Coordinates: 31°56′N 45°17′E / 31.933°N 45.283°E / 31.933; 45.283

Isin and the other major city-states of Hammurabi's Babylonia

Isin (Sumerian: I₃-si-in^ki[1]) was an ancient city-state of lower Mesopotamia about 20 miles south of Nippur at the site of modern Ishan al-Bahriyat in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate.

History[link]

The city lay on the Isinnitum Canal, part of a set of waterways that connected the cities of Mesopotamia. The patron deity of Isin was Nintinuga (Gula) goddess of healing, and a temple to her was built there. The Isin king Enlil-bani reported building a temple to Gula named E-ni-dub-bi, a temple for Sud named E-dim-gal-an-na, a temple E-ur-gi-ra to Ninisina, as well as a temple for the god Ninbgal.^[2][3]

The site of Isin was occupied at least as early as the Early Dynastic Period in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, and possibly as far back as the Ubaid period. While cuneiform tablets from that time were found, the first epigraphic reference to Isin was not until the Ur III period.

When the deteriorating Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur-III) finally collapsed at the hands of the Elamites at the end of the third millennium BC, a power vacuum was left that other city-states scrambled to fill. The last king of the Ur Dynasty, Ibbi-Sin, had not the resources nor the organized government needed to expel the Elamite invaders. One of his governmental officials, Ishbi-Erra, relocated from Ur to Isin, another city in the south of Mesopotamia, and established himself as a ruler there. One of Ishbi-Erra's year names reports his defeating Ibbi-Sin in battle.^[4]

Although he is not considered part of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Ishbi-Erra did make some attempts at continuing the trappings of that dynasty, most likely to justify his rule.^[4] Ishbi-Erra had ill luck expanding his kingdom, however, for other city-states in Mesopotamia rose to power as well. Eshnunna and Ashur were developing into powerful centers. However, he did succeed in repulsing the Elamites from the Ur region. This gave the Isin dynasty control over the culturally significant cities of Ur, Uruk, and the spiritual center of Nippur.

For over 100 years, Isin flourished. Remains of large buildings projects, such as temples, have been excavated. Many royal edicts and law-codes from that period have been discovered. The centralized political structure of Ur-III was largely continued, with Isin's rulers appointing governors and other local officials to carry out their will in the provinces. Lucrative trade routes to the Persian Gulf remained a crucial source of income for Isin.

The exact events surrounding Isin's disintegration as a kingdom are mostly unknown, but some evidence can be pieced together. Documents indicate that access to water sources presented a huge problem for Isin. Isin also endured an internal coup of a sort when Gungunum the royally appointed governor of Larsa and Lagash province, seized the city of Ur. Ur had been the main center of the Gulf trade; thus this move economically crippled Isin. Additionally, Gungunum's two successors Abisare and Sumuel (c. 1905 BC and 1894 BC) both sought to cut Isin off from its canals by rerouting them into Larsa. At some point, Nippur was also lost. Isin would never recover. Around 1860 BC, an outsider named Enlil-bani seized the throne of Isin, ending the hereditary dynasty established by Ishbi-Erra over 150 years earlier. ^[2]

Although politically and economically weak, Isin maintained its independence from Larsa for at least another forty years, ultimately succumbing to Larsa's ruler Rim-Sin I.

After the First Dynasty of Babylon rose to power in the early 2nd millennium and captured Larsa, much significant construction occurred at Isin. This ended with a destruction dated to around the 27th year of the reign of Samsu-iluna, son of Hammurabi, based on tablets found there.

Later, the Kassites who took over in Babylon after its sack in 1531 BC, resumed building at Isin. The final significant stage of activity occurred during the Second Dynasty of Isin at the end of the 2nd millennium, most notably by king Adad-apla-iddina.

Kings of Isin[link]

First Dynasty of Isin (short chronology)

Culture and Literature[link]

Ishbi-Erra continued many of the cultic practices that had flourished in the preceding Ur III period. He continued acting out the sacred marriage ritual each year. During this ritual, the king played the part of the mortal Dumuzi, and he had sex with a priestess who represented the goddess of love and war, Inanna (also known as Ishtar). This was thought to strengthen the king's relationship to the gods, which would then bring stability and prosperity on the entire country.

The Isin kings continued also the practice of appointing their daughters official priestesses of the moon god of Ur.

The literature of the period also continued in the line of the Ur III traditions when the Isin dynasty was first begun. For example, the royal hymn, a genre started in the preceding millennium, was continued. Many royal hymns written for the Isin rulers mirrored the themes, structure, and language of the Ur ones. Sometimes the hymns were written in the first person of a king's voice; other times, they were pleas of ordinary citizens meant for the ears of a king (sometimes an already dead one).

