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In March 2009 Tharoor contested the Indian General Elections as a candidate for the Congress Party in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. His opponents included P. Ramachandran Nair of the ] (CPI), Neelalohitadasan Nadar of the ] (BSP), MP Gangadharan of the ] (NCP), and PK Krishna Das of the ] (BJP). Despite criticism that he was an ‘elite outsider’, Tharoor won the elections by a margin just two votes short of 100,000. He was then selected as a Minister of State in the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister ]. On 28 May 2009 he was sworn in as Minister of State for External Affairs, in charge of Africa, Latin America, and the Gulf. In March 2009 Tharoor contested the Indian General Elections as a candidate for the Congress Party in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. His opponents included P. Ramachandran Nair of the ] (CPI), Neelalohitadasan Nadar of the ] (BSP), MP Gangadharan of the ] (NCP), and PK Krishna Das of the ] (BJP). Despite criticism that he was an ‘elite outsider’, Tharoor won the elections by a margin just two votes short of 100,000. He was then selected as a Minister of State in the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister ]. On 28 May 2009 he was sworn in as Minister of State for External Affairs, in charge of Africa, Latin America, and the Gulf.


], Economic Summit 2009, ]]]. ].
Tharoor was a pioneer in using social media as an instrument of political interaction. Till 2013 he was India's most-followed politician on Twitter, until being overtaken that year by the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He was the first Indian to reach 10,000 and 100,000 followers on the medium, and currently has 2.3 million followers. However, some of his Tweets proved controversial and were highlighted negatively by the opposition and press. As Minister of State for External Affairs he re-established long-dormant diplomatic relationships with African nations, where his fluency in French made him very popular with Francophone countries and their heads of state. He was also the first Indian Minister to visit ] after the devastating earthquake of 2010. He initiated new policy-planning activities on the ] and represented India at global events during his eleven-month tenure as Minister. In April 2010, however, he resigned from his Ministry following unsubstantiated allegations that he had misused his office to get shares in the ] cricket franchise. Tharoor denied the charges and in his resignation speech in Parliament called for a full inquiry. In a 2014 rejoinder he defended his position stating: ‘I was never involved in a scam of any sort in the IPL- I was brought down because… antagonised some powerful political cricketing interests’, also adding that he had ‘cooperated extensively with the detailed investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate into the entire issue’, and no wrongdoing had been found. Tharoor was a pioneer in using social media as an instrument of political interaction. Till 2013 he was India's most-followed politician on Twitter, until being overtaken that year by the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He was the first Indian to reach 10,000 and 100,000 followers on the medium, and currently has 2.3 million followers. However, some of his Tweets proved controversial and were highlighted negatively by the opposition and press. As Minister of State for External Affairs he re-established long-dormant diplomatic relationships with African nations, where his fluency in French made him very popular with Francophone countries and their heads of state. He was also the first Indian Minister to visit ] after the devastating earthquake of 2010. He initiated new policy-planning activities on the ] and represented India at global events during his eleven-month tenure as Minister. In April 2010, however, he resigned from his Ministry following unsubstantiated allegations that he had misused his office to get shares in the ] cricket franchise. Tharoor denied the charges and in his resignation speech in Parliament called for a full inquiry. In a 2014 rejoinder he defended his position stating: ‘I was never involved in a scam of any sort in the IPL- I was brought down because… antagonised some powerful political cricketing interests’, also adding that he had ‘cooperated extensively with the detailed investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate into the entire issue’, and no wrongdoing had been found.



Revision as of 05:53, 9 October 2014

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Shashi TharoorMP
Shashi Tharoor
Minister of State for Human Resource Development
In office
28 October 2012 – 18 May 2014
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byDaggubati Purandeswari
Member of Parliament – Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
2009
Preceded byPannyan Raveendran
ConstituencyThiruvananthapuram
Minister of State for External Affairs
In office
28 May 2009 – 18 April 2010
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byAnand Sharma
Succeeded byE. Ahamed
Personal details
Born (1956-03-09) 9 March 1956 (age 68)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityIndian
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse(s)Tilottama Mukherji (divorced)
Christa Giles (divorced)
Sunanda Pushkar (2010 – 2014 (her death))
ChildrenIshaan, Kanishk
ResidenceNew Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram
Alma materSt. Stephen's College, Delhi (BA)
Tufts University (MA, M.A.L.D., PhD)
OccupationWriter, Diplomat, Politician
Websiteshashitharoor.in

Shashi Tharoor (born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician and has been twice elected Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was previously Minister of State in the Government of India for External Affairs (2009–2010) and Human Resource Development (2012–2014). He is a member of the Indian National Congress and in January 2014 was appointed an official spokesperson for the party. Until 2007 he was a career official at the United Nations, rising to the rank of Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information in 2001. But after 29 years in service, he announced his departure after coming a close second in the 2006 elections for the Secretary-General to Ban Ki-moon.

