|
|
|
| Sunday, 3 July 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Sonia Gandhi : A courageous woman politician We have heard about many strong women politicians and one such courageous woman is Sonia Gandhi from our neighbouring country, India. Sonia Gandhi is an Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). She is the current Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, in the Lok Sabha. She is the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Sonia, earlier known as Antonia Maino, was born in Italy to Stefano and Paola Maino in Orbassano, a small village 80 km from Turin. She spent her childhood in Orbassano, being raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. While learning English in Cambridge, England, she met Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister of India. They were married in 1968, after which she took up residence in India. She adopted Indian citizenship in 1983, fifteen years after her marriage to Rajiv, when, it is speculated, she realized that her husband's fortunes as Prime Minister might be affected by her Italian citizenship. The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born in 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born in 1972). Gandhi did not enter politics until after her husband's assassination on May 21, 1991. Following his death, she was pressurised by the Congress Party to enter politics and to continue the party's dynastic tradition of being led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family. In 1998 she formally entered politics, assuming the helm of the Congress Party. Largely through her family name, Gandhi, she was able to draw large crowds and nearly single-handedly revitalised the party. However, she remained a somewhat enigmatic figure, and her opposition (chiefly the Bharatiya Janata Party) constantly highlighted the fact that she was foreign-born and was not a fluent Hindi speaker until she entered politics, frequently asserting that she had no qualifications other than her name. By virtue of being an ex-prime minister's widow, she was chosen to become the Leader of India's Opposition in the 13th Lok Sabha, and during the 2004 election, launched an aggressive campaign to unseat the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP). She had been tipped to be the next Prime Minister of India following her party's surprise victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. On May 16, she was unanimously voted to lead a 19-party coalition government which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). However, on May 18, a day before her scheduled inauguration, she refused the Prime Minister's post, citing personal reasons. Gandhi instead nominated Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post; he was eventually accepted by the lawmakers, despite pleas by members of the Congress Party for Gandhi to reverse her decision. Gandhi instead took office as Chairperson of the newly formed National Advisory Council with the status of a Cabinet Minister. She is also the eighth person of foreign origin to be the Congress President. Gandhi has authored two books, Rajiv and Rajiv's World. In addition, she has also edited Freedom's Daughter and Two Alone, Two Together (two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922 to 1964). ############## Daniel Radcliffe : Magic at his finger tips We all love the little hero Harry Potter. There is no doubt that you would have read at least a couple of books detailing Harry's adventures. But have you seen any of the movies? Daniel Radcliffe plays Harry Potter in the movies which have turned this teenager into a heartthrob of female Potter fans. Radcliffe's parents, Alan Radcliffe and Marcia Gresham, discouraged their only child from show business, when, at age five, he said he wanted to perform. However, they must have soon changed their minds, as in December 1999, he made his first on-screen appearance as the young David Copperfield in 'David Copperfield,' the BBC's televised version of the Dickens novel. This was followed in 2001 by his first film appearance, as Mark Pendel in 'The Tailor of Panama'. He then starred in the Harry Potter movies 'The Philosopher's Stone', 'The Chamber of Secrets' and 'The Prisoner of Azkaban'. Before 'The Prisoner of Azkaban', he had a role in the stage drama 'Play That I Wrote', which, he commented was an embarrasing experience for him because he had to wear a frock, and perform in front of his friends. However, he felt that the experience was amazing and it was great to work with such fantastic actors. He finished filming 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', the fourth instalment, in 2005 and went on to star in 'December Boys' soon after. He will be starring in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' in 2007. Daniel is currently being educated at the City of London School. He lives with his mother and father. He has two dogs named Binka and Nugget. Daniel prefers being called Dan. He plays the bass guitar and once had a bass lesson from 'Prisoner of Azkaban' co-star Gary Oldman. Daniel is a music fan, and especially likes guitar rock. Now that the filming of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' has finished, Dan is back at his all-boys private school in central London. He will remain there and finish the year at the school, before begining promoting the 'Goblet of Fire' when it is released later this year. Although he originally disliked the Harry Potter books when he first read them, Daniel Radcliffe's favourite book from the series so far is 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'. He has made six million pounds so far by portraying Harry Potter, making him the second richest teenager in Britain. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
