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Manmohan Singh ([mənˈmoːɦən ˈsɪ́ŋɡ] ; born 26 September 1932) is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. An economist by profession, he is the country's first Sikh (and non-Hindu) Prime Minister, and the only one since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term.
Born in Gah (now in Punjab, Pakistan) in 1932, Singh's family migrated to India during its partition in 1947. After obtaining his doctorate in economics from Oxford, Singh worked for the United Nations from 1966–69. He subsequently began his bureaucratic career as an advisor in Lalit Narayan Mishra's Foreign Trade Ministry. Over the 70s and 80s, Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), and heading the Reserve Bank (1982–85) and the Planning Commission (1985–87).
In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, Finance Minister Singh carried several structural reforms that liberalized India's economy. These measures proved very successful; India's high growth rate ever since has established Singh's reputation among the world's leading economists.
In 2004, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, party president Sonia Gandhi surprisingly offered the Prime Minister-ship to Manmohan Singh. This Singh-led "UPA I" government executed several key legislations and projects—including the Rural Health Mission, the Unique Identification Authority project, the Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and the Right to Information Act. Although the Indian economy grew rapidly during this time, India also suffered several terrorist incidents, culminating in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and a growing Maoist insurgency. Singh also ensured the passing of a historic Civil Nuclear Agreement with the United States.
Following the 2009 general election, the UPA returned with an increased mandate, with Singh remaining Prime Minister. As f