Tharoor is also a well-known award-winning writer, having authored 14 bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction since 1985, all of which are centered on India and its history, culture, film, politics, society, foreign policy, and more. He is also the author of hundreds of columns and articles in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek, and The Times of India. He also served for 2 years as Contributing Editor for Newsweek International From 2010–2012 he authored a column in The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle and for most of 2012, till his appointment as Minister, a column in Mail Today; he also writes an internationally syndicated monthly column for Project Syndicate. He has, in the past, authored columns regularly for the Indian Express (1991–93 and 1996–2001), The Hindu (2001–2008), and The Times of India (2007–2009).

Tharoor is also a globally-recognized speaker on India's economics and politics, as well as on freedom of the press, human rights, Indian culture, and international affairs.

Childhood and education

Tharoor was born in London to Lily and Chandran Tharoor of Palakkad, Kerala. His father worked in various positions in London, Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi, including a 25-year career (culminating as Group Advertising Manager) for The Statesman. His paternal uncle was T. Parameshwar, the founder of Readers Digest in India, through whom Tharoor is also related to the artist Anjolie Ela Menon. After his parents returned to India, Tharoor boarded at Montfort School in Yercaud (1962), subsequently moving to Bombay (now Mumbai) and studying at the Campion School (1963–68). He spent his high school years at St Xavier's Collegiate in Kolkata (1969–71). He then went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from St Stephen's College, Delhi,(1972–75), where his contemporaries included the politician Salman Khurshid, the documentary film-maker Rajiv Mehrotra, the quizmaster Siddhartha Basu, the novelists Amitav Ghosh, Rukun Advani and Anurag Mathur, the theatre impresario Amir Raza Husain, the editor and politician Chandan Mitra, the columnist Swapan Dasgupta, the economist and media crusader Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, the IAS officer-turned social activist Harsh Mander, the television personality Sunil Sethi, the diplomats Jayant Prasad, the World Trade Organization executive Harsh Vardhan Singh and the advertising guru Piyush Pandey.

In 1976 he moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he obtained his MA and MALD, also setting a record in 1978 by becoming the youngest student to earn a PhD aged 22 and winning the Robert B Stewart Prize for Best Student. At Fletcher he also helped found and was the first Editor of the Fletcher Forum of International Affairs (now in its 35th year). He has also been awarded an honorary D.Litt by the University of Puget Sound and a Doctorate Honoris Causa in History by the University of Bucharest.

Tharoor has two sisters, Shobha Tharoor-Srinivasan, who lives in the United States, and Smita Tharoor, who is based in London.

Diplomatic career

Beginning

Tharoor’s career in the United Nations began in 1978 as a staff member of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. From 1981 until 1984 he was head of the UNHCR office in Singapore, during the boat people crisis. In 1989 he was appointed Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary General for Special Political Affairs, the unit that later became the Peacekeeping Operations wing in New York. Until 1996, he led the team responsible for peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, spending considerable time on the ground during the civil war there.

Under-Secretary-General at the UN

In 1996 Tharoor was appointed Director of Communications and Special Projects and Executive Assistant to the then Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In January 2001 he was appointed Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, and as Head of the Department of Public Information (UNDPI). In this capacity, he was responsible for the United Nations’ communications strategy, enhancing the image and effectiveness of the organisation. In 2003 the Secretary-General gave him the additional responsibility of United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism. During his tenure at the UNDPI, Tharoor reformed the department and undertook a number of initiatives, ranging from organising and conducting the first-ever UN seminar on anti-Semitism, the first-ever UN seminar on Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11, and launching an annual list of ‘Ten Under-Reported Stories the World Ought to Know about’ (last produced in 2008 by his successor).

On 9 February 2007, Tharoor resigned from the post of UN Under-Secretary General and left the UN effective 1 April 2007.

Campaign for Secretary-General: 2007

See also: United Nations Secretary-General selection, 2006
2007 Secretary-General candidates
Name Position
South Korea Ban Ki-moon South Korean foreign minister
India Shashi Tharoor Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
for public information; from India
Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga President of Latvia
Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani Chancellor of
Kabul University, Afghanistan
Thailand Surakiart Sathirathai Deputy prime minister
of Thailand
Jordan Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad Jordan's ambassador
to the United Nations
Sri Lanka Jayantha Dhanapala Former Under-Secretary-General
for disarmament; from Sri Lanka

