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ceb:Kategoriya cs:Kategorie da:Kategori de:Kategorie et:Kategooria eo:Kategorio eu:Kategoria (argipena) fr:Catégorie ko:범주 io:Kategorio it:Categoria lb:Kategorie hu:Kategória (egyértelműsítő lap) nl:Categorie ja:カテゴリ (曖昧さ回避) pl:Kategoria (ujednoznacznienie) pt:Categoria ro:Categorie (dezambiguizare) ru:Категория (значения) simple:Category sk:Kategória fi:Kategoria uk:Категорія zh:范畴

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Subramanian Swamy
Office1	President, Janata Party
Term start1	1989
Office2	Minister of Commerce and Industry
Primeminister2	Chandra Shekhar Singh
Term start2	1990
Term end2	1991
Office3	Minister of Law and Justice
Primeminister3	Chandra Shekhar Singh
Term start3	1990
Term end3	1991
Office4	Member of the Rajya Sabha
Term start4	1988
Term end4	1994
Term start5	1974
Term end5	1976
Office6	Member of the Lok Sabha
Term start6	1980
Term end6	1984
Term start7	1977
Term end7	1979
Birth date
Birth place	Mylapore, Chennai, British India
Party	Janata Party
religion	Hindu
alma mater	University of DelhiIndian Statistical InstituteHarvard University
profession	EconomistProfessorAuthorPolitician
spouse	Dr. Roxna Swamy }}

Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939 in Chennai, sometimes spelt Subramaniam Swamy) is presently the President of Janata Party. He is a politician.

Early life and education

Subramanian Swamy was born in Mylapore, Chennai, India, into a Hindu Brahmin family. His father originally is from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and his mother is from Tamil speaking family from Trichur, Kerala.

He attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, from where he earned his Bachelor Honours degree in Mathematics. He studied for his Masters degree in Statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute. He then went to study at Harvard University on a full Rockefeller scholarship. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Economics by Harvard University (Class of 1965).

For some time, while completing his dissertation in 1963, he worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York as an Assistant Economics Affairs Officer. He subsequently worked as a resident tutor at Lowell House at Harvard.

Academic career

In 1964, Swamy joined the faculty of economics at Harvard and since then has taught in the Department of Economics. He began as an assistant professor, and in 1969 became an associate professor. He regularly teaches economics courses in summer session at Harvard.

From 1969 to 1991, he was a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He was removed from the position by its board of Governors in the early 1970s but was legally reinstated in the late 1980s by the Supreme Court of India. He continued in the position until 1991 when he resigned to become a cabinet minister. He served on the Board of Governors of the IIT, Delhi (1977–80), and on the Council of IITs (1980–82).

He is the chairman of School of Communication & Management Studies in Kerala, a business institute in India.

Comparative study

He is accounted by some to be an authority on the comparative study of India and China and is also well-versed in the Mandarin Chinese language.

Political career

Role played during Indian Emergency

He first came into the spotlight for protesting against the emergency imposed in 1975. He went underground for a period of 6 months to avoid being arrested by police. Under the instruction of Jayaprakash Narayan, Swami escaped to US so that he could mobilise overseas Indians and world media against the emergency.

Elections contested

He was one of the founding members of the Janata Party and has been its president since 1990. He was elected Member of Parliament 5 times between 1974 and 1999. He has twice represented the city of Mumbai North East during 1977 and 1980, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the Parliament.

He was also a member of the Planning Commission between 1990 and 1991. Between 1994 and 1996, he held the position of "Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade" (equivalent to the rank of a cabinet minister) under the P. V. Narasimha Rao government. Dr. Swamy has been subject to several defamation cases. He is known to argue these cases himself without the agency of lawyers. In October 2004, he along with other members of the erstwhile Janata Party established the Rashtriya Swabhiman Manch to oppose the policies of the ruling UPA.

Minister of Commerce and Law of India

Economic Reforms in India

During the period 1990 to 1991 when Swamy was Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Law of India he created the blueprint for economic reforms in India under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar Singh which was later carried out in 1991 by Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister under leadership of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. The current Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh recently stated that Dr. Swamy was the first to envisage and articulate the need for reforms in India.

