director and producer of the movie over the crediting of his contribution to the script. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, and starring Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, and Boman Irani in pivotal roles, it was released on 25 December 2009.

2. One Night @ the Call Center was released in India in October 2005 also to popular demand. This book was about six people who work at a call center and about a night when they receive a call from God. Noted Bollywood film director Rohan Sippy bought the rights from Bhagat, but later Sippy let the rights pass on to director Atul Agnihotri, brother-in-law of Salman Khan. The movie version of the novel is Hello starring Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Amrita Arora, Esha Koppikar, Gul Panag, Sharman Joshi. Bhagat worked directly on the script of the movie, moulding it to fit the silver screen. However, the film did not succeed commercially.

3. The 3 Mistakes of My Life is Bhagat's third book, about cricket, religious politics and rebellious love; how 3 friends get caught in a tangle to earn some money and fame; and how they sort it out. The book was published in May 2008 and had an initial print-run of 200,000. The novel follows the story of three friends and is based in the city of Ahmedabad in western India. With this book he became the best selling English Novelist in India's history. Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment has bought the movie rights, and it will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On! fame.

4. is about how love marriages work in India and is again typical of him in the first person. It is similar to his first book Five Point Someone and is inspired by his own life. The publishers Rupa & Co. ordered an unprecedented two hundred tonnes of paper for the first print of this highly anticipated book. It released on October 8, 2009.

As a columnist

Bhagat has an op-ed column in the Hindi paper Dainik Bhaskar, and another at The Times of India, an English daily.

On Television

Bhagat was a judge on a reality show by Star News called Star Anchor Hunt .

Awards

Society Young Achiever's award in 2004. Publisher’s recognition award in 2005.

See also

References

Neutral Reviews of all books by Chetan Bhagat @ BookRack.in

Chetan Bhagat the superman @ A1Books.co.in

Chetan Bhagat at Nytimes

Chetan Bhagat’s speech at Symbiosis @ Rajmahendra.com

Itz All About - ‘Chetan Bhagat’ @ www.ayaskantam.com

Chetan Bhagat at Rediff.com

Chetan Bhagat at Hindu.com

Chetan Bhagat's Blog

http://www.ganpatinews.com/2010/01/05/chetan-bhagat-apologizes-ended-3-idiots-controversy-72119

Chetan Bhagat as a Judge on Star Anchor Hunt

Footnotes

External links

Chetan Bhagat's official site

Category:Indian novelists Category:Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumni Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Indian Institute of Technology Delhi alumni Category:English-language writers from India Category:Punjabi people

Name	Sonia Gandhi
Imagesize	250px
Birth date	December 09, 1946
Birth place	Orbassano, Piemonte, Italy
Citizenship	Indian
Residence	10 Janpath, New Delhi, India
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Nationality	Indian
Office5	Member of the Lok Sabha for Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
Office	Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance
Term start	2004
Office1	President of Indian National Congress
Term start1	1998
Term start5	1999
Term end5	2004
Office4	Leader of the Opposition
Term start4	19 March 1998
Term end4	22 May 2004
Successor4	Lal Krishna Advani
Office2	Member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Term start3	2004
Term end3	23 March 2006
Term start2	2006
Party	Indian National Congress
Spouse
Children	Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi
Profession	Political Social Worker

Sonia Gandhi (Hindi: सोनिया गांधी; born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino on December 9, 1946) is the President of Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is Italian-born daughter-in-law of the late Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. After her husband Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian Congress Party to take over the Congress but she refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997 and in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. Since then, she has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party becoming the longest serving President in September 2010. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party.

Gandhi was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in the year 2004 and was ranked 6th in 2007. In 2010, Gandhi ranked as the ninth most powerful person on the planet by Forbes Magazine. She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007 and 2008. The British magazine New Statesman listed Sonia Gandhi at number 29th in their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" in the year 2010.

Early life

She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in contrada Màini ("Maini street") in Lusiana, a little village 30 km from Vicenza in the region of Veneto, Italy. She spent her adolescence in Orbassano, a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building contractor, died in 1983. Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.