It was during this period that the Sumerian King List attained its final form, though it used many much earlier sources. The very compilation of the List seems to lead up to the Isin Dynasty itself, which would give it much legitimacy in the minds of the people because the dynasty would then be linked to earlier (albeit sometimes legendary) kings. ^[5]

Archaeology[link]

The site of Isin is a low but sizable mound about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) across and with a maximum height of 8 metres (26 ft). Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited by Stephen Langdon for a day to conduct a sounding, while he was excavating at Kish in 1924.^[6] Most of the major archaeological work at Isin was accomplished in 11 seasons between 1973 and 1989 by a team of German archaeologists led by Barthel Hrouda.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]} However, as was the case at many sites in Iraq, research was interrupted by the Gulf War (1990-1) and the Iraq War (2003 to present). Since the end of excavations, extensive looting is reported to have occurred at the site. Even when the German team began their work, the site had already been heavily looted.

See also[link]

Ancient Near East portal

• Cities of the Ancient Near East

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Barthel Hrouda, D. Ergebnisse d. Ausgrabungen 1973-1974 (Veroffentlichungen der Kommission zur Erschliessung von Keilschrifttexten), In Kommission bei der C.H. Beck, 1977, ISBN 3-7696-0074-6
• Barthel Hrouda, Isin, Isan Bahriyat II: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1975-1978 (Veroffentlichungen der Kommission zur Erschliessung von Keilschrifttexten), In Kommission bei der C.H. Beck, 1981, ISBN 3-7696-0082-7
• Barthel Hrouda, Isin, Isan Bahriyat III: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1983-1984 (Veroffentlichungen der Kommission zur Erschliessung von Keilschrifttexten), In Kommission bei C.H. Beck, 1987, ISBN 3-7696-0089-4
• Barthel Hrouda, Isin, Isan Bahriyat IV: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen, 1986-1989 (Veroffentlichungen der Kommission zur Erschliessung von Keilschrifttexten), In Kommission bei C.H. Beck, 1992, ISBN 3-7696-0100-9
• M. van de Mieroop, Crafts in the Early Isin Period: A Study of the Isin Craft Archive from the Reigns of Isbi-Erra and Su-Illisu, Peeters Publishers, 1987, ISBN 90-6831-092-5
• Vaughn Emerson Crawford, Sumerian economic texts from the first dynasty of Isin, Yale University Press, 1954

External links[link]

• Archaeological Site Photographs of Isin at Oriental Institute
• Iraqi Looters Tearing Up Archaeological Sites Edmund L. Andrews. The New York Times, May 23, 2003.

Işın Karaca
in Antalya, 10 May 2008
Background information
Birth name	Işın Funda Büyükkaraca
Born	(1973-03-07) 7 March 1973 (age 39) UK
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress
Years active	2001 – present
Labels	Seyhan (2006–) İmaj (2004–2006) Power (2001–2004)
Website	isinkaraca.com

Işın Karaca (Turkish pronunciation: [ɯʃˈɯn kaɾaˈdʒa]) (born 7 March 1973 in London) is a British born Turkish Cypriot pop singer.

Education[link]

She graduated from the London IV King Edward School with a theatre major.

Musical career[link]

	Tutunamadım noicon Başka Bahar noicon
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Işın began her musical career as vocalist for Sezen Aksu. In 1997, she performed songs in the Turkish translation of Disney's Hercules' Soundtrack. She also performed the Turkish translations of this album. In 1999 she became the lead vocalist of the musical group "Panic Attack",^[1] but the group separated before releasing any albums. In 2000 she competed for Turkey on Eurovision Song Contest's pre-eliminations with "Bir Kırık Sevda". She didn't pass pre-eliminations for Eurovision but she represented Turkey in the OGAE Second Chance Contest and became 7th with 104 points.^[2] One year later she tried again with "Kaderimsin", but again she wasn't selected to represent Turkey for Eurovision. In OGAE Second Chance Contest, "Kaderimsin" became 14th with 52 points.^[3] She also appeared in Sezen Aksu's music videos "Oh oh" and "Allahın Varsa". In 2000 she was featured in "Geçmişe Yolculuk" from Fresh B's "Gerçek Kal" album. Until 2001 she continued working as back vocalist of Sezen Aksu. She also modeled for the XL fashion company "Sumak"'s Fall-Winter catalog in 2004–2005. She and her brother Akın Büyükkaraca own a musical production company: Akış Production.

