NDTV

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
network name	NDTV
network logo
country	India
network type	Broadcast, television and online
available	National
launch date	1988
headquarters	New Delhi, Delhi, India
founder	Prannoy Roy in 1988
key people	Prannoy Roy Radhika Roy Vikram A Chandra Barkha Dutt
Picture format	480i (16:9 SDTV)720p (HDTV)
website	}}

NDTV (, ) is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India. NDTV is an acronym for the original name of the company, ''New Delhi Television''.

On July 30, 2011, Vikram A Chandra was elevated to the position of group CEO replacing KVL Narayan Rao who is now Executive Vice Chairman of the company.

New Delhi Television is among India's top broadcasters and has twenty-three offices and studios across the country. Its three national news channels NDTV 24x7, NDTV India (Hindi) and NDTV Profit (Business news) form the core of the company. Each year the channel also gives the NDTV Indian of the year awards.

Channels of NDTV Group

Channels of NDTV Group are:

NDTV 24x7 - English News channel.

NDTV India - Hindi News channel.

NDTV Profit - Business News channel.

NDTV Good Times - Lifestyle channel; JV between NDTV Group and United Breweries Group

NDTV Hindu- English Chennai Based News Channel, with The Hindu Group

International

ATN NDTV 24x7

NDTV Worldwide

Notable personalities

Vikram A Chandra, Group CEO

Barkha Dutt

Nidhi Kulpati

Siddharth Vinayak Patankar

Nidhi Razdan

Prannoy Roy

Kamal Khan

Vinod Dua

Vishnu Som

Ambika Anand

Legal notices against bloggers

NDTV Editors (Ms. Barkha Dutt) had served legal notices to a number of bloggers, who allegedly had ''come down heavily'' on NDTV for "breaking every rule of ethical journalism in reporting the Mumbai mayhem." through one of his blog posts. Many Indian Bloggers have expressed their sharp dissatisfaction towards NDTV and Barkha Dutt for attempting to censor their right to Freedom of speech by way of such legal actions. NDTV's reports on Naxalite Violence in Dantewada have been found to be factually incorrect and naive by some observers.

Radia tapes controversy

In November 2010, OPEN magazine carried a story which reported transcripts of some of the telephone conversations of Nira Radia with senior journalists, politicians, and corporate houses, many of whom have denied the allegations. The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced that they have 5,851 recordings of phone conversations by Radia, some of which outline Radia's attempts to broker deals in relation to the 2G spectrum sale. The tapes appear to demonstrate how Radia attempted to use some media persons including NDTV's Barkha Dutt to influence the decision to appoint A. Raja as telecom minister. She always denied her role in this episode with stating her role as simply error of judgment. None of any other news media groups have criticized it very strongly and this is another precise reason to deteriorate acceptance of Media in Indian society.Barkha Dutt is also being investigated by CBI.

Allegation of tax fraud

NDTV, through its foreign subsidiaries, is alleged to have violated Indian tax and corporate laws. NDTV has denied these allegations.

The Sunday Guardian ran a story which exposed the NDTV's financial misdemeanours and malpractices in connivance with ICICI Bank. "NDTV-ICICI loan chicanery saved Roys" provides details of how NDTV's major stake holders raised funds by misdeclaration of the value of shares in NDTV. NDTV has denied the allegations and the NDTV CEO replied to the Sunday Guardian along with the threat of "criminal defamation".

References

External links

NDTV Worldwide

Category:Indian television networks Category:NDTV Group Category:Media companies of India Category:Companies based in New Delhi Category:Companies established in 1988

ar:إن دي تي في id:NDTV mr:एन.डी.टी.व्ही. ta:என்டிடிவி

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Mamata Banerjee মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়
alt	Portrait of Mamata Banerjee
office	Chief Minister of West Bengal
term start	20 May 2011
predecessor	Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
governor	M. K. Narayanan
office2	Minister of Railways
term start2	22 May 2009
term end2	19 May 2011
predecessor2	Lalu Prasad Yadav
successor2	Dinesh Trivedi
office3	Member of Parliament
term start3	1991
predecessor3	Biplab Dasgupta
birth date	January 05, 1955
birth place	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
nationality	Indian
spouse	''Unmarried''
party	Indian National Congress (1970–1997) Trinamool Congress (1997–present)
residence	Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
alma mater	University of Calcutta
profession	PoliticianAdvocateSocial Worker
religion	Hinduism
signature	Signature of Mamata Banerjee.svg
website	West Bengal Government
footnotes	}}

Mamata Banerjee (; , pronounced ; born 5 January 1955) is the 11th and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. She is the first woman to hold the office. Banerjee founded All India Trinamool Congress in 1997 and became chairperson, after separating from the Indian National Congress. Currently she is also in charge of nine key departments of the government of West Bengal, including Home, Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms, Information and Cultural Affairs, Minority Affairs and Madrassah Education, Agriculture, Power and Home (Personnel and Administrative Reforms) departments. Banerjee is known as a firebrand orator and popularly referred to as "Didi" (meaning ''elder sister'') to all her followers.

