Vishvjit Singh
Encyclopedia
Vishvjit Prithvijit Singh (born Jalandhar
, 29 October 1946) is an India
n politician with the Indian National Congress
party. He is a great grandson of Col the Honourable Kanwar Sir Pratap Singh Bahadur of Kapurthala.
(the Upper House of the Indian Parliament)in April 1982, representing the State of Maharashtra
. He returned for a second term in April 1988.
In 1989, he married Kanwarani Vijay Thakur Singh, who is a diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service and since 2007 has been Joint Secretary to the President of India.
Singh has been a delegate to several International Conferences as well as to the United Nations General Assembly a number of times. He has been a member of numerous committees of the Indian Parliament and has also done work in the field of perspective planning. He has written extensively in magazines and newspapers on issues mainly related to planning perspectives.
As chairman of his party's computer department, Singh has also driven initiatives to make more use of technology in election efforts, including putting publicity material, speeches and posters online, installing servers, setting up SMS software to facilitate the sending of bulk SMSs, and establishing a support team.
Singh supports dividing the larger Indian states into smaller units.
n 2010, he wrote a book of Hindi poetry entitled Kuch Shabd Kuch Lakeerein, published by Yatra Books, the Hindi imprint of Penguin India. The book was released at the Doon Literary Festival in April 2010.
T. N. Seshan
. However, he expressed grudging admiration for the results Seshan achieved in ensuring free and fair elections in which all parties followed the rules. The matter regarding the anomaly in the law was finally settled by an amendment to the law and all these prosecutions have lapsed.
Indira Gandhi
ordered Arun Nehru
to help him lose weight, as he was nearly 160kg; his weight dropped to as low as 108kg once while he was hospitalised for a heart attack, but increased again soon afterward.
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...
, 29 October 1946) is an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n politician with the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party. He is a great grandson of Col the Honourable Kanwar Sir Pratap Singh Bahadur of Kapurthala.
Biography
Singh was born on 29 October 1946 at Kapurthala House, Jalandhar, to father Kanwar Ranjit Singh of Kapurthala, and was later adopted by Kanwarani Surjit Kaur, the widow of Captain Kanwar Prithvijit Singh of Kapurthala. He studied at the Doon School, Dehra Dun (I.S.C.). He was first elected to the Rajya SabhaRajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
(the Upper House of the Indian Parliament)in April 1982, representing the State of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. He returned for a second term in April 1988.
In 1989, he married Kanwarani Vijay Thakur Singh, who is a diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service and since 2007 has been Joint Secretary to the President of India.
Singh has been a delegate to several International Conferences as well as to the United Nations General Assembly a number of times. He has been a member of numerous committees of the Indian Parliament and has also done work in the field of perspective planning. He has written extensively in magazines and newspapers on issues mainly related to planning perspectives.
As chairman of his party's computer department, Singh has also driven initiatives to make more use of technology in election efforts, including putting publicity material, speeches and posters online, installing servers, setting up SMS software to facilitate the sending of bulk SMSs, and establishing a support team.
Singh supports dividing the larger Indian states into smaller units.
n 2010, he wrote a book of Hindi poetry entitled Kuch Shabd Kuch Lakeerein, published by Yatra Books, the Hindi imprint of Penguin India. The book was released at the Doon Literary Festival in April 2010.
Controversies
In 1994, Singh was investigated, along with many other members of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament including the current Prime Minister of India, for seeking election from a state of which he was supposedly not a resident by Chief Election CommissionerChief Election Commissioner of India
The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures...
T. N. Seshan
T. N. Seshan
Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan or T. N. Seshan was born in a Tamil speaking Kerala Iyer family in Thirunellai, Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India from December 12, 1990 to December 11, 1996.-Childhood and education:T. N...
. However, he expressed grudging admiration for the results Seshan achieved in ensuring free and fair elections in which all parties followed the rules. The matter regarding the anomaly in the law was finally settled by an amendment to the law and all these prosecutions have lapsed.
Health issues
Singh has been overweight ever since childhood. Upon his election to Parliament, then-Prime MinisterPrime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
ordered Arun Nehru
Arun Nehru
Arun Nehru is an Indian politician and columnist. In the 1980s he was the chief strategist for his cousin Rajiv Gandhi and a minister in his government, but owing to ideological differences defected with V.P. Singh to the Janata Dal. Presently he is politically more close to BJP...
to help him lose weight, as he was nearly 160kg; his weight dropped to as low as 108kg once while he was hospitalised for a heart attack, but increased again soon afterward.
Committee memberships
- Member of the Special Working Group of the Accommodation Committee for the 9th Asian Games in 1982
- Member of The Advisory Council of The Ministry of Textiles, 1984-89
- Member of The Working Group for the chapter on Textiles in the 7th Plan Document
- Member of the National Productivity Council, 1988
- Member, Public Accounts Committee (Fiscal Body of the Indian Parliament), Ninth Lok Sabha, 1990-91
- Member, Public Accounts Committee, Tenth Lok Sabha (1999-92), member of the Indian Council for Cultural RelationsIndian Council for Cultural RelationsThe Indian Council for Cultural Relations , is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India’s external cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their peoples...
