Manmohan Singh death : In May 1992, Finance Minister Manmohan Singh attended a crucial presentation in the conference room on the ground floor of North Block, the headquarters of the Finance Ministry. It was a moment that reshaped India's financial landscape. The discussion centred on a revolutionary proposal. The aim was to create a modern stock exchange that would transform the trading ecosystem. It would challenge the dominance of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and set a new standard for transparency and efficiency in India's capital markets.

The presentation was led by Ravi Narayan, one of the key people chosen for the assignment, along with two advisors. RH Patil was Narayan's mentor from the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). S S Nadkarni, the then chairman of IDBI, was also present. Together they presented the blueprint for what would become the National Stock Exchange ( NSE ). Taking inspiration from the Swedish model of a profit-making exchange, they envisioned a system that would be different from the broker-driven model that dominated the Indian stock markets. The NSE would adopt an order-driven approach to enhance liquidity and ensure a unified order book for the entire country.

Manmohan Singh's role in this transformational journey was crucial. As the architect of India's 1991 economic reforms, Manmohan Singh understood the need to modernise the financial infrastructure to support a liberalised economy. His approval, as well as that of G V Ramakrishna, chairman of the newly-authorised Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), set the platform for NSE to take shape. Today, NSE stands as India's largest stock exchange, a testament to Manmohan Singh's visionary leadership and the firmness of his vision.

Manmohan Singh's 1991 economic reforms

Manmohan Singh was India's finance minister in 1991 when three major reforms - liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation - were introduced to save the economy from the brink of collapse. Manmohan Singh played a key role in liberalising the Indian economy when the country was under severe financial stress. Faced with a growing fiscal and balance of payments deficit and only enough foreign exchange reserves for a few weeks to finance imports, the government turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help. It was the first and only instance of its kind to pledge gold reserves to secure funds. On Thursday night, Manmohan Singh breathed his last at AIIMS in Delhi. He was 92.