In 2006, the Government of India nominated Tharoor for the post of UN Secretary General. Tharoor came a close second (behind Ban Ki-moon) in each of the four straw polls conducted by the UN Security Council and won the online poll conducted by the BBC News website. After the fourth poll, Ban emerged as the only candidate with the support of all five permanent members, each of whom had the power to veto candidates. Of the seven contenders for the post, including a President, two Deputy Prime Ministers, several Foreign Ministers and a Prince, Tharoor remained the only other to enjoy a majority in the Security Council and came within two votes of Ban on the first ballot. One Permanent Member (later revealed to be the United States under the Bush Administration) opposed him and China abstained from voting. After the vote, Tharoor withdrew his candidacy and declined Ban's invitation to remain in service beyond the expiry of his term as Under-Secretary -General. Had he been elected, the then 50 year old Shashi Tharoor would have been the second-youngest Secretary-General to be appointed to the post, the first being Dag Hammarskjöld who was appointed at the age of 46 years.

Post-UN career

File:Shashi tharoor.jpg
A picture of Shashi Tharoor taken at TED Mysore

In February 2007, amidst rampant speculation about his post-UN future, it was presciently reported in the Indian press that Tharoor might be inducted into Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Minister of State for External Affairs. In the same month, it was reported in an American gossip blog that Tharoor was a finalist for the position of Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles, though he withdrew his name from consideration at the final stage. Instead, Tharoor became Chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures, which established the Afras Academy for Business Communication (AABC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, in an indication of his growing interest in the city where he would go on two win two parliamentary elections. He also spoke widely around the globe about India and Kerala, where he spent increasing amounts of time before moving for good to India in October 2008.

Prior to embarking on his political career, Shashi Tharoor also served on the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Institute, and the Advisory Boards of the Indo-American Arts Council, the American India Foundation, the World Policy Journal, the Virtue Foundation and the human rights organization Breakthrough. Tharoor was an International Adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva for the period 2008-2011. He was also a Fellow of the New York Institute of the Humanities and the Patron of the Dubai Modern School, and on the Advisory Council of the Hague Institute for International Justice.

Political career in India

Shashi Tharoor at a march parade with NSUI President Hibi Eden and other Congress workers in Ernakulam, Kerala.

In March 2009 Tharoor contested the Indian General Elections as a candidate for the Congress Party in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. His opponents included P. Ramachandran Nair of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Neelalohitadasan Nadar of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), MP Gangadharan of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and PK Krishna Das of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Despite criticism that he was an ‘elite outsider’, Tharoor won the elections by a margin just two votes short of 100,000. He was then selected as a Minister of State in the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On 28 May 2009 he was sworn in as Minister of State for External Affairs, in charge of Africa, Latin America, and the Gulf.

[[File:Shashi Tharoor WEF.png|thumb|Shashi Tharoor at the World Economic ForumEconomic Summit in 2009. Tharoor was a pioneer in using social media as an instrument of political interaction. Till 2013 he was India's most-followed politician on Twitter, until being overtaken that year by the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He was the first Indian to reach 10,000 and 100,000 followers on the medium, and currently has 2.3 million followers. However, some of his Tweets proved controversial and were highlighted negatively by the opposition and press. As Minister of State for External Affairs he re-established long-dormant diplomatic relationships with African nations, where his fluency in French made him very popular with Francophone countries and their heads of state. He was also the first Indian Minister to visit Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010. He initiated new policy-planning activities on the Indian Ocean and represented India at global events during his eleven-month tenure as Minister. In April 2010, however, he resigned from his Ministry following unsubstantiated allegations that he had misused his office to get shares in the IPL cricket franchise. Tharoor denied the charges and in his resignation speech in Parliament called for a full inquiry. In a 2014 rejoinder he defended his position stating: ‘I was never involved in a scam of any sort in the IPL- I was brought down because… antagonised some powerful political cricketing interests’, also adding that he had ‘cooperated extensively with the detailed investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate into the entire issue’, and no wrongdoing had been found.

Between 2010 and 2012 Tharoor remained highly active in Parliament and was Member-Convenor of the Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management, a Member of the Standing Committee on External Affairs, of the Consultative Committee of Defence, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Telecoms. He participated in some of the most important debates of the 15th Lok Sabha including on the Lokpal Bill, the demand for grants of the Ministry of External Affairs and of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the black money debate, and so on. In the Special Debate on the 60th Anniversary of the Indian Parliament, Dr Tharoor was the only member of the Congress Party, other than party President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, to be invited to address the Lok Sabha.