Political views

International relations

China and India

He is known for his efforts in normalizing relations between China and India. In 1981, he persuaded Deng Xiaoping to open the Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet to the Hindu pilgrims from India. He became the first Indian on the reopening to visit Kailash and Mansarovar in 1981. In 1990-1991, he was a minister in the Chandra Shekhar cabinet and was in charge of the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Law and Justice.

Israel

In his speeches and articles, Dr Swamy has expressed his admiration for Israel, and has credited its retaliatory capacity for its ability to survive in a hostile Arab environment. He made pioneering efforts at establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

2G spectrum scam

In November 2008, Subramanian Swamy wrote the first of five letters to PM Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute A. Raja in regards to the 2G spectrum scam. However, Singh took no action, leading Swamy to file a case on his own in the Supreme Court of India regarding the matter, which then asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to produce a detailed report on the matter. He further called on the Indian government to re-auction the 2G spectrum without the involvement of Communications Minister Kapil Sibal.

Swamy has raised allegations that that Sonia Gandhi's two sisters Anushka and Nadia have received sixty percent of the kickbacks in the 2G spectrum scam, amounting to Rs.18,000 crores each. On 15 April 2011, he filed a 206-page long petition with PM Singh seeking permission to prosecute Gandhi. In the petition, he claimed to have strong evidence of corrupt acts committed by Gandhi as early as 1972; he also raised doubts regarding her acquisition of Indian citizenship. At a lecture on corruption given on 29 May 2011, he again repeated his allegation against Sonia Gandhi, saying she has Rs.1 lakh crore stashed abroad. Most of Swamy's letters to the prime minister regarding this matter are not supported by proof, but he is not defensive about his allegations, stating: "I am writing to the prime minister, I am not holding a press conference. The PM has agencies available to him, they can investigate. My job is to bring things to his notice." Also, "They say I have no proof. Rubbish! As if on other things, they always have proof."

Reaction to 2011 Mumbai bombings

In response to the 2011 Mumbai bombings, he wrote an editorial in ''Daily News and Analysis'' (''DNA'') claiming that "Muslims of India are being programmed by a slow reactive process to become radical and thus slide into suicide against Hindus". He then set out a programme for dealing with this alleged threat, including repealing Article 370 of the Constitution of India (which granted special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir), removing the Gyanvapi Mosque at Kashi Vishwanath Temple and other mosques at Hindu temples, disenfranchising non-Hindus who refuse to acknowledge their Hindu ancestry, prohibiting conversion from Hinduism to other religions, and annexing part of Bangladesh in retaliation for Bangladeshi illegal immigration in India.

Negative reactions

His column provoked a variety of reactions. His house was attacked by people alleged to be Congress party workers . Minorities Council of Maharashtra Vice Chairman Abraham Mathai and National Commission for Minorities chairman Wajahat Habibullah accused him of violating Indian Penal Code Section 153A. New Delhi law student Shehzad Poonawala attempted to lodge an FIR against him at Defence Colony police station, but was disallowed by the officer on duty. ''DNA'' published two hostile response columns by Rakesh Sharma and Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr. calling him a "Hindu Taliban", "maverick", and "Zionist" in response to his views.

Reaction at Harvard

Some students at his alma mater Harvard University, where he also teaches economics in the summer school, accused him of stoking communalism and circulated a petition calling on the university to fire him and publicly repudiate his remarks. Adam Kissel, on behalf of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, wrote in a letter to Harvard that a disciplinary investigation against him would be inappropriate for an academic institution dedicated to intellectual freedom, represented a threat to free speech, and could lead to self-censorship by other faculty members.

In response to the petition, Donald H. Pfister, dean of Harvard Summer School, stated that the school would "give this matter our serious attention", but the school decided to stand by its instructor .

Tamil Nadu

He is well known for his critical views against the Government of Tamil Nadu and against the rationalist views of E.V.R. Ramaswamy. He is a constant fighter for the revival of Hindutva in Tamil Nadu.

He is staunch detractor of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

He obtained Supreme Court Stay against the implementation of Sethu Samuthiram Shipping Channel project (SSSCP). He believes that this shallow land connecting between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was built by Rama approximately 1,260,000 years ago. He strongly opposes the implementation of SSSCP citing that implementing this scheme may affect the sentiments of Hinduism. He wrote letters to Prime Minister of India in June 2009 asking him to stop the project.