In 2009 November, she modeled for Adil Işık's 2009–2010 Fall-Winter catalogue "Love My Body" collection. The photoshoot was shot by famous Turkish photographer Serkan Şedele.^[4]

[edit] Anadilim Aşk (2001)

She released her debut album, Anadilim Aşk (My Native Language is Love), in 2001 on the label "Power Records". Most of the songs on this album were written by Sezen Aksu, and two of them have lyrics by Ali İlyas. She made a great success with this album, becoming popular all over Turkey. Her first single Tutunamadım and second single Başka Bahar became hits. The video for the third single "Aramıza Yollar" was shot by Waleed Nassif. This video was the first High Definition video in Turkey. Famous Turkish actor Toprak Sergen also appears in this video. There's a video shot for "Doğum Günün Kutlu Olsun Oğlum", but this video was never aired due to conflicts with her music company. First release of this album sold-out quickly and they re-released with an addition of "Tutunamadım (remix)" in 2001. This version also sold-out quickly, and in 2006 it was re-released with "Seyhan Müzik" label. After the first album was released, she contributed to several albums like Selmi Andak's "Uluslararası Ödüllü Selmi Andak Şarkıları", Hakkı Yalçın's "O Şarkılar", Alpay's "Sessiz Kalma" and collection of "Yeni Türkiye Coşku Dolu". She performed a song in soundtrack album of Ezel Akay's movie Where's Firuze?. She also starred in this movie as guest star. In 2004 she formed a group named "Masalcılar [Storytellers]" with Erdem Yörük, Eda Özülkü and Metin Özülkü. They made their first album called "Masalcılar I" in which they tell stories to children. The group intended to make a series of albums like this and they credited this inside the cover of the album, but they never released another project.

	Bekleyelim de Görelim noicon
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[edit] İçinde Aşk Var (2004)

At 2004, She released her second album, İçinde Aşk Var (There's Love Inside). She worked with different writers like Aysel Gürel, Suat Suna, Ümit Sayın. She also wrote a song in this album. This album has only one song written by Sezen Aksu. First video Yetinmeyi Bilir misin? becomes a hit. Second video "Bekleyelim de Görelim" also made a great success. The last video came to a Sezen Aksu cover "Hoşgörü".

In 2006 she contributed in Mehmet Tokat's poetry album "İnadına Seveceğim". Then she performed "Ben Sana Vurgunum" for Ali Kocatepe's tribute album "41 Kere Maşallah" which was a celebration of Ali Kocatepe's 41st year as an artist. She performed "Eski Bir Resim" in rap-singer Ogeday's album "Mecburi İstikamet". She also contributed in charity album "Yaşasın Okulumuz" which aims to make schools or improve the conditions of them, mostly in sub-urban areas.

	Mandalinalar noicon Herşeye Rağmen (33/3) noicon
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[edit] Başka 33/3 (2006)

In 2006 she released her third solo album, 33/3 Başka (Different). She worked with Alper Narman and Fettah Can on this album. She wrote a song for this album too. There are no Sezen Aksu songs in this album. First video Mandalinalar becomes a hit. Second video came to "Kalp Tanrıya Emanet". Third video became "Bırakma".

In 2007 she performed "The Final Countdown" in Dolapdere Big Gang's Just Feel. This is the first song performed in English by Işın Karaca in an official recording.

In 2008 she was featured in Ogeday's Maxi Single. They performed "Eski Bir Resim" in RnB, Electribe, House, Reggaeton and Electronic style.^[5] In June, she performed cover of Esmeray's hit "Unutama Beni" for the theme song of ATV's "Elif" TV series.

[edit] Uyanış (2009)

Işın Karaca's fourth studio album,"Uyanış", was released on 29 May 2009. She worked with Sibel Alaş, Erdem Yörük, Erol Temizel and Zeki Güner on the album. She is also a songwriter for several songs in the album.

Acting career[link]

She had a leading role in a movie called "Sen Ne Dilersen" (International English title:Whatever You Wish) directed by Cem Başeskioglu. The movie has very talented actors like Işık Yenersu, Zeynep Eronat, Yıldız Kenter, Fikret Kuşkan, etc. She made a great performance with her role "Marika" although it's her first career movie.

Işın Karaca at Concert in Ankara, 2005

She was to act in "Herşeyin Bittiği Yerden" directed by Turkish film director and actor Ezel Akay, where she co-starred with Okan Bayülgen. The movie is about 1999 İzmit earthquake. The film was scheduled to be released on January 2009, however it was cancelled due to financial problems.^[6]

Television[link]

In 2005 she hosted a musical program called "Işın Show" in channel ATV. In the show she hosted several popular Turkish singers and actors every week. In 2007 she and Vatan Şaşmaz hosted "Kadın Her Yaşta Güzeldir" which was a beauty contest between mothers. In 2007 she also became the musical coach of Vatan Şaşmaz in "Şarkı Söylemek Lazım", in which popular non-singer celebrities sing songs for the show. They became very successful that they come 4th out of 12 contestants. In mid-2007 she begins hosting a musical show "Haydi Söyle" in channel Turkmax.