In 2012 Tharoor was re-inducted into the Union Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the portfolio of Minister of State for HRD. In this role he took special interest in the problems and challenges of adult education, distance education and enhancing high quality research by academic institutions. He was responsible for the Ministry's written answers to Parliament questions and responded to oral questions on education whenever the Lok Sabha's Question Hour was allowed to function. His initiatives on reducing over-regulation in certain areas of education, in promoting values education in schools, and in pushing the Ministry to a more liberal interpretation of copyright on educational materials, were appreciated inside and outside the Ministry. He addressed innumerable forums and conferences on education, articulating a vision of India's educational challenges in the context of the country's demographic opportunities, and stressing that education was not merely a socio-economic issue but a national security imperative.

As Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor became the first elected representative in India to issue annual reports on his work as MP, including furnishing accounts of his MPLADS expenditure. In 2012 he published a half-term report followed in 2014 by a full-term report.

In May 2014 Tharoor won his re-election from Thiruvananthapuram, defeating O. Rajagopal of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of over 15,000 vote, and became a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, sitting in Opposition.

Controversies

  • In September 2009, Tharoor and S M Krishna were accused of staying in luxurious 5-star hotels. Tharoor defended himself, saying that it was because of the delay in his official residence being ready and he only spent from his own pocket for the accommodation. Later on Pranab Mukherjee's request Tharoor and Krishna moved out of the hotels.
  • A controversy erupted when Tharoor, responding to the question as to whether he would travel in "Cattle class", replied that he would do so. This remark on Twitter (@ShashiTharoor), was alleged to equate the travelling public to cattle and taunt his party, the Indian National Congress over their austerity drive. Tharoor's explanation that "cattle class" was a well-established phrase for economy class travel, and that it attacked the airlines and not the passengers, was ignored in the outcry. It was also reported that Congress may take action against him. However, this was subsequently resolved when the Prime Minister pointed out to the media that the statement was "a joke".
  • Another controversy erupted on Gandhi Jayanti when he said people should be working rather than staying at home taking a holiday, thereby paying real homage to Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Tharoor was in the news again for publicly criticizing the new visa guidelines adopted by the Indian Government in the wake of the gaps exposed by the arrest of 26/11 terror suspects, David Headley and Tahawwur Rana. For this he was criticized for breaking ranks with the official position of the Government. He later met External Affairs Minister, SM Krishna and explained his position on the issue. The rules were subsequently partly modified.
  • In January 2010, Tharoor criticized Gandhi and Nehru for their vision on Indian foreign policy by the Indian media. This angered his party, the Indian National Congress. In the wake of this controversy, he held a press conference describing the report as "inaccurate" and "tendentious"."
  • In February 2010 when accompanying the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, he said "We feel that Saudi Arabia has a long and close relationship with Pakistan, that makes Saudi Arabia even more a valuable interlocutor for us. When we tell them about our experience, Saudi Arabia listens as somebody who is not in any way an enemy of Pakistan, but a friend of Pakistan and, therefore, will listen with sympathy and concern to a matter of this nature". He was asked whether India expected Saudi Arabia, given their close ties with Islamabad, to help address the terror threat from Pakistan. The remark about Saudi Arabia being a "valuable interlocutor" raised a strong reaction within the Indian political circle. The Pakistani press even went on to report that he had proposed that Saudi Arabia play a mediator's role in improving India's relationship with Pakistan. In response, Tharoor denied that 'interlocutor' meant 'mediator', and tweeted an explanation, saying, "An interlocutor is someone you speak to. If I speak to you, you are my interlocutor. I mentioned the Saudis as our interlocutors, i.e. the people we are here to speak to".
Main article: India – Saudi Arabia relations, section '2010 visit to Saudi Arabia by Manmohan Singh'

Literary career

] Tharoor has written numerous books in English.See full list below

Tharoor has been a columnist in each of India's three best-known English-language newspapers, most recently for The Hindu newspaper (2001–2008) and in a weekly column, "Shashi on Sunday," in the Times of India (January 2007 – December 2008). Following his resignation as Minister of State for External Affairs, he began a fortnightly column on foreign policy issues in the "Deccan Chronicle". Previously he was a columnist for the Gentleman magazine and the Indian Express newspaper, as well as a frequent contributor to Newsweek International and the International Herald Tribune. His Op-Eds and book reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, amongst other papers. His monthly column, "India Reawakening", distributed by Project Syndicate, appears in some 80 newspapers around the world.

Tharoor began writing at the age of six and his first published story appeared in the "Bharat Jyoti", the Sunday edition of "The Free Press Journal", in Mumbai at age 10. His World War II adventure novel Operation Bellows, inspired by the Biggles books, was serialized in the Junior Statesman starting a week before his 11th birthday. Each of his books has been a best-seller in India..The Great Indian Novel is in its 42nd edition and a Silver Jubilee special edition has been slated for publication on the book's 25th anniversary, September 2014, from Viking Pengun India.The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone has undergone seven hardback re-printings there.

