Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjabi: ਅਮਰਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ; born March 11, 1942). He served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007^[1] and presently serves as the President of Punjab PCC. He is the titular Maharaja of Patiala.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Captain Singh is the son of Yadavindra Singh and Mohinder Kaur, former Maharaja of Patiala. He attended the Welham Boys' School and Lawrence School Sanawar^[3] and The Doon School,^[4] Dehradun. His children include Yuvraj Raninder Singh and Jai Inder Kaur. His wife Preneet Kaur, is an MP serving as Minister of State in the External Affairs Ministry.

Army background[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

He was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1963 and resigned in early 1965. He rejoined the Army immediately because hostilities broke out with Pakistan and took part in the actual operations in war against Pakistan and again resigned after the war was over in early 1966.

Political career[link]

Amarinder Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha on an Indian National Congress ticket in 1980. In 1984, he resigned from Parliament and from Congress as a protest against the Army entry in Darbar Sahib's complex in Operation Bluestar. He became convenor of the Sikh Forum and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. He was elected to the state legislature and became a minister in the state government for Agriculture, Forest, Development and Panchayats.

He broke away from the Akali Dal and formed a splinter group named Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic) which later merged with the Congress. He served as the President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee from 1999 to 2002 and became Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007. In September 2008, a special committee of Punjab Vidhan Sabha expelled him on the count of regularities in [the] transfer of land related to the Amritsar Improvement Trust by the Akali Dal-BJP led government.^[5] In 2010, the Supreme Court of India held his expulsion unconstitutional on the grounds it was excessive and unconstitutional.^[5]

He was elected the chairman of Punjab Congress Committee for the second time in 2009

He has also written books on war and Sikh history they include a Ridge Too Far, Lest We Forget and the most recent being The Last Sunset; Rise and Fall of Lahore Durbar.

References[link]

Rahul Gandhi
Member of Lok Sabha from Amethi
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Chairperson of IYC and NSUI
Incumbent
Assumed office 2007
Personal details
Born	(1970-06-19) 19 June 1970 (age 42) New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Relations	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother) Priyanka Vadra (sister)
Residence	New Delhi, India
Alma mater	Rollins College Trinity College, Cambridge
Profession	Member of Parliament
As of 5 June, 2011

Rahul Gandhi ([ˈraːɦʊl ˈɡaːnd̪ʱiː]; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency.^[1] Gandhi is the general-secretary of the Indian National Congress.^[2] He is the grandson of Feroze Gandhi and Indira (née Nehru) Gandhi, and fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Early life and career[link]

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 ^[3] 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.^[4]

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi^[5] before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's alma mater,^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8] In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE^[9] during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994.^[10] During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies.^[8][11] He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995.^[12] After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London.^[13] In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.^[14]

Political career[link]

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.^[15] 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.^[16] 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. 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^[17] 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.^[15]

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.^[18] Until 2006 he held no other office.^[19]

Gandhi and his sister, who is married to Robert Vadra, managed their mother's campaign for re-election to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.^[20]

He was a prominent figure in the Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes.^[21]

Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat.^[22] In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.^[23]

In 2008, senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily mentioned “Rahul-as-PM” idea when the PM of India Manmohan Singh was still abroad.^[24]

Youth politics[link]

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.^[25]

Under Rahul Gandhi, IYC and NSUI has seen a dramatic increase in members from a two lakhs to twenty five lakhs.^[26]

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.^[27][28][29]

2009 elections[link]

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.^[30] He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.

Lokpal bill[link]

Rahul Gandhi opines that the Lokpal should be made a constitutional body and it should be made accountable to the Parliament, just like the Election Commission. He also feels that Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption. This statement came out on 25 August 2011, on the 10th day of Anna Hazare's fast. This statement was considered as a delaying tactic by the opposition and Team Anna's members. It was consequently slammed by prominent opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.^[31] The Parliamentary Standing Committee led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi tabled the Lok Bill report in the Rajya Sabha on 9 December 2011. Almost all points proposed by Team Anna were ignored while Rahul Gandhi's wish for Lokpal to be made into a constitutional body was implemented. Anna Hazare believes that Rahul Gandhi is responsible for the weak and ineffective bill proposed by the standing committee of parliament.^[32]

Land Acquisition Protests Arrest[link]

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.^[33] 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.^[34]

2012 Assembly elections[link]

Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the 2012 Assembly elections, especially in the highly politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the hope that his popularity would help bring Congress back to power. However, the party did very poorly in the elections winning only 38 seats, a meagre increase of six seats from the 2007 elections^[35]. The Samajwadi Party and its new leader, Akhilesh Yadav swept the elections in UP, and Mr Yadav was sworn as the youngest Chief Minister of UP. The Congress party suffered humiliating defeats in other states (Goa and Punjab), and a close shave in Uttarahakhand. With only one win in the state of Manipur, the Indian press was quick to question the future of Mr Gandhi as the leader of the Congress party.^[36]

