A. K. Antony
Minister of Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 October 2006
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Pranab Mukherjee
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
In office 1993–1995
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 17 May 2001 – 29 August 2004
Governor	Sikander Bakht T. N. Chaturvedi R. L. Bhatia
Preceded by	E. K. Nayanar
Succeeded by	Oommen Chandy
In office 22 March 1995 – 9 May 1996
Governor	B. Rachaiah P. Shiv Shankar Khurshed Alam Khan
Preceded by	K. Karunakaran
Succeeded by	E. K. Nayanar
In office 27 April 1977 – 27 October 1978
Governor	N. N. Wanchoo Jyothi Vencatachellum
Preceded by	K. Karunakaran
Succeeded by	P. K. Vasudevan Nair
Personal details
Born	Arackaparambil Kurien Antony അറയ്ക്കപറമ്പില്‍ കുര്യന്‍ ആന്റണി (1940-12-28) 28 December 1940 (age 71) Cherthala, British Raj (now India)
Political party	Indian National Congress (Before 1978; 1982–present)
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress-Urs (1978–1980) Indian National Congress-A (1980–1982)
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Antony
Alma mater	Maharaja's College (B.A.) Mahatma Gandhi University (LL.B.)
Profession	Politician Lawyer
Religion	Atheist;[1] devotee of Mata Amritanandamayi[2][3]

Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born on December 28, 1940) is an Indian politician who is currently a Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha and the current Defence Minister of India. He previously served as the Chief Minister of Kerala.

He presently also serves as the chairman of the Disciplinary Action Committee of the All India Congress Committee and member of the Central Election Committee and the Congress Working Committee (CWC). He is a senior member of the Cabinet Committees on Accommodation, Economic Affairs, Political Affairs, and Security.^[4]

Early life and education[link]

A. K. Antony was born in a Syrian Catholic family at Cherthala, near Alleppey in Travancore, as the son of Arackaparambil Kurien Pillai and Aleykutty Kurian.^[5] He lost his father in 1959 and self-financed part of his education through odd jobs.^[6]

He completed his primary education in Holy Family Boys High school (Lower primary) and Government Boys High school (Upper primary), Cherthala (both are mixed higher secondary schools now and the latter has changed its name to Sree Narayana Memorial Government Higher Secondary school) and completed his Bachelor of Arts from Maharajas College and Bachelor of Law from Mahatma Gandhi University.

Early politics[link]

A. K. Antony entered into politics as a student leader in Cherthala Taluk (Alleppey District) as an activist of Kerala Students Union (KSU) under the guidance of M. A. John.^[7] He has been an active leader of many strikes like Oru Ana Samaram (Single Penny Strike). He became the youngest president^[8] of Kerala Students Union in 1966^[8] and also served in the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) before becoming an All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in 1984. When he became KPCC president in 1972 he was the youngest person to hold that post. He was elected again as KPCC president in 1987, and was defeated by Vayalar Ravi in the KPCC presidential elections in 1991.

Congress Politics and Party Faction[link]

Congress (A) was a political party founded by Antony when he split from the Indian National Congress (Urs) a splinter group of the Indian National Congress (and opposed Indira Gandhi in inner party politics during the time when she was prosecuted by the Morarji Desai government, splitting off from the parent party with Devraj Urs.) The party was primarily active in Kerala and joined the LDF ministry headed by E. K. Nayanar during 1980-1982. After the fall of the Nayanar ministry, this party merged with the Congress in 1982, but Antony was not given any office until the death of Indira Gandhi. The members of the party have continued as a faction in the local congress afterwards.

Chief Minister of Kerala[link]

On accusations in the Rajan case, K. Karunakaran resigned and Antony was made the 8th Chief Minister of Kerala.^[9] Antony thus became the youngest Chief Minister of the state^[8][10] at the age of 37 serving from years April 27, 1977 to October 27, 1978.

Again, when K. Karunakaran resigned in connection with the ISRO case Antony was made the 16th Chief Minister of Kerala serving from years March 22, 1995 to May 9, 1996. He was the Leader of Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly during 1996 to 2001. Antony was elected and served the third term from May 17, 2001 to August 29, 2004. He failed to retain power on the first two occasions as Chief minister. In 2004, immediately after the Congress in Kerala suffered a total rout in the Lok Sabha elections amid factional politics and in-fighting within the Congress Party, Antony resigned as the Chief Minister of Kerala.^[8][10] He was succeeded by Oommen Chandy.