Tharoor has lectured widely on India, and is often quoted for his observations, including, "India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay." He has also coined a memorable comparison of India's "thali" to the American "melting pot": "If America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali – a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.". (Other quotes in Wikiquote.)

Personal life

Tharoor's first wife was Tilottama Mukherji, a granddaughter of Kailashnath Katju and thus a first cousin of Markandey Katju. She is now a professor of humanities at New York University. They have two sons, Kanishk and Ishaan. Ishaan is a former Senior Editor at Time magazine, and now writes on foreign affairs for the Washington Post. Kanishk is a former editor at Open Democracy, and is working on a novel in New York Kanishk is associate editor at openDemocracy.net. Later he married Christa Giles, a Canadian diplomat working at the United Nations. After their divorce, Tharoor married Sunanda Pushkar in his ancestral home in Elavanchery village in Kerala's Palakkad district on August 2010. On 17 Jan 2014 Sunanda aged 52, was found dead at The Leela Hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.

A theatre buff in his school days, he played Antony to Mira Nair's Cleopatra in a 1974 production of Antony and Cleopatra. At St. Stephen's in the early 1970s he founded the Quiz Club, which is still in existence; he also revived the Wodehouse Society, which is no longer in existence. Upon election as President of the College Union he relinquished the Secretaryship of the History Society as well as the editorship of the campus humour magazine "Kooler Talk." He was invited by St. Stephen's College to deliver the college's 125th Anniversary Jubilee Lecture in 2005.

He has been an elected Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities during 1995–96 and a member of the Advisory Board of the Indo-American Arts Council and also served on the board of directors of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization, the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Institute, and as an International Adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross. He also supported various educational causes, including as Patron of GEMS Modern Academy in Dubai.

At the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1976, he founded and was the first chair of the editorial board of The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, a journal examining issues in international relations.

Honors, awards and international recognition

  • 1976 – Wins the Rajika Kripalani Young Journalist Award for the Best Indian Journalist under 30.
  • 1990 – Wins the Federation of Indian Publishers' Hindustan Times Literary Award for the Best Book of the Year for The Great Indian Novel.
  • 1991 – His book The Great Indian Novel wins the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book of the Year in the Eurasian Region.
  • 1998 – Awarded the Excelsior Award for excellence in literature by the Association of Indians in America (AIA) and the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP).
  • 2000 – Conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in International Affairs by the University of Puget Sound
  • 1998 – Named Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
  • 2004 – Awarded the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India's highest honour for non-resident Indians. But did not accept it at the time owing to UN rules prohibiting acceptance of governmental honours.
  • 2007 – Went on to accept the award after having resigned from the position of Under Secretary General at the UN.
  • 2008 – Conferred a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Bucharest, Romania.
  • 2009 – Awarded the Zakir Hussain Memorial "Pride of India" Award.
  • 2009 – Awarded GQ's Inspiration of the Year Award at its Man of the Year Awards.
  • 2009 – Presented with the Hakim Khan Sur Award for National Integration by the Maharana of Udaipur.
  • 2010 – Awarded the Sarva Deshiya Prathibha award by the Pazhassiraja Charitable Trust, Kozhikode.
  • March 2010 – Awarded "New Age Politician of the Year" Award by NDTV at its Indian of the Year awards.
  • 2010 – Awarded the Fifth IILM Distinguished Global Thinker Award in New Delhi
  • 2010 – Awarded Digital person of the year at the first ever Indian Digital Media Awards (IDMA) for popularising the digital medium in India
  • 2013 – Awarded First Sree Narayan Guru Global Secular and Peace Award at Thiruvananthapuram.
  • 2013 – PETA's "Person of the Year"

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-fiction

  • Reasons of State (1985)
  • India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997)
  • Nehru: The Invention of India (2003)
  • Bookless in Baghdad (2005)
  • The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India – The Emerging 21st-Century Power (2007)
  • Shadows Across the Playing Field: Sixty Years of India-Pakistan Cricket (2009)(along with Shaharyar Khan)
  • Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century (2012)
  • India: the Future is Now, Wisdom Tree (Editor)(2013)

Illustrated books

  • Kerala: God’s own country (2002) (along with artist M.F. Husain)
  • Inde (in French) or India (in English) (2008) along with photographer Ferrante Ferranti