Philanthropy[link]

In 2005, she rebuilt the library of "Gölcük Kız Meslek High School" which was damaged in 1999 İzmit earthquake. On 3 July 2005 she gave a charity concert and donated the income to the school.^[7] On 19 April 2006 she opened the library, which was named after her.^[8]

In 2006 she contributed in Yaşasın Okulumuz project, which aims to make schools or improve the conditions of them, mostly in sub-urban areas. She sung the theme song with other artists and gave one of her songs "Sen" to be included in the album made for the project. She also joined the charity night aired on Show TV, where she and other voluntary artists answered calls for donations.

In April 2008, she contributed in charity album "Gel Sende Katıl Umudun Şarkısına" (Come, join the song of hope), a song made for "KACUV" (Foundation of Hope for Kids with Cancer). This project aims to build hygienic houses to be used for treatment of kids who had cancer.

In 2009, she and Sedat Doğan started a project named "Doğudan Doğan Işık" (The light that sets from east). It is an exhibition, which aims renewal of village schools in Turkey. They started their first photoshoot in Mardin.^[9]

Authorship[link]

As of 2 March 2005 she was writing a blog named "Kaleminden" (From her pen) on her official website,^[10] that is mainly about news of her works but occasionally contains her point of view on daily events. The articles sometimes concern about global awarenesses or national problems with a wide range of interests from politics to music industry. She currently had written 66 articles.

In 2005 she announced that she was writing a book. Later she told that it is a diet book named "Büyümek İçin Küçülmek Lazım" (Need to get smaller to grow) and will be published when she is 36 in size.^[11] The book is about her memories while losing weight, and there will be also tips about diet recipes.

In 2008 she became columnist of http://www.2kadin.com website and has been writing since 18 June 2008.^[12] Her columns are about relationships, and her target audience is women.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

1. Anadilim Aşk [My Native Language is Love] (28 November 2001)
2. İçinde Aşk Var [There's Love Inside] (16 December 2004)
3. Başka 33/3 [Different] (19 June 2006)
4. Uyanış [Awakening] (29 May 2009)
5. Arabesque: Geçmiş, Geçmemiş Hiç... [Arabesque: Past, has never passed...] (22 April 2010)
6. Arabesque II: Geçmiş Bize Yakışıyor [Arabesque II: Past suits us] (June 2011)

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Işın Karaca

• Official site
• Sen ne dilersen at the Internet Movie Database
• Isin Karaca at the Internet Movie Database
• Işın Karaca discography at MusicBrainz
• Işın Karaca discography at Discogs

See also[link]

• Sezen Aksu
• Music of Turkey
• Turkish pop music

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

John Paul Young
John Paul Young at the RocKwiz Live Show in Canberra, March 2010.
Background information
Birth name	John Young
Also known as	John Young
Born	(1950-06-21) 21 June 1950 (age 62)
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Genres	Pop
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Albert/Parlophone, EMI, Hammard, Boulevarde
Associated acts	Elm Tree, Vanda & Young, The All Stars

John Paul Young (born 21 June 1950 in Glasgow, Scotland) (known as John Paul Jackson or Squeak to fans) is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air".^[1][2] Initially performing as John Young, he was associated with songwriters/producers Vanda & Young (ex-The Easybeats),^[3] who provided him with "Love Is in the Air", "Yesterday's Hero", "I Hate the Music" and "Standing in the Rain". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a performer and guest host on national broadcaster, ABC's 1974–1987 TV series, Countdown.^[1] For touring purposes he fronted The All Stars, who also worked with Vanda & Young's former bandmate Stevie Wright.^[1] The All Stars included Warren Morgan (ex-Chain, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) on piano and vocals,^[4] who co-wrote songs with Young.^[1] Besides "Love Is in the Air", Young had top ten chart success in Germany and the Netherlands with "Standing in the Rain" and four other top ten hits in South Africa,^[1] including No. 1 hits with "I Hate the Music" in 1976 and "Yesterday's Hero" in 1977.^[5]

On 27 August 2009, Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes, Little Pattie and Mental As Anything.^[6][7][8]

Early career[link]

Young was born in 1950 in Glasgow, Scotland and his family emigrated to Australia arriving in Sydney on Australia Day (26 January) 1962 at the age of 11.^[9] After finishing schooling, he started an apprenticeship as a sheet metal worker.^[1] Initially performing as John Young, his first involvement in music began in late 1967 when he formed a band, Elm Tree, with schoolmates.^[1]

It was my friends who convinced me that I could be a singer. One weekend I rolled up and they were standing there with two bass guitars and an announcement; that we were going to form a band. I immediately poo-pooed the whole thing because I'd just started my apprenticeship in sheet metalwork and after paying off a car, no way was I going to be paying off equipment or anything like that so they said, 'You can be the singer because you're always singing and you don't need any equipment' - and I fell for it.