It was at his behest that the decision to construct the new Legislature Complex was taken in 1977. During his tenure, he introduced the Unemployment Allowance, Festival Allowance for the State Employees, Prohibition of arrack and the steps initiated to revive the economy of Kerala. He also took some initiatives in the field of Higher Education, Science & Technology, Bio-Technology, Information Technology and other related areas.^[11]

Rajya sabha and Union cabinet[link]

Union Minister for Civil Supplies[link]

He was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha between 1985 and 1995 and was the Minister for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution for a year in 1994 during the tenure of Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. He resigned on moral grounds as food minister in 1994 when his ministry was involved in a sugar import scandal, despite there being no allegations against him.^[8][12]

Union Minister for Defence[link]

Wikinews has related news: Antony becomes Central Cabinet Defence Minister in a minor expansion-cum-reshuffle in 2006 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In 2005, A. K. Antony entered the Rajya Sabha and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Defence Minister following Natwar Singh's expulsion from the Congress and Pranab Mukherjee's transfer to the Ministry of External Affairs. After the Congress again won the elections in 2009 and formed the government once again under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Antony retained the portfolio of Defence for the second term becoming the longest serving Defence Minister of India in a continuous stint.^[13][14]

Corruption in Armed Forces[link]

In Sukna land scandal, then Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor toned down the action against one his key aides, Lieutenant-General Avadesh Prakash who is one of the seniormost officers of the Army, against the recommendations of the Eastern Army Commander who had ordered the probe.^[15]

After an outcry over the perceived “letting off” of a senior officer in the case, who incidentally retired. Antony intervened and directed the Army Chief to order a court martial to bring out the facts of the case.^[16][17]

A.K Antony ordered CBI to investigate Army Chief Gen. V K Singh’s allegation that a former defence officer had offered him a Rs 14-crore bribe to clear a contract for 600 sub-standard heavy vehicles for Indian Army.^[18]

Adarsh scam[link]

After Adarsh Housing Society Scam in Mumbai, A K Antony recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to fix responsibility of the armed forces and defence estates officers.^[19] He also stated that under his supervision as defence minister of India, his ministry will not cover up the Adarsh Housing Society scam, but initiate "strict" action against those guilty though top armed forces officers, bureaucrats and politicians were allegedly involved in it.^[20][21]

Public image[link]

Antony is known for his incorruptible record^[22][23] and his intolerance towards corruption in public life.^{[8][10][24][25][26]} In India, he is known as "Mr. Clean" and "Saint Antony".^[27][28][29] He is ranked among top 10 Most Powerful Indians for the year 2012 by the Indian Express.^[30]

Personal life and beliefs[link]

Antony is married to Elizabeth, a Syrian Orthodox and they have two sons named Anil Kurien Antony who is a graduate of Stanford University^[31] and Ajith Paul Antony who is a graduate of St. Stephen's College, Delhi.^[32]

A. K. Antony was born into a Syrian Catholic family. He is an atheist^[1] and has always assumed office by affirmation rather than by a religious oath. However, he is a devotee of Mata Amritanandamayi^[2] and claims to have seen stars when she hugged him.^[3]

Honours, awards and international recognition[link]

Gallery[link]

References[link]

Wikinews has related news: World's defense chiefs meet in Singapore.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: A. K. Antony

	Biography portal
	India portal

• AK Antony Official bio-data at india.gov.in
• Biography: AK Antony Official biography at niyamasabha.org

A Knight's Tale is a 2001 American romantic adventure film written, directed, and produced by Brian Helgeland. The film stars Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer, and James Purefoy as Sir Thomas Colville/Edward, the Black Prince.

The film follows the story of William Thatcher, a peasant masquerading as a knight, along with his companions in the world of medieval jousting. William poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, winning accolades and acquiring friendships with such historical figures as Edward, the Black Prince of Wales and Geoffrey Chaucer.

The film takes its title from Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale" in his Canterbury Tales, though the plot is not especially similar. Garnering $117,487,473 with a budget of $41 million, it becomes successful at the worldwide box office.

Plot[link]

Set in late Medieval Europe in the mid-14th century, the story begins with the protagonists and squires, William (Heath Ledger), Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), discovering their master, Sir Ector (Nick Brimble), dead of bowel problems in the middle of a jousting tournament. He was ahead "three lances to none" and merely had to finish the final round to win the tournament and be awarded the money that was to buy food for them all. While Wat and Roland resign themselves to destitution now that they no longer have Sir Ector's employment and protection, William Thatcher takes the armour, and more importantly the helmet, from Sir Ector's body and poses as the noble to finish the match. William's inexperience is evident, as he receives a lance blow to the face mask, but regardless wins the tournament (and the money) due to Ector's previous lead. This gives William the idea that, with proper training, he and his companions could make a living in jousting. For a month, William trains with the help of Roland and Wat to improve his balance and aim. After many tries Will is able to joust properly and is therefore ready to compete.

Along the way to his first tournament in Rouen, William and his friends come upon Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), trudging down a road with no clothes or money. William persuades the writer to fake his patents of nobility, as it is illegal for peasants to joust, and joins the jousting circuit under the assumed name of "Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein" from Gelderland. Chaucer is then discovered to have a gambling problem, which William saves him from by paying his debts with his tournament winnings, and therefore gains Geoffrey's true loyalty (and services as a herald at the tournaments). Helped by Chaucer, Wat and Roland, he begins to win match after match. When his armour—still the same suit taken from Sir Ector—becomes loose and damaged, he gains an addition to his fellowship, Kate the blacksmith (Laura Fraser), who makes him revolutionary new armour and decides to travel with them. He faces a Sir Thomas Colville (James Purefoy) in one of his matches and deals him a crippling blow, but rather than finish him off William instead agrees to a draw in order to preserve Colville's honor. William meets and falls in love with a noble lady, Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon), who has already been noticed by the powerful Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell), the film's antagonist. A rivalry begins between the two of them for the affection of Jocelyn and the accolades of the tournaments, and Adhemar defeats William in his first tournament.

