Sheila Kaul - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sheila Kaul (born February 7, 1915) is a social democratic leader of 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...

and a former union cabinet minister and provincial Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

in 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...

. She was also an educationist, social worker, and social reformer in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, and an independence activist in British India. She is Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...

's sister-in-law and 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...

's maternal aunt.

Personal life

Sheila Kaul belongs to a Kashmiri Pandit

Kashmiri Pandit

The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...

family. She has a degree in arts from the Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

Women's College, and a degree in teaching from Sir Ganga Ram Training College, Lahore

Lahore

, and was a State Badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

Champion in the pre-partition Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. Kaul has lived in Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, Lahore

Lahore

, Multan

Multan

Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

, Kanpur, Srinagar

Srinagar

Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, and New Delhi

New Delhi

New 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...

.

Prof. Kailas Nath Kaul

Kailas Nath Kaul

Professor Kailas Nath Kaul , FLS was an Indian botanist, agronomist, agricultural scientist, horticulturist, herbalist, and naturalist, and a world authority on Arecaceae in the 1950s...

, a renowned botanist, and formerly, a world authority on palms, was Sheila Kaul's husband. He established the National Botanical Research Institute

National Botanical Research Institute

National Botanical Research Institute is a research institute of CSIR in Lucknow. It is engaged in the field of taxonomy and modern biology.-History:...

(formerly the National Botanical Gardens) in Lucknow, India. Gautam Kaul, a former Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is an Indian force conceived on October 24, 1962 for security along the India's border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, border covering 2115 kilometres...

and film critic, and Vikram Kaul, an international sports administrator, President of the Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

Youth Sports Development Council, and former member of the Asian Cricket Council

Asian Cricket Council

The Asian Cricket Council is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia. It is the regional administrative body and is sub-ordinate to the International Cricket Council. The Conference became the Asian Cricket Council in 1995 and its...

, are their sons. Deepa Kaul

Deepa Kaul

Deepa Kaul is a social democratic leader of the Indian National Congress and has headed ministries, including social welfare, culture, and tourism, as a member of the legislature of Uttar Pradesh. A political scientist by training, she is also a social worker and reformer...

, a social worker and former Congress minister, is their daughter. Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru

was Sheila Kaul's brother-in-law, Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was her niece, and Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv 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...

was her grandnephew. Prem Adib, a 1940s Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

superstar, was Sheila Kaul's brother-in-law. Among Sheila Kaul's friends were Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

, Todor Zhivkov

Todor Zhivkov

Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....

, Princess Ileana of Romania

Princess Ileana of Romania

Princess Ileana of Romania was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I of Romania, King of the Romanians, and his consort Queen Marie of Romania. She was born Her Royal Highness Ileana, Princess of Romania, Princess of Hohenzollern...

, Isobel Hawking, and Adelaide Hawley Cumming

Adelaide Hawley Cumming

Adelaide Hawley Cumming was a vaudeville performer, radio host, living trademark for General Mills, and teacher.-Early career:...

Political career

Sheila Kaul's prime electoral constituency was Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, from where she was elected to the Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...

in 1971, 1980 and 1984. She was, however, also elected in 1989 and 1991 as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

from Rae Bareli, a constituency election whereof has been traditionally contested by a Nehru-Gandhi Family

Nehru-Gandhi family

The Nehru–Gandhi family or Nehru - Feroze Gandhi family is an Indian political family which has been dominant in the Indian National Congress for most of India's history since independence...

member. She served as Governor of Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

from November 1995 to April 1996.

A chargesheet based on a case of 1996 accused the former Union Urban Development Minister of entering into a conspiracy with her two personal staff members and over forty other individuals for allegedly renting out government shops for a consideration. The CBI

Central Bureau of Investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...

, however, did not seize any assets disproportionate to her income. An assessment of her assets showed no evidence of corruption.

Positions Held

1982–89: Minister of State for Culture, Education and Social Welfare (Independent Charge)

1980s: President of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

1991–95: Union Minister for Urban Development

1995: Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment

1995–96: Governor of Himachal Pradesh

External links

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