Political and legal issues[link]

Comparison of RSS and SIMI[link]

Rahul Gandhi has been critical of nationalist groups like the RSS and compared them to terrorist organizations like SIMI.^[37][38] 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.^[39][40] His comments on radical Hindu groups were criticized by the opposition party, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.^[41]

Sukanya Devi[link]

It has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi had detained a girl and her parents since 2007 after the family accused the Gandhi scion of raping the girl. On 01st Mar 2011, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi,^[42] however the allegations were found to be false. Allahabad 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.^[43]

13th Jul 2011 Terror Attack remarks[link]

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.^[44]

See also[link]

• Political Families of The World

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rahul Gandhi

• Profile at BBC News
• Profile at Govt. of India website
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Rahul Gandhi collected news and commentary at The Times of India

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Medal record
Competitor for  India
Asian Games
Silver	2010 Guangzhou	Heavyweight

Manpreet Singh (born 3 May 1985)^[1] is an amateur boxer from India and a product of Army Sports Institute. He competes in 82 – 91 kg category. Manpreet won Silver medal in 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. He was defeated by Mohammad Ghossoun of Syria in the gold medal bout by a score of 8:1.^[2]

After his first round defeat in 2010 Commonwealth Games, Manpreet had lost confidence and had to seek psychiatric help at NIS Patiala.^[3]

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2012)

Babbu Maan (Punjabi: ਬੱਬੂ ਮਾਨ) (born Tejinder Singh Maan) is a punjabi singer- songwriter, actor, and producer. Born in the village of Khant Maanpur in the Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab, India

Early life[link]

Babbu Maan was born as ( Tejinder Singh Maan ), 29 March 1975, as the only son of Babu Singh Maan and mother Kulbir Kaur,^[2][3] in the village of Khant Maanpur of Fatehgarh Sahib district in Indian Punjab.^[1] He has two elder sisters.

Career[link]

Babbu Maan debuted in 1998 with his album Sajjan Rumal De Giya. Unhappy with the album he went back to the drawing board and re-wrote many of the songs, many of which were re-released in his following albums. Tu Meri Miss India, his second album was released in 1999. His third album Saaun Di Jhadi was released in 2001.

In 2003 Maan was selected as actor and Music Director for the movie Hawayein. It was followed by his album, Ohi Chann Ohi Rataan.

In 2006 Maan started on his first playback movie called Rabb Ne Banayien Jodeian. Mera Gham was a Hindi album.

Maan starred in a New Year's special called Aao Saare Nachiye. Part 1 was released in 2008 and Part 2 in 2009. He was involved with the film Hashar... A love Story. Maan released a religious album, Singh Better Than King. In March 25 2010, Maan came out with his new Film Ekam - Son of Soil. On 18 November 2011 Babbu Maan released his next movie Hero Hitler in Love. Hero Hitler in Love out to be a very unsuccessful movie. Shortly after Hero Hitler in Love, Babbu Maan announced the release on his next movie, Desi Romeos. The movie is set to hit theaters on Jun 15, 2012.

Discography[link]

He released many music albums and films till now. Some of his albums are^[1]: or=|date=|work=|publisher=www.itunes.apple.com|accessdate=21 Feb, 2012}}</ref>

• Saaun Di Jhadi (2001)^[4]
• Ohi Chann Ohi Raatan (2004)
• Pyass (2005)
• Mera Gham (2007)
• Aao Saare Nachiye (2008)
• Aao Saare Nachiye 2 (2009)
• Singh Better Than King
• Aao Saare Nachiye 4 (2011)

Filmography[link]

• Hawayein (2003)
• Rabb Ne Banaiyan Jodiean (2006)^[5]
• Hashar - A Love Story (2008)^[6][7]
• Ekam - Son of Soil (2010)
• Hero Hitler in Love (2011)^[4][7]
• Desi Romeos (2012) Movie Release Date 15 June 2012 And Music Release 25 May 2012

!Year !! Title !!Role !!Notes |- |2003 ||[[Hawayein)| || khanpurya || |- |2006 ||Rabb Ne Banaiyan Jodiean ||jelly || |- |2008 ||A Love Story || Maninder Singh || |- |2010 ||Ekam - Son of Soil ||Ekamjit singh || |- |2011 ||Hero Hitler in Love ||Hitler/Mirza || |- |2012 ||Desi Romeos ||? ||

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Babbu Maan at the Internet Movie Database