In the following tournament, they are both assigned to tilt against Sir Thomas Collville but Adhemar withdraws at the last minute after learning his true identity is that of Edward, the Black Prince (who assumed another identity hoping he will get a rare chance to compete if his opponents do not know his identity as the Prince of Wales), not willing to take the risk of harming English royalty. When William's turn comes, however, his competitiveness overcomes the pressure to withdraw, and he jousts with Edward (to Edward's surprise and pleasure) and wins the tournament, along with Edward's respect (because of the respect William has shown him in turn on two separate occasions, which the Prince considers an honorable and knightly quality). Following this, Will's companions, Wat, Roland, Kate, and Geoff, gamble all of their share of the money that William will win the French tournament in Paris. Simultaneously, Jocelyn tells William that he must lose the tournament to prove his love to her. After he openly accepts defeat after defeat, she changes her mind; he must now win to prove his love. He does win the tournament. After this, Jocelyn joins him in bed.

The group travels to London for the World Championship, and an important flashback to William's childhood is shown. His father, wanting the best for his son, reluctantly gave him over for squire services to Sir Ector, so that someday, he could realize his dream of becoming a knight and "change his stars" to live a better life than his father. Returning to the present, and to London for the first time since childhood, William, assuming that his father has long since died, visits his old neighborhood. He talks to a young local girl, (Alice Connor), who informs him that his father is still alive and well, albeit blind. William visits his father, initially presenting himself as Ulrich; and tells him that he has a message from William: that he has changed his stars after all. His father, overcome with joyous emotion, realizes it is actually his son, and they embrace and spend hours together.

Although everything appears well, Adhemar has returned from fighting in the Battle of Poitiers and discovers William's humble origins from a young girl outside Thatcher's home. He alerts the authorities. William's friends, including Jocelyn beg him to flee. Jocelyn promises to give up her privileged life and run away with him, but he refuses to run; and is arrested. Adhemar visits him in prison and gloats that he will marry Jocelyn, while beating the defenseless William. When William is moved to the stocks, his companions all stand with him to defend him from the crowd, which grows increasingly hostile until Prince Edward emerges from the mob. Silencing the crowd, and privately noting that William's friends' willingness to stand by him reflects the honour that he has earned, Edward orders William to be released, declaring that his historians have discovered that William is descended from an "ancient royal line" and that he is entitled to a knighthood after all; repaying William for the respect William had previously shown him (as it is the Prince's verdict, none are allowed to argue). He knights William. The newly dubbed "Sir William" goes on to resume his place in the tournament and compete against Adhemar.

With Jocelyn and William's father in attendance, Adhemar cheats with an illegal lance with a sharp point on the tip, which stabs into William's shoulder during the first round. William, unable to grip his lance or breathe properly due to his injury, has his armour removed and his lance strapped to his arm while Chaucer buys time by providing the introduction he 'forgot' earlier, and competes in the final round wearing only ordinary clothing. The two adversaries charge for the final bout, with William's life in the balance. He shouts his finally accepted true name, "WILLIAM," and knocks Adhemar from his horse, winning the tournament. Chaucer remarks that he should write this whole story down, a reference to "The Knight's Tale" of the Canterbury Tales. Jocelyn runs out ecstatically to meet William and they embrace in a long kiss.

Cast[link]

• Heath Ledger as William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich/Sir William (late in the film), a determined peasant who proves that he is not only a fantastic jouster, but is also more knightly in his acts and countenance than many of the high-born nobles
• Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar, the main antagonist- a cowardly, petty knight who is not above cheating his way to victory
• Shannyn Sossamon as Jocelyn, a high-born lady who expects more from her life than what a woman could expect in those days
• Bérénice Bejo as Christiana, Jocelyn's loyal friend and lady-in-waiting
• Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer, an extremely well spoken herald & writer
• Laura Fraser as Kate, a hard-working widowed blacksmith wanting to be recognized for her talent, and not defined by her gender
• Mark Addy as Roland, a chubby squire and solid friend of Thatcher. He finds amusement in the interactions between Chaucer and Wat
• Alan Tudyk as Wat, a red-haired squire and loyal friend of Thatchers', with a fiery temper
• James Purefoy as Sir Thomas Colville (Edward, the Black Prince)
• Leagh Conwell as Young William Thatcher
• Christopher Cazenove as John Thatcher
• Steven O'Donnell as Simon the Summoner
• Nick Brimble as Sir Ector, the knight who had William, Roland, and Wat as squires
• Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Old Bishop
• David Schneider as Relic Seller
• Alice Connor as Lone Girl
• Berwick Kaler as Man in Stocks

Production[link]

The entire film was shot in Prague, Czech Republic.