In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge. She met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant while working there, as a waitress to make ends meet. Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1968, following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1972). Despite belonging to the influential Nehru family, Sonia and Rajiv avoided all involvement in politics. Rajiv worked as an airline pilot while Sonia took care of her family. When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 in the aftermath of the Indian Emergency, the Rajiv family moved abroad for a short time. When Rajiv entered politics in 1982 after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash on 23 June 1980, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with the public.

Political career

Wife of the Prime Minister

Sonia Gandhi's involvement with Indian public life began after the assassination of her mother-in-law and her husband's election as Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister's wife she acted as his official hostess and also accompanied him on a number of state visits. In 1984, she actively campaigned against her husband's sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi who was running against Rajiv in Amethi. At the end of Rajiv Gandhi's five years in office, the Bofors Scandal broke out. Ottavio Quattrocchi an Italian business man believed to be involved, was said to be a friend of Sonia Gandhi, having access to the Prime Minister's official residence.

Congress President

Dmitry Medvedev during his State visit in December 2008.]] After the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi and her refusal of becoming Prime Minister, the party settled on the choice of P. V. Narasimha Rao who became leader and subsequently Prime Minister. Over the next few years, however, the Congress fortunes continued to dwindle and it lost the 1996 elections. Several senior leaders such as Madhavrao Sindhia, Rajesh Pilot, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Arjun Singh, Mamata Banerjee, G. K. Moopanar, P. Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan were in open revolt against the incumbent President Sitaram Kesri and quit the party, splitting the Congress into many factions.

In an effort to revive the party's sagging fortunes, she joined the Congress Party as a primary member in the Calcutta Plenary Session in 1997 and became party leader in 1998.

Within 62 days of joining of a primary member, she was offered the party President post which she accepted. She contested Lok Sabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj. In 2004 and 2009, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Leader of the Opposition

during his visit in 2000]] She was elected the Leader of the Opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.

When the BJP-led NDA formed a government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she took on the office of the Leader of Opposition. As Leader of Opposition, she called a no-confidence motion against the NDA government led by Vajpayee in 2003.

She holds the record of having served as Congress President for 10 years consecutively.

2004 elections and aftermath

In the 2004 general elections, Gandhi launched a nationwide campaign, criss-crossing the country on the Aam Aadmi (ordinary man) slogan in contrast to the 'India Shining' slogan of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance. She countered the BJP asking "Who is India Shining for?" In the election, she won by a large margin in the Rae Bareilly constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Following the unexpected defeat of the NDA, she was widely expected to be the next Prime Minister of India. On 16 May, she was unanimously chosen to lead a 15-party coalition government with the support of the left, which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

After the election result, the defeated NDA protested once against her 'foreign origin' and senior NDA leader Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head and "sleep on the ground", among other things, should Sonia become prime minister. The NDA also claimed that there were legal reasons that barred her from the Prime Minister's post. They pointed, in particular, to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955, which they claimed implied 'reciprocity'. This was contested by others and eventually the suits were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.

A few days after the election, Gandhi appointed Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Her supporters compared it to the old Indian tradition of renunciation, while her opponents attacked it as a political stunt.

UPA Chairperson

's India Economic Summit 2006]] On 18 May, she recommended noted economist Dr. Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post.

On 23 March 2006, Gandhi announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council under the office-of-profit controversy and the speculation that the government was planning to bring an ordinance to exempt the post of chairperson of National Advisory Council from the purview of office of profit. She was re-elected from her constituency Rae Bareilly in May 2006 by a huge margin of over 400,000 votes.

As chairperson of the National Advisory Committee and the UPA chairperson, she played an important role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act into law.

She addressed the United Nations on 2 October 2007, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which is observed as the international day of non-violence after a UN resolution passed on 15 July 2007.

Under her leadership, India returned the Congress-led-UPA to a near majority in the 2009 general elections with Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. The Congress itself won 206 Lok Sabha seats, which was the highest total by any party since 1991.

Austerity drive

Sonia Gandhi advocated austerity for all the congress MPs and set an example by travelling in economy class on her 14 September 2009 travel from New Delhi to Mumbai. She saved Rs 10,000. She also advocated for contribution of 20% of MPs salary (An MPs monthly salary is Rs 16,000) for the drought affected victims in India.