Banerjee pulled off a landslide victory for the All India Trinamul Congress in West Bengal by defeating the world's longest-serving democratically-elected communist government, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front government, bringing to an end 34 years of Left Front rule in the state. Banerjee previously served as a Minister of Railways twice, Minister of Coal, and Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Department of Youth Affairs and Sports and Women and Child Development in the cabinet of the Indian government. She opposed forceful land acquisition for industrialization by the then communist government in West Bengal for Special Economic Zones at the cost of agriculturalists and farmers.

Early life and career

Mamata Banerjee was born to Gayetri and Promileswar Banerjee on 5 January 1955, in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. She grew up in a lower middle-class family and started her political career in Congress. As a young woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks to become the general secretary of the state Mahila Congress (1976–80). She was a college student in the mid-1970s when politics in Bengal began to accommodate the riffraff. Uninhibited, Banerjee jumped up and danced on the hood of Jaiprakash Narayan's car.

Banerjee graduated with an honours degree in History from the Jogamaya Devi College, an undergraduate women's college in southern Kolkata. Later she earned a master's degree in Islamic History from the University of Calcutta. This was followed by a degree in education from the Shri Shikshayatan College. She also earned a law degree from the Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College, Kolkata.

Throughout her political life Banerjee has maintained an austere lifestyle, never spending much money on clothes, cosmetics or jewellery and always with a cotton bag slung on her shoulder. She has remained single throughout her life.

Early political career

In the West Bengal Assembly elections of 2011, Trinamool Congress and congress parties combined, a move spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee, successfully won with over 77% of the total seats. This is considered a historic victory over the Left Front rule. The highlight of the election was that only four ministers out of the twenty eight of the outgoing regime were able to retain their seats. Even the outgoing chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya lost in his own constituency.

Indian National Congress

Banerjee started her political career in congress, and as a young woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local Congress group, and remained the General Secretary of Mahila Congress (I), West Bengal, from 1976 to 1980. In the 1984 general election, Banerjee became one of India's youngest parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist politician Somnath Chatterjee, from the Jadavpur parliamentary Constituency in West Bengal. She also became the General-Secretary of the All India Youth Congress. Losing her seat in 1989 in an anti-Congress wave, she was back in 1991 general elections, having settled into the Calcutta South constituency. She retained the Kolkata South seat in the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 general elections.

In the Rao government formed in 1991, Mamata Banerjee was made the Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Women and Child Development. As the sports minister, she announced that she would resign, and protested in a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, against Government's indifference towards her proposal to improve sports in the country. She was discharged of her portfolios in 1993. In April 1996, she alleged that Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPI-M in West Bengal. She claimed that she was the lone voice of reason and wanted a "clean Congress". At a private rally at Alipore in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee wrapped a black shawl around her neck and threatened to make a noose with it. In July 1996, she squatted at the well of Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament, to protest a hike in petroleum price, although she was a part of the government that instituted it. In that very time she grasped the collar of Amar Singh, MP of Samajwadi Party, in the well of the parliament. In February 1997, on the day of railway budget presentation in Lok Sabha, Mamata Banerjee threw her shawl at the railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan for ignoring West Bengal and announced her resignation. The speaker, P. A. Sangma, did not accept her resignation and asked her to apologize. Later she came back as Santosh Mohan Deb mediated.

Trinamool Congress

In 1997, Mamata Banerjee came out of the Congress Party in West Bengal and established the All India Trinamool Congress. It quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing Communist government in the state. On 11 December 1998, she controversially held a Samajwadi Party MP, Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the collar and dragged him out of the well of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the Women's Reservation bill.

In 1999, she joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and was allocated the Railways Ministry.

Railway Minister

In 2000, Mamata Banerjee presented her first Railway Budget. In it she fulfilled many of her promises to her home state West Bengal. She introduced a new biweekly New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express train and four express trains connecting various parts of West Bengal, namely the Howrah-Purulia Rupasi Bangla Express, Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Express, Shalimar-Bankura Arannyak Express and the Sealdah-Amritsar Superfast Express (weekly). She also increased the frequency of the Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express and extension of at least three express train services. Work on the Digha-Howrah Express service was also hastened during her brief tenure.

She also focused on developing tourism, enabling the Darjeeling-Himalayan section with two additional locomotives and proposing the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. She also commented that India should play a pivotal role in the Trans-Asian Railway and that rail links between Bangladesh and Nepal would be reintroduced. In all, she introduced 19 new trains for the 2000–2001 fiscal year.

Split with NDA

In early 2001, after making allegations against the BJP, Banerjee walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengal's 2001 elections, amidst speculation that the move could unseat the Communist government. She returned to the cabinet in January 2004, holding the Ministry of Coal and Mines portfolios until the 2004 elections, in which she was the only Trinamool Congress member to win a Parliament seat from West Bengal.

On 20 October 2005, she protested against forceful land acquisition and the atrocities on local farmers in the name of industrial development policy of the Buddhadev Bhattacharya government in West Bengal. Benny Santoso, CEO of the Indonesia-based Salim Group had pledged a large investment to West Bengal, and the West Bengal government had given him farmland in Howrah, sparking protest. In soaking rain, Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress members stood in front of the Taj Hotel where Santoso had arrived, shut out by the police. Later, she and her supporters followed Santoso's convoy. A planned "black flag" protest was avoided, when the government had Santoso arrive three hours ahead of schedule.