The film includes a great deal of jousting footage. The initial scene of the two knights jousting is actually footage of Heath Ledger's stunt double in an accident. During filming of a later scene in the movie, the lance of the stunt double's opponent moved off target and hit him in the head. The double fell to the ground unconscious. In another incident, Heath Ledger knocked out one of director Brian Helgeland's front teeth with a broomstick when the two were demonstrating a jousting move. It took several months for Helgeland's mouth to heal enough to repair the damage.

Plenty of effort was expended creating lances that would convincingly explode upon impact without injuring the stunt riders. The body of each lance was scored so it would break easily, and the tips were made of balsa wood. Each was also hollowed out, with the holes filled with balsa splinters and uncooked linguine.^[1] Jousting armour was made by Rod Vass and his company Armordillo Ltd. using a unique sprayed Polyurethane system that they invented for the film Gladiator. On screen it is almost impossible to distinguish between the polyurethane stunt armour and steel armour, much of which was also made by Armordillo. Heath Ledger's armour was originally made in steel along with 3 x Polyurethane stunt replicas.

Use of anachronisms[link]

In the film's actor/director DVD commentary, Brian Helgeland, co-commentating with Paul Bettany, states that the film was intended to have occurred sometime in the 1370s during a six-month period in which Chaucer had apparently gone missing and show what he might have done during this time, which Helgeland says later on in the commentary inspired Chaucer to write his Canterbury Tales. (The first Canterbury tale is The Knight's Tale. Chaucer also threatens two men he meets in the film with undying humiliation through fiction; these characters seem to have inspired the vitriolic descriptions of the Tales' Pardoner and Summoner.)

Helgeland also jokes in the commentary that he chose 1970s music and hairstyles for the movie because "the seventies are always the same", regardless of century. More seriously, Helgeland justifies his use of music by speculating that even during the 1370s, persons in the main characters' age group would've enjoyed newer, more contemporary music than something that had been around since their great grandparents were young, and opted to use music that would affect the audience the same way late 14th century music would've affected the youth of the 1370s. Thus, Helgeland attempted to stylize the movie in such a way as to bring the Middle Ages to the audience, rather than force the audience into the Middle Ages.

To this end, many intentional anachronisms are used within the story itself. Jocelyn's appearance combines medieval and modern styles, and the armor Kate makes for William is engraved with a symbol resembling the Nike logo. In the first jousting scene, when "We Will Rock You" is playing, the crowd provides the rhythmic thump-thump-clap as a modern-day crowd that recognizes the song would, the audience performs the wave, and a teenage girl is shown in the stands performing a distinctly twentieth-century dance. At a banquet, Count Adhemar tries to trip up the unsophisticated "Sir Ulrich" by urging him to show the other guests a dance from his own country; William, who's only spent a couple of hours learning to dance that day before the banquet, improvises with Jocelyn and comes up with something suited to a rock video (the featured song in this scene was "Golden Years" by David Bowie).

Language is also borrowed from the present day. An extended metaphor involving hunting during William's first conversation with Jocelyn leads to his calling her a "foxy lady." The first time Chaucer introduces William at a competition, he ends with a comedy-club "Thank you, I'll be here all week" in response to the crowd's wild cheers. When Jocelyn defends herself during an argument with William by saying, "Better a silly girl with a flower than a silly boy with a horse and a stick," an offended Wat calls after her, "It's called a lance... hellooo?" In one shot the London Eye is shown.

Music[link]

The film, which notionally took place during the Middle Ages, is notable for its deliberate use of classic rock songs in its soundtrack. The ten that were credited in the movie are listed in order of appearance:^[2]

• "We Will Rock You" – Queen
• "Low Rider" – War
• "Takin' Care of Business" – Bachman–Turner Overdrive
• "Golden Years" – David Bowie
• "Further on Up the Road" – Eric Clapton
• "Get Ready" – Rare Earth
• "I Want to Take You Higher" – Sly and the Family Stone
• "The Boys Are Back in Town" – Thin Lizzy
• "You Shook Me All Night Long" – AC/DC
• "We Are the Champions" – Robbie Williams & Queen

Reception[link]

Initially the reception for this film was mixed, with complaints about the anachronisms (the classic rock music in a movie that takes place during the Middle Ages), the many jousting scenes and the thin plot. However, notable film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of a possible 4 and commented that "Some will say the movie breaks tradition by telling a medieval story with a soundtrack of classic rock. They might as well argue it breaks the rules by setting a 1970s rock opera in the Middle Ages. To them I advise: Who cares?" and that in this film the director "pointed out that an orchestral score would be equally anachronistic, since orchestras hadn't been invented in the 1400s."^[3] The aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes rated the movie as being 59% fresh along with 80% approval from the audience. ^[4]

Newsweek revealed in June 2001 that print ads for at least four movies released by Columbia Pictures, including A Knight's Tale and The Animal (2001), contained glowing comments from a film reviewer who did not exist. The fake critic, David Manning, was created by a Columbia employee who worked in the advertising department. "Manning" was misrepresented as a reviewer for a newspaper in a small Connecticut town.