Personal Life

Swamy is married to Dr. Roxna Swamy (a Parsi .), an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He has two daughters, Gitanjali Swamy and Suhasini Haider, the latter a journalist at CNN-IBN. His brother-in-law is Jewish, his son-in-law Muslim, his sister-in-law Christian and his wife Parsi.

Books, Research Papers and Journals

Books:

Economic Growth in China and India, 1952-70 (Publisher: University of Chicago Press; ISBN: 9780226783154)

Indian economic planning;: An alternative approach (Publisher: Barnes & Noble; ISBN: 9780389042020)

Building a New India: An Agenda for National Renaissance (Publisher: South Asia Books; ISBN: 9788185674216)

India's Labour Standards and the WTO Framework (Publisher: Konark Publishers; ISBN: 9788122005851)

India's economic performance and reforms: A perspective for the new millennium (Publisher: Konark Publishers; ISBN: 9788122005943)

Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: Unanswered Questions and Unasked Queries (Publisher: Konark Publishers; ISBN: 9788122005912)

India's China perspective (Publisher: Konark Publishers; ISBN: 9788122006063)

Financial Architecture and Economic Development in China and India (Publisher: Konark Publishers; ISBN: 9788122007183)

Trade and Industry in Japan: A Guide to Indian Entrepreneurs and Businessmen (Publisher: Prentice-Hall of India; ISBN: 9788120307858)

Sri Lanka in Crisis: India's Options (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124112601)

Hindus Under Siege (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124112076)

Rama Setu: Symbol of National Unity (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124114186)

Terrorism in India: A Strategy of Deterrence for India's National Security (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124113448)

Corruption and Corporate Governance in India: Satyam, Spectrum & Sundaram (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124114865)

2G Spectrum Scam (Publisher: Har Anand Publications; ISBN: 9788124116388)

References

References

External links

Biography on Janta Party site

Kashmir Hindu Foundation interviews Subramaniam Swamy

Subramaniam Swamy's views on the influence of Hinduism

Subramaniam Swamy in Janata Party's website

An article by Dr. Subramanian Swamy on how to face defamation litigation

Basic Islam for Hindu Dhimmis - Subramanian Swamy

The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: unanswered questions and unasked queries

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:People from Chennai Category:Indian Hindus Category:Tamil Brahmins Category:Indian economists Category:Indian politicians Category:Tamil Nadu politicians Category:Maharashtra politicians Category:Members of Parliament from Maharashtra Category:6th Lok Sabha members Category:7th Lok Sabha members Category:University of Delhi alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Indian Institute of Technology Delhi faculty Category:Harvard University faculty Category:English-language writers from India

hi:सुब्रमणियन स्वामी ta:சுப்பிரமணியம் சுவாமி

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Rahul Gandhi
birth date	June 19, 1970
birth place	New Delhi, India
residence	New Delhi, India
nationality	Indian
office1	Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
term start1	2004
office2	General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
term start2	2007
office3	Chairperson of IYC and NSUI
term start3	2007
alma mater	Rollins CollegeTrinity College, Cambridge
relations	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother)
party	Indian National Congress
signature	Signature of Rahul Gandhi.svg
date	5 June
year	2011
signature	}}

Rahul Gandhi ( ; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. His political party is the Indian National Congress.

Early life and career

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, is originally from Turin, Italy; his parents met in Cambridge, England where she was a student at Bell Educational Trust's language school and he, an engineering student at Trinity College. They married in New Delhi in 1968. Rajiv Gandhi later obtained a commercial pilot's license and was a pilot in Indian Airlines when Rahul was born.

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's ''alma mater'', from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then. Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations. In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994. During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies. He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995. After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London. In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.

In 2004, Rahul Gandhi told the press that he has a girlfriend Veronique, a Spanish architect who lives in Venezuela.