References

  1. "Sunanda Pushkar Found Dead at Leela Hotel in Delhi". Mumbai Voice.
  2. ^ http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=88790
  3. http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/shashi-tharoor-among-13-spokespersons-chosen-by-congress_905733.html
  4. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/shashi-tharoor-candidate-for-united-nations/1/180465.html
  5. http://www.campionschool.in/alumni/distinguished-alumni.asp?fw=7 Notable Alumni | Campion School
  6. http://tuftsalumni.org/who-we-are/alumni-recognition/tufts-notables/public-service-education-5/#tharoor
  7. http://www.prsindia.org/mptrack/shashitharoor
  8. http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2003/tharoor.html
  9. http://fletcher.tufts.edu/News-and-Media/2008/01/25/A-look-at-the-life
  10. http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/tharoor_bio.htm
  11. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/09un.htm
  12. http://www.un.org/en/events/tenstories/08/
  13. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/shashi-tharoor-inside-man/32384/
  14. http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/040618/hold.shtml
  15. Warren Hoge (29 September 2006). "South Korean Favored to Win Top Job at U.N.". The New York Times.
  16. "Tharoor "deeply honoured" by nomination". Zee News.
  17. "Secretary-General Watch: Choosing Kofi Annan's Successor". Unwatch.org. 19 October 2006.
  18. "Personality: Tharoor – Indian Nominee for UN top post". People's Daily.
  19. "Ban takes 1st Straw Poll". UNSG.org. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  20. "Ban firms up lead in second Straw Poll". UNSG.org. 14 September 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  21. "Ban slips but holds, Vike Freiberga pushes into third". UNSG.org. 28 September 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  22. "Ban Ki-moon wins". UNSG.org. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2006. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  23. "US veto ends Shashi Tharoor's run for top job at the UN". DNA India.
  24. "India names Shashi Tharoor for UN secy-general's post". The Financial Express.
  25. "Biography – Dag Hammarskjöld". Nobelprize.org.
  26. "Shashi Tharoor to be inducted in government?". DNA Daily News and Analysis. 16 February 2007.
  27. Entries from LAist tagged with '2007/02/20/top_5_candidates_for_usc_annenberg_dean'
  28. Haniffa, Aziz (10 May 2007). "Shashi Tharoor joins the corporate world". Rediff News.
  29. "Shashi Tharoor now a member of the THIGJ Advisory Council". www.thigj.org http://www.thehagueinstituteforglobaljustice.org/index.php?page=News-News_articles-Recent-Shashi_Tharoor_now_a_member_of_the_THIGJ_Advisory_Council&pid=138&id=32. 17 October 2012. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  30. "Congress ticket for Shashi Tharoor". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  31. Shashi Tharoor- 1 lakh followers on Twitter
  32. "Indian minister Tharoor quits over cricket money claims". BBC News. 18 April 2010.
  33. "Tharoor nominated for Parliamentary committee". India Blooms.
  34. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/fourlane-work-only-on-26km-bypass-stretch/article5604690.ece
  35. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/NHAI-renews-interest-in-completing-Kazhakuttom-Karode-bypass/articleshow/11070659.cms
  36. http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Vizhinjam-port-Panel-to-take-up-EIA-report-on-Sept-21/2013/09/19/article1791756.ece
  37. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131223/news-current-affairs/article/milind-murli-deora-hints-cabotage-exemption-vizhinjam
  38. http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/shashi-tharoor-makes-strong-plea-for-high-court-bench-in-thiruvananthapuram-452466
  39. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/shashi-tharoor-makes-strong-pitch-for-shipyardcumport-hub-at-poovar/article2665756.ece
  40. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/cbse-regional-centre-in-kerala-by-november/article5145547.ece
  41. http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/27/stories/2011032753460400.htm
  42. "Austere Ministers: Krishna at Maurya, Tharoor at Taj". The Indian Express. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  43. "I am spending my own savings – Tharoor tweets". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  44. "Quit Expensive Hotel Suites, India's Mukherjee Tells Colleagues". Bloomberg. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  45. "Krishna, Tharoor move out of 5-star accommodation". Press Trust of India. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  46. "Shashi Tharoor taunts about austerity through Twitter, Congress not happy". Headlines India. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  47. "Cong may take action against Shashi Tharoor for austerity taunt". Samay Live. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  48. "Tharoor's taunt on austerity drive angers Congress". Headlines India. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  49. "Tharoor's tweet: People should work on Gandhi Jayanti". Times of India. 2 October 2009.
  50. "Relaxation in 60-day Visa rule". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  51. "Statement by dr shashi tharoor". Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  52. "Manmohan arrives after historic Saudi visit". Samay Live.