See also[link]

• List of historical drama films

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: A Knight's Tale

• A Knight's Tale at the Internet Movie Database
• A Knight's Tale at AllRovi
• A Knight's Tale at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Knight's Tale at Box Office Mojo

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Arun Jaitley
Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha)
Personal details
Born	(1952-12-28) 28 December 1952 (age 59) New Delhi
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence	New Delhi
Alma mater	University of Delhi
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
Religion	Hindu
Signature	Arun Jaitley's signature

Arun Jaitley (Hindi:अरुण जेटली ) (born 28 December 1952) is a prominent Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently the largest Opposition party in India. He is the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and has previously served as the Union Minister for commerce, industry, law and justice of the Government of India.

Background[link]

He was born to Kishen and Ratan Prabha Jaitley.^[1] Born to a lawyer father,^[2] he did his schooling at St. Xavier's School, New Delhi from 1969-70.^{[citation needed]} He graduated in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi in 1973. He passed his Law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, in 1977. During his career as a student, he was the recipient of several distinctions for his outstanding performances both in academics and extra curricular activities. He was President of the Students Union of Delhi University in 1974.^[3]

Political career as student union leader[link]

Jaitley was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader in the Delhi University Campus in the seventies and rose to be President of the University Students' Union in 1974. During the period of proclamation of Internal Emergency (1975–77) when civil liberties were suspended, he was under preventive detention for a period of 19 months. He was a prominent leader of a movement against corruption launched in the year 1973 by Raj Narain and Jai Prakash Narayan. He was the Convenor of the National Committee for Students and Youth organisation appointed by Jai Prakash Narayan. He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin along with Satish Jha and Smitu Kothari.^[2][3] After being released from jail he joined Jan Sangh.

Legal career[link]

He has been practicing law before the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts in the country since 1977.^[4] He is a designated Senior Advocate. He was appointed Additional Solicitor General by the V.P. Singh Government in 1989 and did the paperwork for the investigations into the Bofors scandal.^[2] His clients cover the political spectrum from Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal to Madhavrao Scindia of the Indian National Congress to L.K. Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has authored several publications on legal and current affairs. He has presented a Paper on Law relating to Corruption and Crime in India before the Indo-British Legal Forum. He was a delegate on behalf of the Government of India to the United Nations General Assembly Session in June 1998 where the Declaration on Law relating to Drugs and Money Laundering was approved.

Political career[link]

Arun Jaitley had been the member of the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during his student days. He became the spokesman of the BJP during the period preceding the 1999 general election. After the Vajpayee Government came to power under the umbrella of the National Democratic Alliance, he was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge) on October 13, 1999. He was also appointed Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge), a new Ministry created for the first time to give effect to the policy of disinvestments under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime. He took over the additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on July 23, 2000 following the resignation of Ram Jethmalani as the Union Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. He was elevated as a Cabinet Minister in November 2000 and was made simultaneously the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping. He was the first Minister of Shipping following the bifurcation of the Ministry of Surface Transport. He demitted the office of the Minister for Shipping with effect from September 1, 2001 and as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on July 1, 2002 to join as a Secretary General, BJP and its national spokesman.^[4] He worked in this capacity till January 2003. He rejoined the Union Cabinet as the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice on 29 January 2003. With the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance in May 2004, Jaitley returned to serving the BJP as a General Secretary, and back to his legal career.

He is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat (as of March 2006) and has never contested any election. He was chosen as the Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha on June 3, 2009 by L.K. Advani. On June 16, 2009 he resigned from the post of General Secretary of BJP as per his party's One Man One Post principle.

In his capacity as the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha- he has been credited for his excellent oratory which is matched equally by his intense research into the topic and his ability to succinctly convey the message without being shrill.

Personal income[link]

In a news item on income of Rajya Sabha MPs, Times of India reported that Arun Jaitely's income is Rs. 10 Crore (about US$ 2.15 million) per annum.^[5]

The BJP leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley has disclosed movable and immovable properties worth Rs 158 crore.^[6]

US cable controversy[link]

It was alleged that Jaitley had suggested that the use of right-wing Hindu nationalism was opportunistic and was being done as it was in 'currency' in certain parts of India.^[7]

Jaitley and his party BJP vehemently denied it.

Notable achievements[link]

Legal[link]

He represented the Birla family in their legal battle against R. S. Lodha on the question of ownership of Birla Corporation Limited, the property worth Rs. 5000 Cr and above.

He has represented Ram Gopal Verma in a case against the film-maker who had a distorted version of the National Anthem in his film Rann. He later dropped the song from the film.