Political career

In 2003, there was widespread media speculation on the issue of Rahul Gandhi's imminent entry into active politics, which he did not confirm. Sonia Gandhi, his mother, had joined politics in 1997 after staying away for years despite the demands by Congress party and had become the president of Indian National Congress. In 1999 General Elections, he appeared with his mother at public events and Congress meetings. He also traveled to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch the first cricket series between the countries in 14 years in a One Day International with his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

Speculation heightened in January 2004 about his and his sister's possible entry into politics when they visited their father's former constituency of Amethi, which their mother held at the time. He refused to give a definitive response, stating "I am not averse to politics. I have not decided when I will enter politics and indeed, if I ever will."

In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by announcing that he would contest the May 2004 elections, standing for his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament. Before that, his uncle Sanjay held the seat before his death in a plane crash. The seat had been held by his mother until she transferred to the neighbouring seat of Rae Bareilly. The Congress had been doing poorly in Uttar Pradesh, holding only 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state at the time. At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. Party officials did not have a curriculum vitae ready for the media, such was the surprise of his move. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population In his first interview with foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions. His candidature was greeted with excitement by locals, who had a long standing affinity with the family's presence in the area. , Politician of Indian National Congress He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Until 2006 he held no other office and concentrated mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and it was widely speculated in the Indian and international press that Sonia Gandhi is trying to groom him for a chance to become a national-level Congress leader in the future.

In January 2006, at a convention of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad, thousands of party members asked for Gandhi to take a more prominent leadership role in the party and demanded that he address the delegates. He said "I appreciate and I am grateful for your feelings and support. I assure you I will not let you down", but asked for patience and declined to immediately seek a higher profile role.

Gandhi and his sister (married to Robert Vadhera) managed their mother's campaign for reelection to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.

He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes. The election saw the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents low caste Indians, to become the first party to govern in its own right in Uttar Pradesh in 16 years.

Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat. In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.

In 2008, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily mentioned “Rahul-as-PM” idea when the PM of India Manmohan Singh was still abroad. Indian Politicians drew own conclusions. Evidently, the Prime Minister also took notice of it.

Youth politics

In his attempt to prove himself as a youth leader in November 2008 he held interviews at his 12, Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi to handpick at least 40 people who will make up the think-tank of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), an organisation that he has been keen to transform since he was appointed general secretary in September 2007.

Under Rahul Gandhi, IYC and NSUI has seen a dramatic increase in members from a few hundred thousand to several million.

Rahul Gandhi participated in an interactive session with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. The University student unions have been traditionally dominated by the Left. His party, INC, however, was quick to play up Rahul's visit to JNU as an “excellent example of youth participation in politics”. Rahul's grandmother, Indira Gandhi had to face huge opposition from Left student unions during her visit to the university campus in 1982 because of her decision to impose emergency. Rahul was quizzed by the students on issues ranging from hiearchial politics in India, to his visits to Dalit Houses, economic growth in the country and education reforms. Some papers, however, reported Rahul's visit to JNU as a political attempt to strengthen the newly constituted unit of NSUI at JNU.

In various reports it has been proved that Rahul Gandhi has failed in his promise to eliminate family, patronage, money from Youth Congress. It has been seen that an aspiring delegates need to pay a substantial sum as nomination fee. Hence, an aspiring office-bearer with deep pockets sponsors them thereby allowing money power to have a role in the elections.

2009 elections

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constituency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi. He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.

He is referred to as RG in party circles.

Land Acquisition Protests Arrest

On 11 May 2011 Rahul Gandhi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police at Bhatta Parsaul village after he turned out in support of agitating farmers demanding more compensation for their land being acquired for a highway project. He was released after being held for about three hours and later returned to New Delhi. He was to be presented before a Sub-Divisional Magistrate on 12 May 2011.

Political and legal issues

Comparison of RSS and SIMI

Rahul Gandhi has been critical of right-wing groups like the RSS and compared them to terrorist organizations like SIMI. According to a cable leaked by Wikileaks, in 2009, he allegedly shared concerns with the American ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that radicalized Hindu groups may pose a bigger threat to India than Islamic terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba. His comments on radical Hindu groups were criticized by the opposition party, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Sukanya Devi

It has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi had detained a girl and her parents since 2007. On 01st Mar 2011, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi., however all the allegations were found to be false. Allahbad high court not only dismissed the case after the girl in question appeared in the court, but slapped a 50 lakh penalty against the petitioner ordering a CBI inquiry against her and websites publishing the story.