—John Paul Young, The Drum Media, 30 July 2009^[9]

The other members included Robert (Slim) Barnett on bass guitar, Ollie Chojnacki on guitar, Phillip Edwards, Andy Imlah on co-lead vocals, Dave Kaentek, Ron Mazurkiewicz on keyboards and Geoff Watts on drums, George Taylor [Drums 1971-1972].^[1][4] Elm Tree gained a moderate following around Sydney, and after being spotted by producer Martin Erdman, they cut one single for his Du Monde label, a cover of UK band Marmalade's "Rainbow", which was released through Festival in November 1970, but did not peak into the top 50 Australian singles charts.^[1][10] In mid-1971 they entered the New South Wales heats of the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds and got as far as the Sydney finals, but they didn't make it through to the national final, and so never managed to break out of the Sydney suburban dance circuit.^[1][2] For Young, a major break occurred at an Elm Tree performance when visiting producer and manager, Simon Napier-Bell, heard them in a pub in Newcastle.^[1][2] He persuaded Young to sign as a solo artist to Albert Productions—the company that had produced Australia's top 1960s group The Easybeats.^[1][2] Napier-Bell then produced Young's first hit single, "Pasadena", at Armstrong Studios in Melbourne; it was co-written by George Young (no relation) and Harry Vanda of The Easybeats, together with British actor David Hemmings who was a partner in Napier-Bell's label, SNB Records.^[1][11] Vanda & Young also produced AC/DC and other Albert Productions artists.^[3] All he had to do was sing over the demo tape Vanda/Young had sent from London^[12]. The single was released under the name, John Young, later releases used his full name to avoid confusion with Johnny Young (no relation), the 1960s pop star and Young Talent Time (1971–1988 TV show) presenter.^[9] "Pasadena" peaked at No. 16 in the Australian Singles charts in early 1972.^[10] It was followed by "You Drive Me Crazy" which was released in February 1973 but failed to chart.^[2][10] In addition to the above line up of Elmtree, George Taylor was the drummer directly before John (JPY) left to go into Jesus Christ Superstar then embark on his solo career. During this period, the band competed in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds coming third in the Hornsby heat to Sherbet (1st) and Jeff St John & Copperwine (2nd). At the time, Elmtree played "Gipsy" and "Walking In Your Shadow", two Uriah Heep covers.

At this point, JPY got a manager Dal Miles who got him a role in the Melbourne production of The Jesus Christ Revolution. The show opened and closed in six weeks.^[12] However, it was being seen in this production, Young received a telegram from Jim Sharman who wanted him to audition as Annas for Harry M. Miller’s original Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar.^[12][13] The show premiered in Sydney on 4 May 1972, and, as well as established theatrical performers, the cast featured leading pop-rock artists: Trevor White, Robin Ramsay, Jon English, Doug Parkinson, Stevie Wright (ex-The Easybeats), Marcia Hines and Reg Livermore.^[13] Young remained with the production until it closed in February 1974, the production broke theatrical attendance records in its two year season, and whilst it provided him with a public profile, it left him at a loose end when it concluded.^[13]

"Pasadena" had been a hit [but] nobody knew what I looked like. Everybody thought the song was American and basically that was that. It faded away and the ... Superstar - two and a half years of absolute gold - finished.

—John Paul Young^[9]

Chart successes[link]

Young renewed his association with Albert Productions, signing with them as a solo artist. Vanda & Young had returned to Australia from UK in 1973, after his stint in Superstar, they took over as his producers and resumed writing songs for him.^[1] Young's third single "It's Only Love"^[14] was released in March 1974 but failed to chart in the top 50.^[1][2][10]. The B Side was a track called Bad Trip. Young said "no one liked it. It was a disappointment. It was about suicide but they must've thought it was about drugs because of the title. It wasn't banned or anything, they just didn't play it."^[12]

He considered a part in Godspell but decided against it, preferring to go back to sheet metal work. He left the job after a day and a half due to being hassled by the boss.^[12]

His next single was "Yesterday's Hero", which was released in March 1975, a song about the fleeting nature of pop stardom which clearly drew on Vanda & Young's own experiences as former teen idols.^[1][2][15] The single shot into the national charts in April and gave Young his first top ten hit,^[10] reaching No. 8 on the Australian singles chart^[10] and staying at No. 1 on the Melbourne charts for six weeks before being replaced by Hush's "Boney Maroney". The single sold strongly in the United States, where it reached No. 44 on the Cash Box Top 100 in February 1976.^[16] It was subsequently covered by the Bay City Rollers. One of the key factors in the Australian success of "Yesterday's Hero" was the film clip made to promote it, which enabled the song to be given heavy exposure on Countdown, which had just switched to its new one-hour Sunday evening format, following the official start of colour TV broadcasting on 1 March 1975.^[2][17][18] Young's debut performance on Countdown had him miming "Yesterday's Hero" while dressed in a sailor's suit surrounded on an island stage with a studio audience of screaming teen girls.^[19] He was dragged off the stage three times by audience members and the microphone cord was ripped out but the song continued uninterrupted.^[19] ABC TV producer, Michael Shrimpton believes his show, Countdown, played a big part in making "Yesterday's Hero" and Young a teen pop success.^[17]