  53. ^ "Saudi role in Indo-Pak talks? Tharoor sets off row". Times of India. 1 March 2010.
  54. "BJP demands clarification from Prime Minister over Tharoor's 'interlocutor' remarks". oneindia.com.
  55. "India seeks Saudi Arabia help to improve ties with Pakistan". The Pakistani Newspaper. 1 March 2010.
  56. "About Shashi | Shashi Tharoor". Tharoor.in. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  57. Newspaper Circulation
  58. "Gentleman (magazine) – Misplaced Pages, the 💕". En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  59. Shashi Tharoor (10 October 2012). "Book review: 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers,' by Katherine Boo". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  60. Tharoor, Shashi (24 October 2004). "No great sheiks – Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  61. Former UN diplomat Tharoor to deliver Hesburgh Lectures Kyle Chamberlin 10 April 2007 http://news.nd.edu/news/8766-former-un-diplomat-tharoor-to-deliver-hesburgh-lectures/
  62. The Great Indian Novel, Viking: London, 1989, pg. 18
  63. The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone, Viking: New Delhi, 2007, pg. 62
  64. "Shashi Tharoor to marry third time". Times of India. 13 April 2010.
  65. Tharoor & the tale of ex and estranged spouses, Neha Tara Mehta, India Today, 14 April 2010 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Tharoor+&+the+tale+of+ex+and+estranged+spouses/1/92750.html
  66. Welcome to the family, Amma', Tharoor's sons welcome Sunanda Pushkar, Mid-Day.com, 23 August 2010 http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/welcome-to-the-family-amma-tharoor-s-sons-welcome-sunanda-46502
  67. Ishaan Tharoor http://world.time.com/author/itharoor
  68. Kanishka Tharoor http://www.theguardian.com/profile/kanishk-tharoor
  69. "Shashi Tharoor". Ekikrat. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  70. "Shashi Tharoor married Sunanda Pushkar in Kerala. Su nanda died on 17 January , 2014 who was found in Hotel leela in Delhi India. Tharoor has twin sons, Ishaan Taroor, Kanishk Taroor and Shiva menon son of Sunanda". WorldSnap. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  71. "Shashi Tharoor was my Antony: Mira Nair interview". February 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  72. http://ase.tufts.edu/chemistry/kumar/ssc/html/SSCN/5.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  73. The Atlantic Companion to Literature in English Ed. Mohit K. Ray, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 1 September 2007, p. 524
  74. "'SHASHI THAROOR Biographical note" (PDF). UNESCO. 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  75. "In cooperation with UNU-P&G, United States Institute of Peace, and Cambridge University Press:". United Nations University Office at the United Nations. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
  76. ^ Gita Rajan. Jaina C. Sanga (ed.). South Asian Novelists in English: An A-To-Z Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 308. ISBN 0-313-31885-9.
  77. "Tharoor honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award". The Hindustan Times. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
  78. "Pazhassi awards announced". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 1 December 2009.
  79. "Dr Shashi Tharoor receives the Fifth IILM Distinguished Global Thinker Award, 2010". India PR Wire.
  80. "IDMA 2010: G2 Direct & Digital, Tata Tea, Anil Ambani, Shashi Tharoor among host of winners". exchange4media Mumbai Bureau.
  81. "Shashi Tharoor PETA's 'person of the year'," The Economic Times27 December 2013.
  82. Shashi Tharoor. The Great Indian Novel. Arcade Publishing. p. 423. ISBN 1-55970-194-3.
  83. Shashi Tharoor. The Five Dollar Smile and Other Stories. Arcade Pub. p. 175. ISBN 1-55970-225-7.
  84. Shashi Tharoor. Show Business. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 320. ISBN 1-61145-407-7.
  85. Shashi Tharoor (2001). Riot. Arcade Publishing. p. 272. ISBN 1-55970-605-8.
  86. Shashi Tharoor (1982). Reasons of state: political development and India's foreign policy under Indira Gandhi. Vikas Pub. House. p. 438. ISBN 0-7069-1275-6.
  87. Shashi Tharoor. India: From Midnight To The Millennium and Beyond. Arcade Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 1-55970-803-4.
  88. Shashi Tharoor. Nehru: The Invention Of India. Arcade Publishing. p. 282. ISBN 1-55970-697-X.
  89. Shashi Tharoor. Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 288. ISBN 1-61145-408-5.
  90. Shashi Tharoor. The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India – The Emerging 21st-Century Power. W W Norton & Company Incorporated. p. 512. ISBN 1-61145-393-3.
  91. Shashi Tharoor, Shaharyar Mohammed Khan (2009). Shadows Across the Playing Field: 60 Years of India-Pakistan Cricket. Roli Books. p. 189. ISBN 81-7436-718-7.
  92. Shashi Tharoor (2012). Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century. Penguin Books India. p. 456. ISBN 9780670085743.
  93. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2317853/India-The-Future-Now-MPs-launch-book-young-people-make-difference.html
  94. Shashi Tharoor, Maqbul Fida Husain. Kerala, God's own country. Books Today. p. 57. ISBN 81-87478-43-8.