13th Jul 2011 Terror Attack remarks

On 14th Jul 2011, a day after the serial bombing in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi gave a statement that "it was very difficult to stop every single terror attack". The remark resulted in a number of strong criticism from a number of Shiv Sena party members.

See also

Political Families of The World

References

External links

Profile at ''BBC News''

Profile at Govt. of India website

Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India''

Category:Indian National Congress politicians Category:Nehru–Gandhi family Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Doscos Category:Harvard University alumni Category:People from New Delhi Category:Rollins College alumni Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Children of Prime Ministers of India Category:Indian people of Italian descent Category:University of Delhi alumni

bn:রাহুল গান্ধী bg:Рахул Ганди de:Rahul Gandhi fr:Rahul Gandhi gu:રાહુલ ગાંધી hi:राहुल गांधी id:Rahul Gandhi it:Rahul Gandhi jv:Rahul Gandhi ml:രാഹുൽ ഗാന്ധി mr:राहुल गांधी ne:राहुल गान्धी ja:ラーフル・ガンディー pl:Rahul Gandhi sa:राहुल् गान्धी fi:Rahul Gandhi sv:Rahul Gandhi ta:ராகுல் காந்தி te:రాహుల్ గాంధీ th:ราหุล คานธี ur:راہُل گاندھی zh:拉胡爾·甘地

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
name	Kapil Sibal
alt	Portrait of Kapil Sibal
birth date	August 08, 1948
birth place	Jalandhar, Punjab
residence	New Delhi
nationality	Indian
office1	Minister of Human Resource Development
term start1	22 May 2009
predecessor1	Arjun Singh
office2	Minister of Communications and Information Technology
term start2	15 November 2010
predecessor2	A. Raja
office3	Minister of Science and Technology
term start3	22 May 2004
term end3	2010
successor3	Pawan Kumar Bansal
office4	Minister of Earth Sciences
term start4	22 May 2004
term end4	2010
successor4	Pawan Kumar Bansal
office5	Member of Lok Sabha
constituency5	Chandni Chowk
term start5	2004
party	Indian National Congress
profession	Lawyer
religion	hindu
spouse	Nina Sibal (deceased)(1973-2000)Promila Sibal
children	2 sons
alma mater	University of Delhi (M.A./LL.B.)Harvard Law School (LL.M.)
date	5 June
year	2011
website	Kapil Sibal
signature	}}

Kapil Sibal (, ; born 8 August 1948) is a Indian politician and lawyer. He is currently the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He also held the two ministries Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet. He is also the Minister of Human Resources and Development in the current cabinet.

Sibal was first nominated in July 1988, as a Member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from the State of Bihar . and remained Additional Solicitor General of India, (December 1989 – December 1990) and President, Supreme Court Bar Association, on three occasions (1995–96, 1997–98 and 2001–2002).

Career

Kapil Sibal joined the Bar association in 1972. A year later in 1973, he qualified for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), and was offered an appointment, but declined the offer. Instead he decided to set up his own law practice. He was designated as a Senior Lawyer in 1983. He has been the Additional Solicitor General of India between 1989 and 1990.

In August, 2008 an Anthology of Kapil Sibal's poems titled "i witness" was published by Roli Books, New Delhi. He has also contributed several articles on various prominent issues such as security, nuclear proliferation, terrorism etc., in national dailies and periodicals. He won a landslide victory in the constituency of Chandni Chowk for the Indian National Congress against popular TV star Smriti Irani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Over the years, he has held several important positions in the Government of India and the Society, such as : Additional Solicitor General of India (December 1989–1990) ; Member, Board of Management, Indira Gandhi National Open University (1993) ; President, Supreme Court Bar Association (1995–96, 1997–98 and 2001–2002) ; Member, Rajya Sabha (July 1998) ; Member, Executive Council, Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies (July, 2001) ; Member, Business Advisory Committee (August, 2001) ; Member, Committee on Home Affairs (January, 2002) ; Co-chairman, Indo-US Parliamentary Forum (2002) ; Member, Board of International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (2002) ; Member, Programme Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Indian AIDS initiative (2003) ; Member, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention set up by the Human Rights Commission, Geneva.

