Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a famously reluctant birthday boy, will turn 79 on Monday either in the high skies or in Frankfurt on his return journey to India after a hectic six-day foreign trip, said officials, adding that one thing was for sure, the celebrations will be extremely low-key.
“The Prime Minister will either be in Frankfurt or on board Air India One from New York to Frankfurt on his return journey from the 66th United Nations General Assembly,” an official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. Dr Singh was born in 1932 in Gah Begal village in what now lies in Punjab province of present-day Pakistan.
During partition, his family shifted to India. Though September 26 is celebrated as his birthday, like many others born in villages, his actual date of birth remains a mystery, said an official. “September 26 is shown in the school records as my date of birth,” Dr Singh has said when asked about it.
An aide of the Prime Minister said his birthdays are known for their simplicity.
“As a matter of principle, he believes in simplicity and avoids pomp and show on all occasions. The same goes for his birthdays,” he added.
In 2010, Dr Singh was in India on his birthday. But on more than one occasion he has spent the day working abroad, especially in connection with the UN General Assembly, the aide said.
In 2004 and 2008 also, the Prime Minister was overseas on September 26, he recalled. A workaholic, who puts in 12-16 hours of work daily, Dr Singh attends office on his birthdays, when in India.
“Last year too he attended office,” the aide recalled. “The only function in office is that we greet him and present him a joint birthday card,” an official in the PMO said.
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Rao hits out at pc over telangana
Age correspondent
New Delhi, Sept. 25
Senior Congress leader from the Telangana region, K. Keshava Rao, on Sunday joined BJP chief spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad in attacking Union home minister P. Chidambaram for not delivering on the statehood promise for Telangana.
In a meeting on Telangana held here on Sunday which was called by `Telangana civil society groups’ Mr Rao and Mr Prasad questioned Mr Chidambaram and Justice Srikrishna, who prepared the report on statehood for Telangana, on their position regarding the demand for a separate state. “If the Congress did not want to give Telangana, then why did Mr Chidambaram announce on December 9, 2009, that the steps for formation of Telangana would be initiated?” asked Mr Prasad. “A senior minister’s words should carry some weight,” he added.