Personal life

Sonia is the widow of the late Rajiv Gandhi, elder son of Indira Gandhi. There has been considerable media speculation for over a decade about their future role in the Congress. After a period of uncertainty, Both Rahul and Priyanka became primary members of the Congress party. While Priyanka has so far restricted herself to organizing her mother's election campaigns and taking care of Sonia's constituency, Rahul Gandhi has gone on to take formal charge as General Secretary of the Congress Party. He is also currently head of the Youth Congress.

Controversies

1980s voting registration

In 1980 her name appeared in the voter's list for New Delhi prior to her becoming an Indian Citizen. At the time she was still holding Italian Citizenship. A violation of Form 4 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, which states that "Only the names of those who are citizens of India should be entered on the electoral rolls." When she did acquire Indian Citizenship, in April 1983, the same issue cropped up again, as her name appeared on the 1983 voter's list when the deadline for registering had been in January 1983.

Swiss accounts

Swiss magazine Schweizer Illustrierte in 1991 claimed that she was controlling accounts worth $2 billion dollars in her minor son's name.

Harvard scholar Yevgenia Albats cited KGB correspondence about payments to Rajiv Gandhi and his family, which had been arranged by Viktor Chebrikov, which shows that KGB chief Viktor Chebrikov sought in writing an "authorization to make payments in U.S. dollars to the family members of Rajiv Gandhi, namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi" from the CPSU in December 1985. Payments were authorized by a resolution, CPSU/CC/No 11228/3 dated 20 December 1985; and endorsed by the USSR Council of Ministers in Directive No 2633/Rs dated 20 December 1985. These payments had been coming since 1971, as payments received by Sonia Gandhi's family and "have been audited in CPSU/CC resolution No 11187/22 OP dated 10/12/1984. In 1992 the media confronted the Russian government with the Albats disclosure. The Russian government confirmed the veracity of the disclosure and defended it as necessary for "Soviet ideological interest."

This controversy had risen in the wake of the 2006 Swiss Banking Association report.

Foreign birth

Gandhi's foreign birth has sparked intense debate and opposition. Although Sonia Gandhi is actually the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947.

Early in her leadership, there was even criticism from within the Congress Party. In May 1999, three senior leaders of the party (Sharad Pawar, Purno A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar) challenged her right to try to become India's Prime Minister because of her foreign origins. In response, she offered to resign as party leader, resulting in an outpouring of support and the expulsion from the party of the three rebels who went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party.

A senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said that she surrendered her Italian passport to the Italian Embassy 27 April 1983. Yet surrendering a passport does not amount to the loss of citizenship as commented by President of Janata Party. However, Italian nationality law did not permit dual nationality until 1992. So by acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983 she would automatically have lost Italian citizenship.

The Italian citizenship law of 1992 did open a window of opportunity for those who lost their citizenship prior to 1992 to re-register as Italian citizens until the deadline of 31 December 1997. Sonia Gandhi has neither confirmed nor denied that she took advantage of this opportunity. At present the Government of India does not allow dual citizenship.

Notes

See also

Political Families of The World

List of Italians

References

S. R. ET AL. BAKSHI (1998) Sonia Gandhi, The President of AICC South Asia Books. ISBN 81-7024-988-0

Rupa Chaterjee (1999) Sonia Gandhi: The Lady in Shadow Butala. ISBN 81-87277-02-5

C. Rupa, Rupa Chaterjee (2000) Sonia Mystique South Asia Books. ISBN 81-85870-24-1

Moro, Javier "El sari rojo" (Ed. Seix Barral, 2008) "Il sari rosso" (Il Saggiatore, 2009)

External links

; Official websites

Sonia Gandhi comprehensive website

Indian National Congress

; Others

Profile by BBC News dated 23 March 2006

Profile at Govt. of India website

QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - VU2SON

Rajiv Gandhi Memorial SEANET Convention

Sonia Gandhi

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:People from the Province of Vicenza Category:Indian National Congress politicians Category:Presidents of the Indian National Congress Category:Nehru–Gandhi family Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:Indian women in politics Category:People with acquired Indian citizenship Category:Indian amateur radio operators Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Spouses of Prime Ministers of India Category:Indian people of Italian descent Category:13th Lok Sabha members

Name	Kumar Sanu
Background	solo_singer
Alias	Kedarnath Bhattacharya
Born	September 23, 1957 Kolkata, India
Instrument	Tabla
Genre	Playback singing
Occupation	Singer,Actor,Music Director,Film Producer
Years active	1984–present

Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya (), born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian playback singer of Bollywood. He won the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.