, 1989-90 - Member of the Indian Board of Forestry, 1990-91
- Member of the Parliament Standing Committee on Agriculture, Tenth Lok Sabha, 1992-93
- Member of the Joint Committee of Parliament for the Copyright Bill, 1992-93
- Member of the Parliament Standing Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals, Tenth Lok Sabha, 1993-94
- Ex-Officio Member of the Publicity and Publication Committee, All India Congress Committee, Indian National Congress, ?-present
Other positions
- Special Representative of Congress President and Prime Minister of India to The Working Group Set Up for the Elections to the Namibian Parliament, 1998
- Special Representative of Congress President and Prime Minister of India Rajiv GandhiRajiv GandhiRajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
to MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, 1989 - Special Representative of Congress President Rajiv Gandhi to AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, 1990 - Member of Indian parliamentary delegations to New Zealand -1986, Spain -1987, Colombia -1990
- Member of Indian parliamentary delegations to the International Parliamentary Union at Punta Del EstePunta del EstePunta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about east of Montevideo...
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in 1990, New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, 1994. - Member of the Indian Delegation to the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
for the 46th Session in 1991, the 47th Session in 1992, the 50th Session in 1995 and the 63rd Session in 2008 - Chairman, Computer Department, All India Congress Committee, Indian National Congress, ?-present
Publications
- Author of Kuchh Shabd Kuchh Lakeerein (Hindi), (Yatra Books, 2010, ISBN: 978-81-906510-4-2)
- Wrote various articles on politics, economics and perspective planning in: The TelegraphThe Telegraph (Kolkata)The Telegraph is an Indian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and the newspaper vies with the Times of India for the position of having the widest widest circulation of any newspaper in Eastern India.According to the Audit...
(Calcutta), The Daily (Mumbai), The Free Press Journal (Mumbai), The Hindustan TimesHindustan TimesHindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
(New Delhi), The Pioneer (New Delhi), The TribuneThe TribuneThe Tribune is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was founded on 2 February 1881, in Lahore , by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as...
(Chandigarh), The Asian AgeAsian AgeThe Asian Age is an Indian daily newspaper with editions in four major cities in India and one in London. The newspaper was launched in February 1994, simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and London. At present, it has editions in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and London. The Asian Age brings out...
(New Delhi). - Co-author of Congress Approach to Electoral Reforms (Congress Committee on Policy & Programmes (CCPP)), New Delhi, 1988; Power to the People. (CCPP), New Delhi, 1989; Power to the People - The Urban Imperative (CCPP), New Delhi, 1989.
Further reading
- Rajya Sabha Who is who, published by the Rajya Sabha
- Website of the Indian National Congress
- Chat session with Singh hosted by Rediff
- http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/india5.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/8d4cadb89de3c7de65256e0f004af882?OpenDocument
- http://www.india-today.com/itoday/19991004/election7.html
- http://pd.cpim.org/2004/1121/11212004_sahmat.htm
- http://www.icrier.org/pdf/shome2.PDF
- http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1995/19951204.ga9022.html
- http://uqconnect.net/~zzhsoszy/ips/k/kapurthala.html
- Eradication of Poverty & other Development Issues - Agenda Item 53 - Statement by Mr. Vishvjit P. Singh, Member of The Indian Delegation at The Second Committee of The 63rd Session of The United Nations General Assembly on October 22, 2008
- Statement by Mr. Vishvjit P. Singh, Member of the Indian Delegation, at the Thematic Debate on Nuclear Weapons in the First Committee of the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 16, 2008
- Statement by Mr. Vishvjit P. Singh, Former Member of Parliament and Member of the Indian Delegation, on Agenda Item 27 - Effects of Atomic Radiation at the Fourth Committee of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 16, 2008
- Statement by Mr. Vishvjit P. Singh, Member of the Indian Delegation on the Rule of Law at the National & International Level at the Sixth Committee of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 13, 2008
- UN Press Release regarding the statement made by Mr Vishvjit P.Singh, Former Member of Parliament and Member of the Indian Delegation, in the General Assembly on the 20th of October 2008 on Adopting a Consensus Resolution for a Permanent Memorial at UN Headquarters acknowledging Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
- Statement by H.E. Mr. Vishvjit P. Singh Member of the Indian Delegation at the Thematic Debate on Nuclear Weapons in the First Committee 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly
See also
- The Kapurthala Royal Collateral FamiliesThe Kapurthala Royal Collateral FamiliesThe Royal Family of Kapurthala State is unique for having a number of significant collateral branches. All of these branches emerged as separate powerful entities in their own right due to different historical circumstances....
- Pratap Singh of KapurthalaPratap Singh of KapurthalaColonel the Honourable Kanwar Sir Pratap Singh Bahadur of Kapurthala was a Punjabi politician and scholar.-Biography:The son of Kanwar Bikrama Singh of Kapurthala, Pratap Singh was an honorary magistrate and civil judge in Punjab. He served as a member of the Punjab Legislative Council from 1906...
- Bikrama SinghBikrama SinghKanwar Sri Bikrama Singh Bahadur was a 19th-century Sikh leader.-Early life and Political Contribution:Born in Kapurthala as the second son of Raja Nihal Singh of Kapurthala , he was one of the main progenitors of the 19th Century Sikh Renaissance, being one of the founders of the Singh Sabha...
External links
- http://www.royalark.net/India/kapurth.htm
- http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/k/kapurthala.html
- http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/ga/63/2008/ga081020am.rm -Vishvjit P. Singh Speaking in the General Assembly of The United Nations on the 20th of October 2008