Mamata Banerjee suffered further setbacks in 2005, when her party lost control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the sitting mayor defected from her party. In 2006, the Trinamool Congress was defeated in West Bengal's Assembly Elections, losing more than half of its sitting members.

On 4 August 2006, Banerjee hurled her resignation papers at the deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal in Lok Sabha. The provocation was the speaker (Somnath Catterjee)'s rejection of her adjournment motion on illegal infiltration by Bangladeshis in West Bengal. The motion was turned down by the speaker on the ground that it was not in the proper format.

In November 2006, Banerjee was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally against a proposed Tata Motors car project. Mamata reached the West Bengal assembly and protested at the venue. She addressed a press conference at the assembly and announced a 12-hour shutdown by her party on Friday. The Trinamul Congress MLAs protested by damaging furniture and microphones in the West Bengal Assembly. A major strike was called on 14 December 2006.

Now in the 2009 parliament election where TMC was in alliance with UPA and people of West Bengal acted against the Left front and elected Congress-TMC alliance cccin 26 seats, which made Mamata Banerjee again the Indian Railway Minister for next five years.

In the 2010 Municipal Elections in West Bengal, TMC won Kolkata Municipal Corporation in a margin of 62 seats. TMC also won Bidhan Nagar Corporation in 16-9 seats margin. In 2011, Banerjee won a sweeping majority and assumed the position of chief minister of the state of West Bengal. Her party ended the 34-year rule.

Nandigram protests

The Nandigram violence was an incident in Nandigram, West Bengal where, on the orders of the Left Front government, more than 4,000 heavily-armed police stormed the rural area in the district of Purba Medinipur with the aim of stamping out protests against the West Bengal government’s plans to expropriate of land for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be developed by the Indonesian-based Salim Group. The police shot dead at least 14 villagers and wounded 70 more.

The SEZ controversy started when the government of West Bengal decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ policy at Nandigram. The villagers took over the administration of the area, and all the roads to the villages were cut off. A front-page story in the Kolkata newspaper, ''The Telegraph'', on 4 January 2007 was headlined, "False alarm sparks clash". According to the newspaper that village council meeting at which the alleged land seizure was to be announced was actually a meeting to declare Nandigram a "clean village", that is, a village in which all the households had access to toilet facilities. The administration was directed to break the Maoist-backed Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee's (BUPC) resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least 3,000 policemen along with armed cadre of the Marxist ruling party was launched on 14 March 2007. However, prior information of the impending action had leaked out to the BUPC who amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000 villagers at the entry points into Nandigram with women and children forming the front ranks. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed. Many people of the lower classes were made homeless due to this political carnage. A large number of intellectuals protested on the streets and this incident gave birth of a new hope for movement to ouster the left from government headed by the CPI(M). Mamata Banerjee wrote letters to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to stop the violence promoted by CPI(M) in Nandigram. Agitation in Nandigram subsided, after the state government shelved the proposed chemical hub project.

2009 Indian election

Trinamool Congress performed well in the 2009 parliamentary election, bagging 19 MP seats, among them 5 women (including Banerjee), reiterating its faith in the Women's Reservation Bill. Its allies in congress and SUCI also got six and one MP seats respectively marking the best performance by any opposition party in West Bengal since the start of the left regime. Until then, the Congress victory of 16 seats in 1984, by the sympathy vote after the death of Indira Gandhi, was considered the best show of opposition.

Railway Minister, second tenure

In 2009, Mamata Banerjee became railway minister for the second time and announced a number of new initiatives in the railway budget. Some argued that these reflected her bias towards her home state, West Bengal, although she had lead initiatives to benefit the entire country. She decided to develop about 50 railway stations to be world-class stations with international-level facilities. These will be developed through innovative financing and public-private partnerships. Banerjee also declared the Railway Ministry's intention to develop another 375 stations as Adarsh (Ideal) Stations. Furthermore, she announced construction of multi-functional complexes in station premises for providing rail users facilities, they included shopping-malls, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, PCO/STD/ISD/Fax booths, medicine and variety stores, budget hotels, underground parking, and the like. The railway minister announced that these complexes will also be developed by public-private partnerships. Banerjee also set up scholarships for the higher education of the female children of group D staff, to promote their economic independence. She proposed to open seven nursing colleges on railway land. Banerjee also introduced new train services like “Duronto” and “Yuva” in the budget, the former the fastest train service in India. To relieve women passengers during rush hour, Mamata introduced a Special Ladies Train on 19^th July between Bandel and Howrah. Later, she introduced more Special Ladies Trains , e.g. Kalyani-Sealdah and Panvel-Mumbai CST.

Mamata Banerjee flagged off the Duronto Express – a nonstop train, fastest train of India between Sealdah and New Delhi on 18 September 2009. The super fast Duronto Express train between Chennai and New Delhi was introduced on 21 September. Banerjee also took steps to spread railway in terror-hit regions of Kashmir. Anantnag-Qadigund Railway line was inaugurated in October.