External links

Lok Sabha
Preceded byPannyan Raveendran Member of Parliament
for Thiruvananthapuram

2009
Incumbent
India Second Manmohan Singh ministry
Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh
Cabinet Ministers
AgricultureSharad Pawar
Civil Aviation Ajit Singh
CoalShriprakash Jaiswal
Commerce and IndustryAnand Sharma
Communications and ITKapil Sibal
CultureChandresh Kumari Katoch
DefenceA. K. Antony
Earth SciencesJaipal Reddy
External AffairsSalman Khurshid
FinanceP. Chidambaram
Food Processing IndustriesSharad Pawar
Health and Family WelfareGhulam Nabi Azad
Heavy Ind. & Public EnterprisesPraful Patel
Home AffairsSushilkumar Shinde
Housing and Urban Poverty AlleviationGirija Vyas
Human Resource DevelopmentPallam Raju
Labour and EmploymentSis Ram Ola
Law and JusticeKapil Sibal
MinesDinsha Patel
Minority AffairsK. Rahman Khan
New and Renewable EnergyFarooq Abdullah
Overseas Indian AffairsVayalar Ravi
Parliamentary AffairsKamal Nath
Petroleum and Natural GasVeerappa Moily
RailwayMallikarjun Kharge
Road Transport and HighwaysOscar Fernandes
Rural developmentJairam Ramesh
Science and TechnologyJaipal Reddy
Social Justice and Emp.Selja Kumari
SteelBeni Prasad Verma
ShippingG. K. Vasan
TextilesKavuri Samba Siva Rao
Tribal AffairsKishore Chandra Deo
Urban DevelopmentKamal Nath
Water ResourcesHarish Rawat
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
Chemicals and FertilizersSrikant Kumar Jena
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public DistributionK. V. Thomas
Corporate AffairsSachin Pilot
Development of North Eastern RegionPaban Singh Ghatowar
Drinking Water and SanitationBharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki
Environment and ForestsJayanthi Natarajan
Information and BroadcastingManish Tewari
MSMEK. H. Muniyappa
PowerJyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
Statistics and Programme ImplementationSrikant Kumar Jena
TourismK. Chiranjeevi
Women and Child Dev.Krishna Tirath
Youth Affairs and SportsJitendra Singh
Ministers of State
AgricultureCharan Das Mahant,
Tariq Anwar
Civil AviationK. C. Venugopal
CoalPratik Prakashbapu Patil
Commerce and IndustryDaggubati Purandeswari,
E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan
Comm. & ITKilli Krupa Rani,
Milind Murli Deora
Corporate AffairsR. P. N. Singh
DefenceJitendra Singh
External AffairsE. Ahamed,
Preneet Kaur
FinanceNamo Narain Meena,
S. S. Palanimanickam
Food Processing Ind.Charan Das Mahant
Health and Family WelfareAbu Hasem Khan Choudhury,
S. Gandhiselvan
Home AffairsMullappally Ramachandran,
R. P. N. Singh
Human Resource DevelopmentJitin Prasada,
Shashi Tharoor
Information and BroadcastingS. Jagathrakshakan
Labour and EmploymentKodikunnil Suresh
Minority AffairsNinong Ering
Parliamentary AffairsPaban Singh Ghatowar,
Rajeev Shukla
Petroleum and Natural GasPanabaka Lakshmi,
R. P. N. Singh
New and Renewable EnergyS. Jagathrakshakan
Personnel, Public Griev. & PensionsV. Narayanasamy
Planning CommissionRajeev Shukla
PowerK. C. Venugopal
PMOV. Narayanasamy
RailwayAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury,
K. J. Surya Prakash Reddy
Road Trans. & HighwaysSarvey Sathyanarayana,
Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary
Rural developmentLal Chand Kataria,
Pradeep Jain Aditya
ShippingMilind Murli Deora
Social Justice and Emp.Balram Naik,
Manikrao Hodlya Gavit
TextilesPanabaka Lakshmi
Tribal AffairsMahadeo Singh Khandela,
Ranee Narah
Urban DevelopmentDeepa Dasmunsi

Members of the 16th Lok Sabha from Kerala State
GE 2014
  1. K. C. Venugopal
  2. P. K. Biju
  3. A. Sampath
  4. Innocent
  5. K. V. Thomas
  6. Joice George
  7. P. K. Sreemathy
  8. P. Karunakaran
  9. N. K. Premachandran
  10. Jose K. Mani
  11. M. K. Raghavan
  12. E. Ahamed
  13. Kodikunnil Suresh
  14. M. B. Rajesh
  15. Anto Antony
  16. E. T. Mohammed Basheer
  17. Shashi Tharoor
  18. C. N. Jayadevan
  19. Mullappally Ramachandran
  20. M. I. Shanavas
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