Early life

Kumar Sanu's father Pashupati Bhattacharya was a vocalist and composer. He trained Sanu as a singer and tabla player. After getting a degree in commerce from Calcutta University, Sanu began performing publicly in 1979, singing at shows and restaurants around Calcutta. He modeled his singing style after Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar. Later he developed his own singing style.

Career

In 1987, music director and singer Jagjit Singh offered Sanu the chance to sing in the Hindi film Aandhiyan. Sanu then relocated to Mumbai, where Kalyanji-Anandji gave him chance to sing in the film Jaadugar. Kalyanji-Anandji suggested that he change his name from Kedar Nath Bhattacharya to Kumar Sanu.

Sanu started off singing Jagjit Singh's film songs, and went on to work with composers including Naushad, Ravindra Jain, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Pt.R K Razdan, Kalyanji Anandji, and Usha Khanna.

For the 1990 film Aashiqui, music directors Nadeem-Shravan got Sanu to sing all but one of the songs which included Sanson ki zaroorat hai jaise, Tu meri zindagi hain, Nazar ke saamne, Jaane jigar jaaneman, Ab Tere Bin Jee Lenge Hum and Dheere, dheere se meri zindagi mein aana. He won the first of his record five consecutive Filmfare awards as Best Male Playback Singer. His next Filmfare Awards came for songs in the movies Saajan (1991), Deewana (1992), Baazigar (1993), and (1994).

Sanu often collaborated with Nadeem-Shravan. Some of their collaborations include songs in movies like Aashiqi(1990), Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (1991),Sadak (1991), Saajan (1991), Deewana (1992), Dil Ka Kya Qusoor(1992),Kal Ki Awaz (1992), Shreeman Aashique (1993), Salami (1993), Damini: Lightning (1993), Dil Wale (1994), Agni Sakshi (1996) Raja Hindustani (1996), Jeet (1996) Pardes (1997), among others.

Sanu is often credited with having one of the leading voices among playback singers in India. In a career spanning two decades he has sung with numerous successful composers to name R.D. Burman, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, Jatin-Lalit, Ismail Darbar, Kalyanji Anandji. Sanu has also worked with A. R. Rahman in Milgayee Milgayee from Kabhi Na Kabhi.

He has also turned his trade at making music for Indian films and also produced the Bollywood film, Utthaan.

Sanu was in the panel of judges on Sony TV for Waar Parriwar, a reality show based on the bringing together of a singing gharana (family of singers) and on Zee Bangla TV in a music reality show called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Vishwa Sera.

Hungama released a new single Lamhaa Ho Tum on Valentine's Day 2010 by Kumar Sanu, composed by Saikat Shankar and the song is written by Abhishek Brothers.

Awards

2009: Padma Shri: India's 4th highest civilian honour given by Government of India.

Filmfare

;Filmfare Best Male Playback Award

* 1990; Ab tere bin jeelenge hum - Aashiqui

1991: Mera Dil Bhi Kitna Pagal Hai - Saajan

1992: Sochenge Tumhe Pyaar - Deewana

1993: Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen - Baazigar

1994: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha -

Star Screen Award

;Star Screen Award for Best Male Playback

1994: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha - - Star Screen Award

Politics

He joined Bharatiya Janata party in 2004 in a ceremony headed by (party) president Venkiah Naidu.

References

External links

Category:Living people Category:Bengali musicians Category:Bengali people Category:Bollywood playback singers Category:Indian film singers Category:Indian male singers Category:People from Kolkata Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:University of Calcutta alumni