On 7 February 2010, Banerjee will start as many as nineteen new train services. Due to repeated sexual harassment and/or sexual assault of India's women commuters, eight trains will be designated as women-only.

2011 Assembly election

Mamata Banerjee's All India Trinamool Congress along with SUCI and Indian National Congress Alliance won the state assembly election against the Left ruling party by securing 227 seats. Trinamool Congress alone won 184 seats with the INC winning 42 seats where the other ally SUCI secured one seat. Throughout the 34-year-regime, the Left Front had never won fewer than two-thirds of the 294 seats, but this time it could only manage 62 seats.

Chief Minister

Banerjee was sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal on 20 May 2011. As the first woman Chief Minister of West Bengal, one of her first decisions was to return 400 acres of land to Singur farmers. "The cabinet has decided to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers in Singur," the chief minister said. "I have instructed the department to prepare the papers for this. If Tatababu wants, he can set up his factory on the remaining 600 acres, otherwise we will see how to go about it," she added.

She has also been credited to solving the longstanding "Gorkhaland Problem" by setting up the Gorkhaland Autonomous Council. , thus fulfilling another of her campaign promises.

She has started various reforms in education and health sectors. Some of the reforms in the education sectors include release of the monthly pay of the teachers on the first of every month and quicker pensions for retiring teachers..In health sector "A three-phase developmental system will be taken up to improve the heath infrastructure and service,” Mamata Banerjee said."

References

External links

; Official

Mamata Banerjee official All India Trinamool Congress Party profile

Parliamentary profile at India.gov.in

; Other

Profile at ''BBC News''

Mamata Banerjee collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India''

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Category:1955 births Category:Bengali politicians Category:Living people Category:People from Kolkata Category:Alumni of Jogamaya Devi College, Kolkata Category:Alumni of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College Category:University of Calcutta alumni Category:Indian anti-communists Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Indian women in politics Category:Members of the Cabinet of India Category:Railway Ministers of India Category:Members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Category:All India Trinamool Congress politicians Category:Chief Ministers of West Bengal

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Dr. Farooq Abdullah
office	President Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
term start	1980
successor	Incumbent
birth date	October 21, 1937
birth place	Srinagar, Kashmir, British India
constituency	Srinagar
Office	Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Primeminister	Manmohan Singh
Term start	28 May 2009
Predecessor	Vilas Muttemwar
office1	Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
term start1	8 September 1982
term end1	2 July 1984
predecessor1	Sheikh Abdullah
successor1	Ghulam Mohammad Shah
term start2	07 November 1986
term end2	19 January 1990
predecessor2	President's Rule
successor2	President's Rule
term start3	9 October 1996
term end3	18 October 2002
predecessor3	President's Rule
successor3	Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
nationality	Indian
party	Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
spouse	Molly Abdullah
children	Omar Abdullah & 3 daughters
residence	Srinagar, Kashmir
alma mater	Tyndale Biscoe School
religion	Islam
signature	}}

Farooq Abdullah (Kashmiri: फ़ारूक़ अब्दुल्लाह (Devanagari), فاروق عبدالله (Nastaleeq)), born 21 October 1937 in Soura, Jammu & Kashmir, India), is the son of Sheikh Abdullah, is a doctor of medicine and has served as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982. He is married to Molly, a nurse of British origin. Their son, Omar Abdullah is also involved in state and national politics, and has been a member of the Lok Sabha and is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah was a novice in the political arena of Jammu and Kashmir when he was appointed president of the National Conference in August, 1981. His main qualification was that he was the son and heir of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference leader Sheikh Abdullah. After his father's death in 1982, Farooq Abdullah became the Chief Minister of the state. In 1984, the Abdullah government was dismissed by the Governor and replaced with a pro-Congress government under Ghulam Mohammad Shah. In 1986, that government was dismissed and a new National Conference–Congress government was sworn in with Abdullah as the Chief Minister. A new election was held in 1987 and the National Conference–Congress alliance won the election amid allegations of fraud. This period saw a rise in militancy in the state, with the return of trained militants from Pakistan and incidents that included the kidnapping of the daughter of the Union Home Minister. Subsequently, the Abdullah government was dismissed once again and the state was brought under President's rule. In 1996, Abdullah was once again sworn in as Chief Minister of the state, his fifth time.

In 2002, Abdullah was elected to Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir for his first six year term. He was subsequently re-elected in 2009. Abdullah joined the United Progressive Alliance government as a Cabinet Minister.