84th Amendment[link]

He successfully introduced the eighty-fourth amendment to the Constitution of India in 2002 freezing parliamentary seats until 2026.^[8]

91st Amendment[link]

He successfully introduced the ninety-first amendment to the Constitution of India in 2004 penalising defections.^[9]

Role as strategic planner of BJP[link]

Recently, Arun Jaitley had emerged as strategic planner for his track record of managing a number of victories in state Assembly election for the BJP.

Arun Jaitley as General Secretary has managed 8 Assembly elections as of May 2008. Most recently, he oversaw the BJP's success in the state of Karnataka.

Gujarat[link]

In 2002, Arun Jaitley helped his close associate, Narendra Modi, win the Gujarat Assembly elections with a landslide mandate, winning 126 out of 182 seats. This partnership rewarded him with a Rajya Sabha nomination^{[citation needed]}.

In December 2007, Arun Jaitley orchestrated a well organized campaign to return the incumbent Chief Minister Narendra Modi back to power. The BJP won 117 seats out of the 182 seats. Narendra Modi specifically asked the party high command to depute Arun Jaitley in Gujarat. The primary poll issues were pro-incumbency of Narendra Modi and good governance by the state administration.

Madhya Pradesh[link]

In 2003, Arun Jaitley, managed the assembly elections for theBJP in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He, along with Uma Bharti, won a majority of 173 out of 230 in the MP Assembly.

Karnataka[link]

Arun Jaitley was specifically put in charge of Karnataka, which went to polls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha in May 2004. Karnataka is the only southern state in which the BJP has a sizable presence and a positive mandate for the BJP was expected. The BJP won 18 out of 26 Lok Sabha Seats in the State and emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly, capturing 83 seats, as opposed to the Congress' 68 and the Janata Dal (Secular)'s 59. The Congress and the JD(S) forged a coalition to form the Government with the Congress' Dharam Singh becoming Chief Minister. This however, did not last. In January 2006, disgruntled JDS leaders, led by H. D. Kumaraswamy decided to form a coalition government in the state in partnership with BJP. The understanding was that after half the remaining term of the assembly, the BJP would have its own Chief Minister in the State. In November 2007 H.D.Kumaraswamy declined to transfer the power to B. S. Yeddyurappa and assembly was dissolved.

In May 2008, Arun Jaitley oversaw a phenomenal election campaign in Karnataka, outdoing his previous performance. In the 224-member Assembly, the BJP won 110 seats, falling 3 short of a majority. Soon after, Arun Jaitley negotiated the support of 5 independent MLAs thus taking the BJP's strength to 115. All party leaders starting from President Rajnath Singh to colleague Sushma Swaraj and the BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate in Karnataka, B.S. Yedyurrappa, credited Arun Jaitley with the victory. The Karnataka victory and the ascendency of Yedyurrappa is widely touted as BJP's entry in South Indian politics.

Bihar[link]

In 2005, after the February elections resulted in a hung verdict, re-elections were held in November in the state of Bihar. This election was fought by the BJP in a coalition with the JD(U). He was the chief strategist of the NDA combine. The BJP, ended up winning an all time high of 58 seats and with the JD(U)'s 88 seats were able to form the government. Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) was instated as Chief Minister and the BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi was installed as Deputy Chief Minister.of Bihar.

Punjab[link]

In February 2007, Arun managed the BJP's campagaign in Punjab and coordinated a strategy between the party and its ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal. Out of the 23 seats the party contested, it won 19, a figure that surpassed all expectations and is the party's best-ever performance in the state.

MCD[link]

Late in 2007, Arun Jaitley was appointed general secretary in-charge of elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Of the 272 member Corporation, the BJP won 184 wards.

Personal life[link]

Jaitley has been married to Sangeeta Jaitley since 24 May 1982. They have two children, son Rohan^[10] and daughter Sonali.^[1][4]

References[link]

• Rajya Sabha Member's Weccb Site: Arun Jaitley
• BJP finds its winning mojo: alliances and incumbency
• India Today Interview: Arun Jaitley

He rejoined the Union Cabinet as the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice on 29 January 2003.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2007)

The Crisis

First Issue of The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, November 1910. New York: NAACP, 1910
Editor	W.E.B. Du Bois
Staff writers	Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, W.S. Braithwaite, M. D. Maclean
Monthly[1]
Publisher	NAACP
First issue	November 1910 (1910-November)
Company	The Crisis Publishing Company
Country	United States
Based in	New York, NY
Language	English
Website	www.thecrisismagazine.com
ISSN	1559-1573

The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Miller, W.S. Braithwaite, M. D. Maclean.^[2]

The original title of the journal was The Crisis: A Record of The Darker Races. From 1997 to 2003, it appeared as The New Crisis: The Magazine of Opportunities and Ideas, but the title has since reverted to The Crisis. The title derives from the poem "The Present Crisis" by James Russell Lowell.^[1] Published monthly, by 1920 its circulation had reached 100,000 copies. Du Bois proclaimed his intentions in his first editorial:

The object of this publication is to set forth those facts and arguments which show the danger of race prejudice, particularly as manifested today toward colored people. It takes its name from the fact that the editors believe that this is a critical time in the history of the advancement of men. …Finally, its editorial page will stand for the rights of men, irrespective of color or race, for the highest ideals of American democracy, and for reasonable but earnest and persistent attempts to gain these rights and realize these ideals.^[3]

Predominantly a current-affairs journal, The Crisis also included poems, reviews, and essays on culture and history. Du Bois' initial position as editor was in line with the NAACP's liberal programme of social reform and racial equality, but by the 1930s Du Bois was advocating a form of black separatism. This led to disputes between Du Bois and the NAACP resulting in his resignation as editor in 1934. He was replaced by Roy Wilkins.