John Paul Young was the first male singer that the show chose to make a megastar. It was an experiment. Could we actually take someone who was basically unknown and in a matter of two months turn him into a number one hit?

—Michael Shrimpton^[20]

By mid-1975, Countdown's talent co-ordinator, Ian Meldrum, had started appearing on-screen with a weekly rock report.^[17] Young, as guest host, introduced Meldrum's second report, "Here's boring old Molly with boring old humdrum"^[18]—"Molly" Meldrum's Humdrum and Countdown continued until 1987, with Young often featured as a performer or guest host named "Squeak" or JPY by Meldrum.^[17][18] For touring purposes Young fronted John Paul Young and The All Stars, with members who had worked with Vanda and Young's former bandmate Stevie Wright.^[1] The All Stars included, Warren Morgan (ex-Chain, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) on piano and vocals,^[4] who co-wrote songs with Young.^[1] Other early members were, Kevin Borich (La De Das) on guitar, Johnny Dick (Max Merritt & the Meteors, Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) on drums, Ronnie Peel (Missing Links, La De Das) on bass guitar and Ian Winter (Carson, Daddy Cool) on guitar.^[1][4] Billy Thorpe reportedly said they were the best rock band in Australia.^[12]

In May/June 1975, Young initially toured with Stevie Wright, where he would be introduced in the middle of the show to perform Pasadena and Yesterday's Hero.^[12] His next tour was with Sherbet and Stylus, with the latter also being his backing band.^[12] It was during this tour, Warren "Pig" Morgan was the musical director. "(Stylus) backed me with good vocal harmonies. They were beautiful," JPY said at the time. ^[12] After Stevie Wright stopped touring, the All-Stars were free to tour with Young. Young headlined his first concert tour over the Christmas period of 1975-6, preferring to use local bands as their support acts.^[12]

Young's debut album, Hero, produced by Vanda and Young, was released in October 1975 on Albert Productions/EMI,^[1] which peaked at No. 9 on the Australian Album charts.^[10] Ray Goodwin (ex-Dragon) replaced Borich on guitar in The Allstars.^[1][4] A string of top 10 hits, written and produced by Vanda & Young, followed in Australia including "Love Game"^[21] (peaked at No. 4 in September 1975), "I Hate the Music"^[22] (No. 2, April 1976) and "I Wanna Do It with You"^[23] (No. 7, May 1977).^[10] Young's second album, J.P.Y., released in September 1976, which also peaked at No. 9,^[10] it contained three tracks co-written by Young with Morgan, including "Painting".^[1][24] The next singles "Here We Go" and "Where the Action Is" however did not reach the top 30.^[10] In addition to his Australian success, Young achieved top 20 hit singles in Sweden, with "Yesterday's Hero" and "I Hate the Music",^[25] and in South Africa where "I Hate the Music" and "Yesterday's Hero" were No. 1 hits, and "Keep on Smilin'" and "I Wanna Do It with You" were top ten hits.^[1][5]

In the 1976 Rolling Stone interview, Young gives an insight into working with the Vanda/Young team:

After I recorded Pasadena our relationship just developed. They play me their songs and say: "See what you think of this." Usually I like it, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I pick out something they've written and say "I want to do this", like I did with Things to do. (For the JPY album), we worked out some of the songs on the road. Others are worked out in the studio and some, like Standing in the Rain are produced by the studio system. Harry and George work it out and I come in later to do the vocal. ^[12]

During 1976 various Allstars members issued their own recordings.^[1] Winters left to join Mondo Rock by January 1977, Peel switched to rhythm guitar, Phil Manning (Chain) on guitar and Dallas McDermott on bass guitar had joined.^[1] This line-up recorded his third album, Green, released in May, Manning left in June to be replaced by Ian Miller.^[1] In January 1978, Young released a disco single titled "Standing in the Rain",^[26] originally the B-side to 1976's "Keep on Smilin'", "Standing in the Rain" became a No. 11 hit in Austria,^[27] No. 3 in the Netherlands^[28] and peaked at No. 4 in Germany,^[29] selling over 400,000 copies.