References

External links

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Rajya Sabha Profile

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, 15th Lok Sabha Profile

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of New and Renewable Energy | years = 2009 – present}}

Category:Jammu and Kashmir politicians Category:Kashmiri people Category:Indian politicians Category:Members of the Rajya Sabha Category:Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Members of the Cabinet of India Category:Living people Category:1936 births Category:Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians

es:Farooq Abdullah ks:फारूख अब्‍दुल्‍ला ml:ഫാറൂഖ് അബ്ദുല്ല mr:फारुख अब्दुल्ला sv:Farooq Abdullah ta:பரூக் அப்துல்லா

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Hina Rabbani Kharحنا ربانی کھر
Office	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Primeminister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Term start	19 July 2011Acting: 13 February 2011 – 19 July 2011
Predecessor	Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Office2	Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Primeminister2	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Term start2	11 February 2011
Term end2	19 July 2011
Predecessor2	Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan
Successor2	Salman Bashir
Birth date	November 19, 1977
Birth place	Multan, Pakistan
Party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Spouse	Feroze Gulzar
Alma mater	Lahore University of Management SciencesUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst
Website	Official website }}

Hina Rabbani Khar (}}; born 19 November 1977) is a Pakistani politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Appointed in July 2011, she is the first female and the youngest person to hold the office. She was elected to the National Assembly in 2002 and in 2008, and was Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs between 2008 and 2011.

Early life and education

Hina Rabbani Khar was born on 19 November 1977 in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. She is the daughter of politician and landowner Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and the niece of Ghulam Mustafa Khar. The Khar family has roots in Khar Gharbi village in Kot Adu, a ''tehsil'' in Muzaffargarh District in Punjab; and has many land holdings: an estate that includes fisheries, mango orchards, and sugarcane fields. She graduated with a BSc in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences in 1999 and received her MSc in Hospitality Management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2001.

Personal life

She is married to Feroze Gulzar, with whom she has two daughters, Annaya and Dina. She is the co-owner of the Polo Lounge restaurant on the Lahore Polo Grounds.

Political career

In the 2002 general elections, as a candidate with the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q)—the party of President Pervez Musharraf—Khar was elected to the National Assembly, representing the NA-177 Muzaffargarh-II constituency in Punjab, a position her father had held previously, but a new law requiring all candidates to hold a university degree meant he could not run that year. ''The Guardian'' writes, "In deference to local sensibilities about the place of women, her landlord father Noor addressed rallies and glad-handed voters; Hina stayed largely at home, with not even her photo appearing on the posters." After the PML-Q denied her a ticket for re-election in 2008, she joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was elected for a second time. The PPP won the majority of the votes and formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (N). They nominated and elected Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister.

Between 2004 and 2007 Khar was the Minister of State for Economic Affairs. She served as Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs in the cabinet of Gillani between 2008 and 2011. On 13 June 2009, she became the first woman to present the Pakistani budget in the National Assembly.

Foreign Minister

Khar was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs—the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—on 11 February 2011, as part of Gillani's cabinet reshuffle. After Shah Mehmood Qureshi's resignation as Foreign Minister, she became acting Minister of Foreign Affairs on 13 February 2011. She was approved as Foreign Minister on 18 July and was sworn-in on 19 July, becoming the youngest and first female Minister of Foreign Affairs. President Asif Ali Zardari, who succeeded Musharraf in 2008, said the appointment was "a demonstration of the government's commitment to bring women into the mainstream of national life".

Shortly after her appointment, she visited India and held peace talks with her Indian counterpart, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna. Relations between the two countries had been suspended following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, resuming in February 2011. Her visit received a large amount of coverage from Indian media, who discussed her fashion and appearance. She held talks with separatist leaders of Kashmir before meeting Indian government representatives, a decision which was criticised by the socially conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opposition party of India, who said it was a breach of protocol and demanded an inquiry into the matter. In August 2011 she visited China and held talks with Yang Jiechi, the Chinese foreign minister. ''Hindustan Times'' reported that, in contrast to her reception in India, she was largely ignored by Chinese media.

References

Further reading

Wright, Tom. "Pakistan Close to Naming First Female Foreign Minister". ''The Wall Street Journal''. 24 June 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Aziz, Faisal; Conway, Rebecca. "Pakistan's new FM faces challenges abroad, at home". Reuters. 20 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011. Archived 29 August 2011.

Khan, M Ilyas. "Will Pakistan's first woman foreign minister make a difference?". BBC News. 21 July 2011. Accessed 29 August 2011.

Sharma, Neha. "Hina Rabbani Khar - a style icon". ''Hindustan Times''. 27 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Buchsteiner, Jochen. "Chefverkäuferin des weichen Pakistan" (Google translation). ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. 27 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

"Profiling Hina Rabbani Khar". ''Hindustan Times''. 28 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Islam, Faris. "Dissecting the double standard". ''Dawn''. 28 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Razvi, Murtaza. "Hina Rabbani Khar: Pakistan's weakness, not strength". ''The Economic Times''. 31 July 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Taseer, Shehrbano. "Hina Rabbani Khar offers hope to Pakistan". ''The Guardian''. 2 August 2011. Accessed 30 August 2011.