Kapil Sibal has visited several countries such as the USA, Canada, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, Bhutan, South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal and several South East Asian Countries, throughout Europe and North Africa.

He represented India in the Annual Meetings of the ''World Economic Forum'' in 2005 and 2009 held at Davos, Switzerland. He led the Indian delegation to the Annapolis Conference, USA, held to gather International support for establishment of a Palestinian State and the realization of Israeli–Palestinian Peace during November 2007. He led the Indian delegation to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Bali in December 2007.

In the 2004 general elections, Sibal won the elections by a large margin from Chandni Chowk constituency in the National Capital Territory representing the Congress Party by a and was inducted into the Cabinet under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences. In the 2009 elections, he again won by a large margin from Chandni Chowk constituency and in the second Manmohan Singh government took charge of the key Human Resource Development ministry.

Minister Sibal has recently approved the creation of an Indian Institute of Technology Muddenahalli as part of the 11th 5 year plan. He is also the person who introduced the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system in India for class IX and Class X .

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and $35 Laptop

He has also announced an Indian touchscreen tablet computer, Sakshat which will be co-developed with private partnership. It may be available to students more than a year later for . "This is our answer to MIT's US$100 computer," said Sibal. Satish Jha, chairman of OLPC India, the leading competitor to this venture, questioned his claim that a $35 laptop could be created in a year. Five state Chief Ministers endorsed the OLPC initiative and the Chief Minister of Rajasthan himself inaugurated the project on the day Sibal showcased his future laptop. The event was attended by two members of the Union Cabinet. This also lead to an open letter by Nicholas Negroponte offering him complete access to MIT and OLPC technologies to help realise India's dream to create a laptop of its own. Though Sibal demonstrated the laptop in a TV interview and suggested that his tablet was for university students and not for the school children as yet, there were questions about India's contribution to it that may be open to scrutiny once the laptop reaches university students.

Personal life

Kapil Sibal married Nina Sibal who died in 2000

References

External links

In Conversation: Kapil Sibal, HRD Minister Business Standard

Profile at Ministry of Science and Technology, Official website

Kapil Sibal Update

{{S-ttl | title = Minister of Human Resource Development | years = 2009 – Present}}

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of St. Stephen's College, Delhi Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Indian politicians Category:Punjabi people Category:Indian lawyers Category:Members of the Rajya Sabha Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:People from Jalandhar Category:Members of the Cabinet of India Category:University of Delhi alumni

ko:카필 시발 id:Kapil Sibal ml:കപിൽ സിബൽ mr:कपिल सिब्बल ta:கபில் சிபல்

Coordinates	6°7′55″N1°13′22″N
bgcolour	#6495ED
name	M.F. Husain
birth name	Maqbool Fida Husain
birth date	September 17, 1915
birth place	Pandharpur, Bombay Presidency, British India
death date	June 09, 2011
death place	London, England, United Kingdom
nationality	20pxIndian;20px Qatari (2010-2011)
field	Painting, Drawing, Writer
training	Sir J. J. School of Art
movement	Progressive Art Group
works	Mother India; illustrations to Ramayana, Mahabarata
religion	islam
awards	Padma Shri (1955)Padma Bhushan (1973)Padma Vibhushan (1991)
website	http://www.mfhussain.com/ }}

Maqbool Fida Husain (, , ) (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011) commonly known as MF, was an eminent painter of Indian origin, although a Qatari national at the time of his death. He has been widely regarded as the "Picasso of India" and has influenced a whole generation of artists in the country.

Husain was associated with Indian modernism in the 1940s. A dashing, highly eccentric figure who dressed in impeccably tailored suits, he went barefoot and brandished an extra-long paintbrush as a slim cane. He never maintained a studio but he spread his canvases out on the floor of whatever hotel room he happened to be staying in and paying for damages when he checked out. He created four museums to showcase his work and had a collection of classic sports cars. Enormously prolific, a gifted self-promoter and hard bargainer, he claimed to have produced some 60,000 paintings, when questioned about such prolificity by Michael Peschardt of the BBC in one of the last interviews he gave on May 27th, 2011, he replied that "All this talk about inspiration and moment is nonsense. Excuse us". He amassed a fortune but maintained a bank balance of zero. He applied the formal lessons of European modernists like Cézanne and Matisse to scenes from national epics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana and to the Hindu pantheon.