Although The Crisis was officially an organ of the NAACP, Du Bois had a large degree of control over the periodicals expressed opinion. Du Bois wrote in Dusk of Dawn that he intended for The Crisis to represent his personal opinions:

I determine to make the opinion of the Crisis a personal opinion; because, as I argued, no organization can express definite and clear cut opinions… the Crisis would state openly the opinion of its editor, so long, of course, as that opinion was in general agreement with that of the organization.

Du Bois contends that the periodical suffered during the Great Depression as the "circulation dropped steadily until by 1933 it was scarcely more than ten thousand paid subscriptions." Du Bois left the magazine for both financial and ideological reasons.

Throughout the Du Bois years The Crisis published the work of many young African American writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Its greatest era as a literary journal was between 1919 and 1926, when Jessie Redmon Fauset was literary editor. Fauset encouraged such writers as Arna Bontemps, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Jean Toomer.

Following the departure of Fauset and Du Bois, the influence of The Crisis declined. The magazine was unable to sustain the high literary standards it had achieved under Fauset, but it continued to have a powerful political voice.

References[link]

A 1911 copy of The Crisis depicting "Ra-Maat-Neb, one of the black kings of the Upper Nile", a copy of the relief of Nebmaatre I on Meroe pyramid 17.

Du Bois, WEB (1940), Dusk of Dawn, Library of America, ISBN [[Special:BookSources/97809400450332|97809400450332]] .

Partington, Paul, The Moon Illustrated Weekly: Black America's First Weekly Magazine, ISBN 978-0-9602538-2-1 .

External links[link]

• The Crisis, http://www.thecrisismagazine.com/ .
• History, NAACP, http://www.naacp.org/about/history/ .
• The Crisis, Footnote, January 1918, http://www.footnote.com/browsemore/179488128_Boom%20and%20Bust:%201920-1935/ .
• The Crisis, Books, Google, http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1&q=The+Crisis+Magazine&btnG=Search+Books#q=The+Crisis+Magazine&hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=bks:1,bkt:m&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=TrrMTILMLJG4sQPMn9CPDg&ved=0CBMQpwU&fp=fd2e97bdff999388 .
• The Crisis, 1, 10–23, The Modernist Journals Project, Nov. 1910 – Apr. 1911, May 1915 – Apr. 1922, http://www.modjourn.org/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=crisiscollection .

Sonia Gandhi
Chairperson of the National Advisory Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 March 2010
In office 2004–2006
Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Member of Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006
Constituency	Rae Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
In office 2004–2006
President of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 1998
Member of Lok Sabha
In office 1999–2004
Constituency	Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 March 1998 – 22 May 2004
Preceded by	Sharad Pawar
Succeeded by	Lal Krishna Advani
Personal details
Born	Edvige Antonia Albina Maino (1946-12-09) 9 December 1946 (age 65) Lusiana, Veneto, Italy
Citizenship	India
Nationality	Italian[citation needed]
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Rajiv Gandhi (m. 1969–1991) «start: (1969)–end+1: (1992)»"Marriage: Rajiv Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Sonia_Gandhi)
Children	Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Vadra
Residence	10 Janpath, New Delhi, India
Profession	Politician social worker
Religion	Roman Catholicism[1]

Sonia Gandhi (born Antonia Edvige Albina Maino^[2][3][4] on 9 December 1946)^[5] is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to Nehru–Gandhi family. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress.

Since then, Sonia Gandhi has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party.^[6] Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and controversy.^[7][8][9] Although Sonia is actually the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947.^[10]

Early life[link]

Sonia Gandhi's birthplace, 31, Contrada Maini (Maini street), Lusiana, Italy (the house on the right)

She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Contrada Màini ("Maini quarter/district"), at Lusiana,^[11][12] a little village 30 km from Vicenza in Veneto,^[13] Italy, where families with the family name "Màino" have been living for many generations.^[14][15][16] She spent her adolescence in Orbassano,^[17] a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building mason, died in 1983.^[18] Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.^[19]

In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge. She met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant (the Varsity Restaurant) while working there as a waitress to make ends meet.^[20][21] Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1968, following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.^[22]

The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Vadra (born 1972). Despite belonging to the influential Nehru family, Sonia and Rajiv avoided all involvement in politics. Rajiv worked as an airline pilot while Sonia took care of her family.^[23] When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 in the aftermath of the Indian Emergency, the Rajiv family moved abroad for a short time.^{[citation needed]} When Rajiv entered politics in 1982 after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash on 23 June 1980, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with the public.^[24]