External links

Minister of Foreign Affairs

|- |-

Category:1977 births Category:Lahore University of Management Sciences alumni Category:Living people Category:Members of the National Assembly of Pakistan Category:Pakistan Peoples Party politicians Category:Pakistani politicians Category:Pakistani women in politics Category:People from Multan Category:Female foreign ministers Category:Foreign Ministers of Pakistan Category:Pakistani businesspeople Category:Current foreign ministers

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
playername	Rahul Dravid
country	India
fullname	Rahul Sharad Dravid
living	yes
nickname	The Wall, Jammy
dayofbirth	11
monthofbirth	1
yearofbirth	1973
placeofbirth	Indore, Madhya Pradesh
countryofbirth	India
heightft	5
heightinch	11
heightm	1.7
batting	Right-handed
bowling	Right arm off spin
role	Batsman, Wicketkeeper
international	true
testdebutdate	20 June
testdebutyear	1996
testdebutagainst	England
testcap	150
lasttestdate	18 August
lasttestyear	2011
lasttestagainst	England
odidebutdate	3 April
odidebutyear	1996
odidebutagainst	Sri Lanka
odicap	339
lastodidate	30 September
lastodiyear	2009
lastodiagainst	West Indies
odishirt	19
club1	Karnataka
year1	1990–present
club2	Scotland
year2	2003
club3	Kent
year3	2000
club4	Royal Challengers Bangalore
year4	2008–2010
club5	Rajasthan Royals
year5	2011–present
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	157
runs1	12,775
bat avg1	53.00
100s/50s1	35/60
top score1	270
deliveries1	120
wickets1	1
bowl avg1	39.00
fivefor1	0
tenfor1	0
best bowling1	1/18
catches/stumpings1	207/0
column2	ODI
matches2	339
runs2	10,765
bat avg2	39.43
100s/50s2	12/82
top score2	153
deliveries2	186
wickets2	4
bowl avg2	42.50
fivefor2	0
tenfor2	0
best bowling2	2/43
catches/stumpings2	196/14
column3	FC
matches3	288
runs3	22,959
bat avg3	55.72
100s/50s3	65/114
top score3	270
deliveries3	617
wickets3	5
bowl avg3	54.60
fivefor3	0
tenfor3	0
best bowling3	2/16
catches/stumpings3	346/1
column4	LA
matches4	444
runs4	15,147
bat avg4	42.54
100s/50s4	21/111
top score4	153
deliveries4	477
wickets4	4
bowl avg4	105.25
fivefor4	0
tenfor4	0
best bowling4	2/43
catches/stumpings4	233/17
date	23 August
year	2011
source	http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/28114.html Cricinfo }}

Rahul Sharad Dravid (, ), (born 11 January 1973) is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Dravid was also awarded the ICC Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year at the inaugural awards ceremony held in 2004. Dravid also holds the record of having taken the most number of catches in Test cricket. On August 7, 2011 after getting a surprise call to play in ODI series against England he declared his retirement from One Day Internationals and T20.

Popularly hailed as "The Wall of Indian cricket", Dravid is known for his ability to bat for a long period of time. Dravid holds multiple cricketing records. He is the second Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar, and the third international player to reach 12,000 runs in Test cricket. On 14 February 2007, he became the sixth player over all and the third Indian (after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly), to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket in cricketing history. He is the first and only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing nations. With more than 200 catches, Dravid currently holds the world record for the most number of catches in Test cricket. Dravid has also been involved in more than 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners and has been involved in 19 century partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar – a world record.

Early life and family

Dravid was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh into a Maharashtrian Deshastha family living in Karnataka. He was raised in Bangalore, Karnataka. He has a younger brother, Vijay. Dravid's father worked for Kissan, a company known for producing jams and preserves and thus he earned the nickname ''Jammy'' from his teammates at St. Joseph's Boys' High School. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at Bangalore University. Rahul Dravid has a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. Rahul's talents were first spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at a summer coaching camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He went on to score a century on debut for his school team. Along with the batting, he was keeping wickets. However, he later stopped keeping wickets on advice from former Test players Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny, Brijesh Patel and Tarapore.

He was selected to make his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune (while still attending college at St. Joseph's College of Commerce in Bangalore), alongside future Indian teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, scoring 82 in a drawn match after batting in the No. 7 position. His first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries to finish with 380 runs at an average of 63.3, and was selected for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

On 4 May 2003, he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. They have two children, Samit (born 2005) and Anvay (born 2009).

Cricketing career

1995–98: Beginning

Dravid had a disappointing start to his career making his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lankan cricket team in the Singer Cup in Singapore immediately after World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli. Subsequently, he was dropped from the team, until he was picked again for the tour of England.

He then made his debut in the Second Test against England along with Sourav Ganguly,when Sanjay Manjrekar got injured after the first Test match on that tour.

Dravid scored 95 and held his position on Manjrekar's return for the Third Test, scoring 84. After moderate performance in home series against Australia and South Africa, Dravid broke through on the 1996–97 tour of South Africa. He batted at No. 3 in the third Test in Johannesburg, scoring his maiden century with 148 and 81, the top score in each innings to claim his first man of the match award. He made his first half-century against Pakistan in the Sahara Cup in 1996, scoring 90 in his 10th ODI.