Now there's another fluke. We'd sent over a song called "Keep On Smilin'" and "Standing in the Rain" was on the B-side. There was a guy working for [record label] Ariola, who didn't like "Keep On Smilin'" at all and turned it over and thought this might have something. He decided to sidestep the radio stations and went straight to a DJ friend in a club and it got played and it just bled from there into the charts and stayed in the charts for forty-something weeks

—John Paul Young, The Drum Media, 30 July 2009^[9]

The European success prompted local radio stations to play "Standing in the Rain" and it peaked at No. 12 on the national singles charts in March 1978.^[10] His next single, "Love is in the Air", became a worldwide hit during 1978,^[1] peaking at No. 3 on the Australian charts in May,^[10] No. 7 in the US Bilboard Hot 100,^[30] and No. 5 in the UK singles chart.^[31] Also in May, Jacques De Jongh (Hush) had replaced McDermott on bass guitar in The All Stars.^[1][4] The associated album, Love Is in the Air, was released in October and reached the top 40 on the Australian albums chart.^[10] European chart success for "Love Is in the Air" included, No. 2 in Norway and Sweden, No. 3 in Austria and Germany, No. 5 in Switzerland and No. 9 in the Netherlands.^[32] The song peaked at No. 2 in South Africa.^[5] As a result of his popularity in Australia he was crowned 'King of Pop' in October 1978.^[33][34][35] "Love Is in the Air" also won 'Most Popular Australian Single' and Vanda & Young won both 'Best Australian Record Producer' and 'Best Australian Songwriter' at the same King of Pop Awards.^{[17][33][34][35]} Subsequent singles, "The Day that My Heart Caught Fire" which peaked in the top 20,^[10] and "Heaven Sent" continued the disco style.

The 1979 line-up of The All Stars were, Ray Arnott (ex-The Dingoes) on drums, Tony Buchanan on saxophone, Miller and Morgan, with Vanda & Young briefly joining on guitars to record Heaven Sent released in September.^[1] By mid-1980 Young had left Albert Productions and ended his association with Vanda & Young.^[1] He used session musicians for his 1960s' covers album, The Singer released in 1981 but neither Heaven Sent nor The Singer reached the top 50.^[1][10] Young turned to a more contemporary electropop sound and adult oriented style.^[1] He signed to the Australian branch of German label I.C. Records in 1983 and flew to Germany with producer, composer and keyboard player John Capek (ex-Carson) to start recording a new album, with sessions at studios in Hanover, Munich, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Sydney.^[1] Most of the material was co-written by Capek and Canadian Marc Jordan, together with a Young and Morgan composition "Cryin' Eyes".^[36] The resulting album, One Foot in Front was released in March 1984, it was renamed Soldier of Fortune for the European market. The title track, "Soldier of Fortune", peaked at No. 17 on the national singles chart,^[10] other singles "War Games" (January 1984), "L.A. Sunset" (1984) and "Call the Night" (1984) all failed to chart into the top 50,^[10] possibly due to the demise of the record company. "Soldier of Fortune" gained further prominence when it was picked as the theme song for the 1984 Summer Paralympics held in New York, and also went on to be a hit in Germany. Young released two more one-off singles, "Spain", in October 1986 and "Don't Sing that Song", in June 1989.

On 25 January 1988 Young performed in the 'Royal Command, New South Wales Bicentennial Concert' in front of the Prince and Princess of Wales at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.^[37] Televised across Australia, the event was viewed by over 10 million people and prompted an invitation to appear at World Expo 88 in Brisbane.^[38]

In late 1988, Young and his family moved to Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. Newcastle's first FM radio station, New FM, was preparing to open in 1989^[39] and Young was asked to head their All-Australian programme, Oz Made Mondays. The programme was successful with Young moving through the ranks of the station to Morning Announcer garnering four No. 1 rating spots for his Breakfast and Drive Time programmes along the way.^[40]

Later career[link]

Young had ceased recording new music by 1989 and concentrated on a second career as a disc jockey until the film Strictly Ballroom was released in 1992.^[1] Featuring a new version of "Love Is in the Air," the film was a success throughout the world, and Young's single once again peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Singles Charts in October,^[41] and was a top 50 hit in the UK.^[31] In 1994 Young left 105.3 NEWFM in Newcastle and joined 2CH in Sydney, which only lasted six months. On 4 November 1994, Young became a naturalised Australian citizen and received his papers from then Prime Minister, Paul Keating.^[40]

In 1997 Young made two trips to Germany following invitations to perform on a host of national and European television specials. Young returned to Germany in 1998 with The Allstar band for a month long tour through both East and West Germany. On returning to Australia Young joined the stage production of 'Leader of the Pack' playing the role of Gus Sharkey (aka Phil Spector).^[2][42][43]