Political career[link]

Wife of the Prime Minister[link]

Sonia Gandhi's involvement with Indian public life began after the assassination of her mother-in-law and her husband's election as Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister's wife she acted as his official hostess and also accompanied him on a number of state visits.^{[citation needed]} In 1984, she actively campaigned against her husband's sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi who was running against Rajiv in Amethi. At the end of Rajiv Gandhi's five years in office, the Bofors Scandal broke out. Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian business man believed to be involved, was said to be a friend of Sonia Gandhi, having access to the Prime Minister's official residence.^[25] In 1980, her name appeared in the voter's list for New Delhi prior to her becoming an Indian Citizen, when she was still holding Italian Citizenship.^[26] It was a violation of Indian Laws.^[27] When she did acquire Indian Citizenship in April 1983, the issue cropped up again, as her name appeared on the 1983 voter's list when the deadline for registering had been in January 1983.^[28][29]

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said that she surrendered her Italian passport to the Italian Embassy on 27 April 1983. Italian nationality law did not permit dual nationality until 1992. So, by acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983, she would automatically have lost Italian citizenship.^[30]

Congress President[link]

With the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev during his State visit in December 2010.

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

In an effort to revive the party's sagging fortunes, she joined the Congress Party as a primary member in the Calcutta Plenary Session in 1997 and became party leader in 1998.^[31]

In May 1999, three senior leaders of the party (Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar) challenged her right to try to become India's Prime Minister because of her foreign origins. In response, she offered to resign as party leader, resulting in an outpouring of support and the expulsion from the party of the three rebels who went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party.^[32]

Within 62 days of joining as a primary member, she was offered the party President post which she accepted.^{[citation needed]} She contested Lok Sabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj.^[33] In 2004 and 2009, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.^[34]

Leader of the Opposition[link]

Sonia Gandhi welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to her residence, 10 Janpath in New Delhi, India, 2009.

She was elected the Leader of the Opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.^{[citation needed]} When the BJP-led NDA formed a government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she took the office of the Leader of Opposition. As Leader of Opposition, she called a no-confidence motion against the NDA government led by Vajpayee in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

She holds the record of having served as Congress President for 10 years consecutively.^{[citation needed]}

2004 elections and aftermath[link]

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

The defeated NDA protested once against her 'foreign origin' and senior NDA leader Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head and "sleep on the ground", among other things, should Sonia become prime minister.^[7] The NDA also claimed that there were legal reasons that barred her from the Prime Minister's post.^[35] They pointed, in particular, to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955, which they claimed implied 'reciprocity'. This was contested by others^[29] and eventually the suits were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.^[36]

A few days after the election, Gandhi appointed Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Her supporters compared it to the old Indian tradition of renunciation,^[37] while her opponents attacked it as a political stunt.^[38]

UPA Chairperson[link]

Sonia Gandhi speaking at World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2006

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

As chairperson of the National Advisory Committee and the UPA, she played an important role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act into law.^[39][40]

She addressed the United Nations on 2 October 2007, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which is observed as the international day of non-violence after a UN resolution passed on 15 July 2007.^[41]

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

Personal life[link]

Sonia Gandhi in 2009

Sonia is the widow of late Rajiv Gandhi, elder son of Indira Gandhi. She is a practising Christian.^[42] There has been considerable media speculation for over a decade about their future role in the Congress. After a period of uncertainty, both Rahul and Priyanka became primary members of the Congress party. While Priyanka has so far restricted herself to organising her mother's election campaigns and taking care of Sonia's constituency, Rahul Gandhi has gone on to take formal charge as General Secretary of the Congress Party. He is also currently head of the Youth Congress.

In August 2011, she underwent a successful surgery for some ailment in the US. It has been widely speculated in the media that the surgery took place at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Newspapers reported that she returned^[43] to India on 9 September after her treatment.

Honours, awards and international recognition[link]

Gandhi was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in the year 2004^[44] and was ranked 6th in 2007.^[45] In 2010, Gandhi ranked as the ninth most powerful person on the planet by Forbes Magazine.^[46] She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007^[47] and 2008.^[48] The British magazine New Statesman listed Sonia Gandhi at number 29 in their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" in the year 2010.^[49]

Portrayals and coverage in books[link]

Books[link]

• Sonia Gandhi – An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny (2011), a biography written by Rani Singh.

See also[link]

• List of political families
• List of Italians

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• S. R. ET AL. BAKSHI (1998) Sonia Gandhi, The President of AICC South Asia Books. ISBN 81-7024-988-0
• Rupa Chaterjee (1999) Sonia Gandhi: The Lady in Shadow Butala. ISBN 81-87277-02-5
• C. Rupa, Rupa Chaterjee (2000) Sonia Mystique South Asia Books. ISBN 81-85870-24-1
• Moro, Javier "El sari rojo" (Ed. Seix Barral, 2008) "Il sari rosso" (Il Saggiatore, 2009)

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	India portal