In the 18 months ending in mid-1998, he played in an away series against the West Indies, home and away series against Sri Lanka and a home series against Australia, he scored consistently, with 964 runs at an average of 56.7. He scored eleven half-centuries but was unable to convert them to triple figures . He scored his second century in late 1998 against Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match, top-scoring in both innings with 148 and 44, but was unable to prevent an Indian defeat . He became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to score centuries in both innings of a match during the 1999 New Year's Test match against New Zealand with 190 and 103* to force a draw. He had a moderate season in the subcontinent in early 1999, scoring 269 runs at an average of 38.42 with one century before scoring 239 at an average of 39.8 including a century against New Zealand in late 1999. This was followed by a poor away series against Australia and another poor home series against South Africa, accumulating just 187 runs at an average of 18.7. He then scored 200*, his first double century, against Zimbabwe in Delhi, which along with 70* in the second innings helped India to victory. It was the first time he had passed 50 in 12 months and he followed this with a 162 in the following Test, giving him 432 runs in the two match series at an average of 432 .

1999: World Cup success

Dravid was top scorer in the 7th World Cup (1999), scoring 461 runs. He is the only Indian to score two back to back centuries at the World Cup. He scored 110 vs Kenya and followed it with a masterly 145 against Sri Lanka in Taunton, in a match where he kept wickets. He was vice captain during 2003 World cup where India reached the final, serving his team in the dual capacity of a batsman and wicket keeper to accommodate an additional batsman, a move that paid huge dividends for India. Dravid was the captain during the 2007 cricket world cup in West Indies, where Indian cricket team had a dismal campaign.

Post 2000

In the second test of a three match test series against Australia at Kolkata in 2001, Dravid joined hands with VVS Laxman to produce one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of the game. Following on, the pair put on 376 runs for the fifth wicket in the second innings of the match. Dravid scored 180 while Laxman made 281. Though Dravid ended up second-best, it remains one of his greatest performances till date. Later that year in Port Elizabeth against South Africa, he made a crucial match-saving 87 runs in the second innings to deny South Africa the win.

2002 was the year, when Dravid started to emerge out of Tendulkar's shadow and established himself as India's premier Test batsman. In the month of April, at Georgetown, West Indies in first test match of the series, he scored an unbeaten 144 in the first innings after being hit by a Mervyn Dillon delivery. Later that year, he raked up four consecutive centuries against England (3) and West Indies (1). In August 2002, against England at Headingley Stadium, Leeds in the third test match of the series, he scored a 148 in the first innings on a seamer-friendly pitch to set up a famous Indian win. He won the man of the match award for this performance. Dravid's astonishing aggregate of 602 runs in the four match test series against England also fetched him the man of the series award.

In 2003–2004 season, Dravid scored three double centuries, one each against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. Against Australia at Adelaide in second match of the four match series, the batting pair of Dravid and VVS Laxman proved to be Australia's nemesis again. In the first innings, India were looking down the barrel at 4 wickets down for 85 runs in reply to Australia's massive 556 when the duo joined hands. By the time their partnership was broken, the pair had put on 303 runs. Laxman was dismissed for 148 while Dravid went on make 233. At that time, this was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman overseas. By the time Dravid was done, India was only 33 short of Australia's first innings score. Dravid followed this with an unbeaten 72 under immense pressure in the second innings to set up a famous victory. Dravid scored 619 runs in that four-match series against Australia at an average of 103.16 and won the man of the series award. During the later part of the season, Dravid, in Ganguly's absence, led India to its first test victory over Pakistan in Pakistan in the first test match at Multan. In the third and the final match of the series At Rawalpindi, Dravid stroked a masterly 270 to take India to a historic test series win over Pakistan.

Playing style

With a strong technique, he has been the backbone for the Indian cricket team. Beginning with the reputation of being a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, he was dropped from ODIs as he was slow in making runs. However, in a period of his career he began consistently scoring runs in ODIs as well, earning him the award of ICC player of the year. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements has now become a tribute to his consistency. Dravid has scored 35 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 53.00, including 5 double centuries. In one-dayers too he has an impressive average of 39.49, although at a strike rate of 71.22. He is one of the few Indians who average more at away Test matches than at home, averaging about 5 more runs a match abroad than on Indian pitches. As of 23 September 2010, Dravid's average in overseas Tests stood at 55.53 as against his home Test average of 50.76, and his average for away ODI stands at 37.93 as against home ODI average of 43.11. In matches that India has won, Dravid averages 66.34 in Tests and 50.69 in ODIs.

Dravid's sole Test wicket was that of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test against the West Indies during the 2001–2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs. He has since delegated the wicket-keeping gloves, first to Parthiv Patel and more recently to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dravid is now purely a batsman, one who has averaged 63.51 in matches played since 1 January 2000.

Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is the present world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively. Uniquely, each of his five double centuries in Tests was a higher score than his previous double century (200*, 217, 222, 233, 270).

Also, Dravid is the current world record holder for the highest percentage(%) contribution of runs scored in matches won under a single captain, where the captain has won more than 20 Tests. In the 21 Test matches India won under Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs, with nine hundreds – three of them double-centuries – and ten fifties in 32 innings. He contributed nearly 23% of the total runs scored by India those 21 matches, which is almost one run out of every four runs the team scored.

He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year 2000. Though primarily a defensive batsman,Dravid has scored 50 not out in 22 balls(Strike Rate-227.27)vs NewZealand in Hydrabad on 15 Nov 2003,second fastest 50 among Indians.Only Ajit Agarkar 67 of 21 balls is faster than Dravid.