In 2000 he played to his largest audience as a featured performer at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics. From 8 August 2001, ABC-TV broadcast a six-part documentary, Long Way to the Top which chronicled 50 years of rock 'n' roll in Australia, Young featured in "Episode 4: Berserk warriors 1973–1981".^[44] For the associated Long Way To The Top Tour in August–September 2002, Young re-formed the All-Star Band with Juan Gonzales on guitar, Warren Morgan on piano, Ronnie Peel on bass guitar, Greg Plimmer on drums and Michael Walker on synthesiser.^[45] From 12 October 2003, ABC broadcast, Love Is in the Air, a five-part documentary on Australian pop music with "Episode 3: Strange Fruit" describing Countdown and how Young was made into a pop star.^[46] Young was a mentor for contestants on music talent show, Popstars Live, which was broadcast on Seven Network from February 2004, one of the judges on the show was Ian Meldrum.^[47] Another judge, Christine Anu, quit and Young also left in April, a spokesperson for the producers of Popstars Live denied that he had been sacked.^[47] In 2005 Young reprised his role as Gus Sharkey in the musical, 'Leader of the Pack'.^[43]

2006 saw Young return to the studio at Flashpoint Music to record his first album of new material in many years In Too Deep, for which he reunited with Vanda as producer and principal songwriter. Young appeared on the Countdown Spectacular concert series in Australia during June–August in 2006 as a performer, and on the Countdown Spectacular 2 during August–September 2007, both as a performer and, alongside Meldrum, as a co-host. Young then worked on a musical comedy titled Van Park, in 2008, which focuses on "a group of fellow music lovers have gathered to live out their remaining years" in a caravan park. Young plays Akbar, one of the co-owners of the park.^[48][49]

On 27 August 2009, Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes, Little Pattie and Mental As Anything.^[6][7][8] Upon the announcement Young said, "It's an honour to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, now point me to the lounge room, I wonder who's in there."^[6] At the ceremony, Meldrum inducted Young who then performed, "I Hate the Music", "Yesterday's Hero" and "Love is in the Air".^[50][51]

He appeared on the Australian Season 2 Semi Final of Celebrity Apprentice where he mentored one of the teams. He was reprimanded by Ben dark who thought he wasn't putting in enough.

Sporting associations[link]

During the 1980s, Young's 1978 hit "Love is in the Air", was adopted by fans of Scottish Premier League football team Dundee United as an unofficial club anthem. Played since then at many home matches, it was sung in its entirety by an estimated 28,000 fans before and after the 2010 Scottish Cup Final held on 15 May at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Community work[link]

For many years, Young has supported children's charities. He participates in the NSW Variety Bash as a participant in one of the old cars and also to entertain along the way. He also supports the children's emergency transport service NETS through its 4WD4Kids fundraiser.

Awards and nominations[link]

APRA Awards[link]

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).^[52]

ARIA Awards[link]

Young was inducted by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) into its Hall of Fame in 2009 alongside Kev Carmody, The Dingoes, Little Pattie and Mental As Anything.^[6][54] This induction recognised his achievement of a "significant body of recorded work" and that he "had a cultural impact within Australia".^[6]

Band members[link]

Arranged chronologically:^[1][2][4]
John Paul Young and the Allstars

• John Young/John Paul Young — lead vocals (1975–1981)

• Kevin Borich — lead guitar (1975)
• Johnny Dick — drums (1975–1977)
• Warren Morgan — piano, backing vocals (1975, 1977–1981)
• Ronnie Peel — bass guitar, rhythm guitar (1975–1979)
• Ian "Willie" Winter — guitar (1975–1977)
• Ray Goodwin — guitar (1975–1976)
• Dallas McDermott — bass guitar (1977–1978)
• Phil Manning — lead guitar (1977)
• Ian Miller — lead guitar (1977–1979)
• Jacques De Jongh — bass guitar (1978–1979)
• Ray Arnott — drum (1978–1981)
• Tony Buchanan — saxophone (1979)
• Harry Vanda — guitar (1979)
• George Young — guitar (1979)
• Billy Rogers — saxophone (1980–1981)
• John Young (no relation) — bass guitar (1980–1981)
• Vince Melouney — guitar (1981)
• Peter Northcote — saxophone, keyboards (1981)

John Paul Young's Allstars

• John Paul Young — lead vocals (1986–1989, 2002)

• Juan Gonzales — guitar, backing vocals (1986–1989, 2002)
• Warren Morgan — piano,backing vocals (1986–1989, 2002)
• Greg Patterson — guitar (1986–1989)
• Ronnie Peel — bass guitar, backing vocals (1986–1989, 2002)
• Greg Plimmer — drum (1986–1989, 2002)
• Michael Walker — guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1986–1989, 2002)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]