His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, can be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—usually treated in series—include topics as diverse as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. One of the most celebrated and internationally recognized Indian artists of the 20th century, he also received recognition as a printmaker, photographer, and filmmaker.

Career

Born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur in Maharashtra, Husain was mainly a self-taught artist. He made ends meet in his initial days by painting cinema hoardings in Mumbai, paid barely four or six annas per square foot. As soon as he earned a little bit he used to take off for Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes. Husain tried other jobs and one of the best paying was a toy factory where he designed and built toys.

HE was a mad boy.

1965–1990

In 1967, he made his first film, ''Through the Eyes of a Painter''. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won a Golden Bear(Short Film).

M. F. Husain was a special invitee along with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1971. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1991.

1990–2011

Husain went on to become the highest paid painter in India. His single canvases have fetched up to $2 million at a recent Christie's auction.

He has also worked (produced & directed) s few movies, including ''Gaja Gamini'' (with his muse Madhuri Dixit who was the subject of a series of his paintings which he signed ''Fida''). The film was intended as a tribute to Ms. Dixit herself. In this film she can be seen portraying various forms and manifestations of womanhood including the muse of Kalidasa, the Mona Lisa, a rebel, and musical euphoria. He went on to make ''Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' (with Tabu). His autobiography is being made into a movie tentatively titled ''The Making of the Painter'', starring Shreyas Talpade as the young Husain.

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) (USA, Massachusetts) showed a solo exhibition from 4 November 2006 to 3 June 2007. It exhibited Husain’s paintings inspired by the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.

At the age of 92 Husain was to be given the prestigious Raja Ravi Varma award by the government of Kerala. The announcement led to controversy in Kerala and some cultural organisations campaigned against the granting of the award and petitioned the Kerala courts. Sabarimala spokesperson, Rahul Easwar, went to Kerala High Court and it granted an interim order to stay the granting of the award until the petition had been disposed of.

In early 2008, Husain's ''Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12'', a large diptych, from the Hindu epic, fetched $1.6 million, setting a world record at Christie's ''South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art'' sale.

His name was included in the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World, issued by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan.

For the last years of his life he lived in Dubai and London, staying away from India, but expressing a strong desire to return, despite fears of arrest.

Controversies

Portrayal of Hindu deities in nude

Indifferent to both religion and politics, Husain, a Muslim by upbringing, treated the gods and goddesses of Hinduism as visual stimuli rather than deities, depicting them unclothed and often in sexually suggestive poses. This earned him the bitter hatred of Hindu nationalist groups, which beginning in the 1990s mounted a campaign of intimidation and violence against him. The paintings in question were created in 1970, but did not become an issue until 1996, when they were printed in ''Vichar Mimansa'', a Hindi monthly magazine, which published them in an article headlined "M.F. Husain: A Painter or Butcher". In response, eight criminal complaints were filed against him. In 2004, Delhi High Court dismissed these complaints of ''"promoting enmity between different groups ... by painting Hindu goddesses – Durga and Sarswati, that was later compromised by Hindus."''

In 1998 Husain's house was attacked by Hindu groups like Bajrang Dal and art works were vandalised. The leadership of Shiv Sena endorsed the attack. Twenty-six Bajrang Dal activists were arrested by the police. Protests against Husain also led to the closure of an exhibition in London, England.

In February 2006, Husain was charged with "hurting sentiments of people" because of his nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses.

''Mother India''

In the 6 February 2006 issue, ''India Today'', a national English weekly published an advertisement titled "Art For Mission Kashmir". This advertisement contains a painting of Bharatmata (Mother India) as a nude woman posed across a map of India with the names of Indian States on various parts of her body. The exhibition was organised by Nafisa Ali of Action India (NGO) and Apparao Art Gallery. Organizations like Hindu Jagruti Samiti and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have protested persistently against Husain displaying the painting on the websites and even in exhibitions in north Europe. As a result, Husain apologized and promised to withdraw the painting from an auction, which was later sold for Rs 80 lakh in the auction. The painting later appeared on Husain's official website.

''Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities''

Husain's film ''Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities'' was pulled out of cinemas a day after some Muslim organisations raised objections to one of the songs in it. The All-India Ulema Council complained that the Qawwali song ''Noor-un-Ala-Noor'' was blasphemous. It argued that the song contained words directly taken from the Quran. The council was supported by Muslim organisations like the Milli Council, All-India Muslim Council, Raza Academy, Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind and Jamat-e-Islami. Husain's son stated that the words were a phrase referring to divine beauty that were being sung by the central character played by Tabu. He said there was no intention to offend. Following the wave of protests the enraged artist withdrew his movie from cinemas. The film was well received by the critics, however, and went on to win various awards.

Leaving India, Qatar nationality and projects

A series of cases were brought against Husain and a court case related to the alleged obscene depiction of Hindu goddesses in his paintings resulted in issuing a non-bailable warrant against him after he failed to respond to summons. There were also reportedly death threats.

Husain, who left India stating that "matters are so legally complicated that I have been advised not to return home", had living abroad self-exile since 2006. He had expressed a strong desire to come back, despite fears that he may be arrested in connection with the cases against him. Later a recent Supreme Court order suspended an arrest warrant for Husain. In absence of dual citizenship, Union Home Secretary, GK Pillai, said that MF Husain was free to come back and would be provided security if he requested it.

Qatari nationality was conferred upon him at the instance of the modernizing Qatar’s ruling family and had been living in Doha, spending his summers in London. He traveled freely except to India. His work in Qatar was mostly towards two large projects, the history of Indian civilization and the history of Arab civilization, the latter was commissioned by Qatar’s first lady – Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, wife of the Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The works are to be housed in a museum in Doha.

Supporters and critics

The artistic community was supportive as well as critical. Krishan Khanna, one of Husain's contemporaries, stated that "It's not just Husain's but the entire artist community's lives which are at stake. Anybody and everybody can file a case against us now. Anyone can infringe upon our lives". Others who expressed anger at the "vicious campaigns" against Husain, include filmmaker Saeed Mirza, social activist Nafisa Ali, theatre personality M. K. Raina and a host of other artistes, art critics and art gallery owners. Salil Tripathi, writing in the ''International Herald Tribune,'' notes that Hindu goddesses have regularly been portrayed in the nude by Hindu artists. Tripathi asserted that,

Other Indian artists expressed criticism. Satish Gujral went on record to ask Husain whether he will be bold enough to treat icons of Islam in the same manner. However Gujral stated that he deeply regretted the way Husain was treated and forced into an exile because of what he terms "the mob culture". According to a senior Hindu artist and former President, Bombay Art Society, Gopal Adivrekar,

Writing in ''The Pioneer'', Chandan Mitra wrote,

In response to the controversy, Husain's admirers petitioned the government to grant Husain the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award. According to Shashi Tharoor, who supported the petition, it praised Husain because his "life and work are beginning to serve as an allegory for the changing modalities of the secular in modern India – and the challenges that the narrative of the nation holds for many of us. This is the opportune and crucial time to honour him for his dedication and courage to the cultural renaissance of his beloved country."

On his part Husain stated that Hindu leaders have not spoken a word against his paintings, and they should have been the first ones to have raised their voice.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said

Death

M F Husain died, aged 95, on 9 June 2011, following a heart attack. He had been unwell for several months. He died at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 10 June 2011. India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said his death was a "national loss", and India's President Pratibha Patil said his death "left a void in the world of art." The actress Shabana Azmi called him an "iconoclastic painter, a wonderful human being and a very good friend". Talking about his self-imposed exile and death outside of India painter Akbar Padamsee said that it was a "pity that a painter as important as Husain had to die outside his own country because of a crowd of miscreants".

References

External links

Husain's website

Collection of M.F. Husains's Good images

MF Husain collected news and commentary from ''The Times of India''

Requiem for M.F. Husain, N. Ram, ''The Hindu'', 10 June 2011

Slideshow, ''Financial Times''

Maqbool Fida Husain, India’s Most Famous Painter, Dies at 95 NYTimes.com

Category:1915 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in England Category:Controversies in India Category:Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian painters Category:Naturalised citizens of Qatar Category:People from Indore Category:Qatari people of Indian descent Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan Category:Sir J. J. School of Art alumni Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction

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