In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year by the International Cricket Council, ICC (associated image below). Dravid's batting average of 95.46 in the past year has made him the only Indian to be in the Test team of the year. On 18 March 2006, Dravid played his 100th Test against England in Mumbai.

In 2005, a biography of Rahul Dravid written by Devendra Prabhudesai was published, 'The Nice Guy Who Finished First'.

In the 2005 ICC Awards he was the only Indian to be named to the World one-day XI.

In 2006, it was announced that he would remain captain of the Indian team up to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

After the England Series however, he stepped down as captain of India due to personal reasons. Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over as ODI captain. Anil Kumble replaced him in test matches.

In 2007, he was dropped from the Indian ODI Squad following poor series against Australia. Dravid went back to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 218 against Mumbai.

In 2008, he made 93 in the first innings of the Perth test, the highest score of the match, to help India win and make the series 1–2. However, he was ignored by selectors for the subsequent one-day tri-series.

After a barren run in Test matches in 2008, Dravid came under increasing media pressure to retire or be dropped. In the Second Test against England in Mohali, he scored 136, putting on a triple-century stand with Gautam Gambhir.

After reaching 10,000 test runs milestone, he was quoted saying, "It's a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."

Teams

International

India (current)

ACC Asian XI

ICC World XI

MCC

Indian first-class

Karnataka

South Zone

Indian Premier League

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Rajasthan Royals

English county

Kent

Scotland

Controversies

Ball-tampering incident

In January 2004 Dravid was found guilty of ball tampering during an ODI with Zimbabwe. Match referee Clive Lloyd adjudged the application of an energy sweet to the ball as a deliberate offence although Dravid himself denied this was his intent. Lloyd emphasised that television footage caught Dravid putting a lozenge on the ball during the Zimbabwean innings on Tuesday night at the Gabba. According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, players are not allowed to apply substances to the ball other than sweat and saliva. Dravid was fined half of his earnings from the match.

Indian coach John Wright came out in defence of Dravid, stating that "It was an innocent mistake". Wright argued that Dravid had been trying to apply saliva to the ball when parts of a losenge he had been chewing stuck to the ball; Dravid then tried to wipe it off. ICC regulations prevented Dravid from commenting about the issue, but former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also stated that Dravid's act was "just an accident".

Multan declaration

One of Dravid's most debated decisions was taken in March 2004, when he was standing in as captain for an injured Sourav Ganguly. The Indian first innings was declared at a point when Sachin Tendulkar was at 194 with 16 overs remaining on Day 2. Rahul Dravid has had a mixed record when leading India in Tests. India lost the Karachi Test in 2006, giving Pakistan the series 1–0. In March 2006, India lost the Mumbai Test, giving England its first Test victory in India since 1985, enabling Flintoff's men to draw the series 1–1. While the loss in Karachi could be put down to several Indian batsmen playing badly, the defeat in Mumbai was arguably the result of Dravid's decision to bowl first on a flat dry pitch which later deteriorated and ended with an Indian collapse in the run chase. Coincidentally, it was Dravid's 100th test match in which the Indians were all out for 100 runs in the second innings. He was criticised by Vijay Mallya for not picking the team with right balance after the Bangalore Royal Challengers finished seventh out of the eight teams that played in the 2008 Indian Premier League. After India failed to qualify for the Finals of the DLF Cup, Indian skipper Rahul Dravid was criticised by former all-rounder Ravi Shastri who said that he was not assertive enough and let Greg Chappell make too many decisions. When asked for a response, Dravid said that Shastri, while a 'fair critic', was 'not privy' to the internal decision-making process of the team.

Biographies

Rahul Dravid has 2 biographies written on his career:

Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (ISBN 81-7476-481-X). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004

The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005

Other work

Commercial endorsements

Reebok: 1996 – ''present'' Pepsi: 1997 ''present'' Kissan: ''Unknown'' Castrol: 2001 – ''present'' Hutch: 2003 Karnataka Tourism: 2004 Max Life: 2005 – ''present'' Bank of Baroda: 2005 – ''present'' Citizen: 2006 – ''present'' Skyline Construction: 2006 – ''present'' Sansui: 2007 Gillette: 2007 – ''present'' Samsung: 2002 – 2004

Social commitments

Children's Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) UNICEF Supporter and AIDS Awareness Campaign

See also

List of international cricket centuries by Rahul Dravid

List of awards and achievements of Rahul Dravid

References

External links

CricketFundas Interview with Rahul Dravid

HindustanTimes.com Player Profile

HowSTAT! statistical profile on Rahul Dravid

PwC Batsman Rankings

Rahul Dravid-ToI

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Category:Indian cricketers Category:India Test cricketers Category:India One Day International cricketers Category:Indian Test captains Category:Indian cricket captains Category:Indian wicket-keepers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Karnataka cricketers Category:South Zone cricketers Category:Kent cricketers Category:Scotland cricketers Category:ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Category:ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Category:World XI Test cricketers Category:World Cup cricketers of India Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Category:Indian Premier League cricketers Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:People from Indore Category:People from Bangalore Category:Bangalore cricketers Category:Canterbury cricketers Category:Recipients of the Arjuna Award Category:MCC cricketers

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