Rajasthan Governor S. K. Singh passes away after prolonged illness

New Delhi, Dec.1 (ANI): Rajasthan Governor Shailender Kumar Singh breathed his last in the national capital on Tuesday at a hospital following a prolonged illness. He was 77.

His wife Manju Singh and two sons-Shashank and Kaniska, survive Singh.

Singh had been admitted in the intensive care unit of Ganga Ram Hospital since November 5.

Singh's body was taken to his residence at New Friends Colony.

Born on January 24, 1932, Singh was a former Foreign Secretary and became Rajasthan Governor in September 2007, rlacing Pratibha Devisingh Patil after she was nominated as the UPA candidate for the post of the President of India.

Singh joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1954 and held several important assignments before becoming Foreign Secretary in February 1989.

He was also India's envoy to Pakistan between 1985 and 1989, besides being Ambassador to Austria and Afghanistan.

He was the Additional Secretary (Administration) between 1979 and 1982 and the official spokesman of the Government between 1969 and 1974.

Singh also served as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh from December 2004 to September 2007.

He did his Bachelor's degree in history, Hindi and Sanskrit from St John's College, Agra and a Masters' degree in history from Agra University and also completed his LLB from the same place.

He studied Persian and International Law at Trinity College, University of Cambridge.

From 1995 until December 2004, Ambassador Singh was the Secretary General of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India, a Delhi-based organization, a key think and policy institution.

From 1959-64 he was assigned to various desks in the foreign office in Delhi.

From 1962 to1968, he was a member of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.

He was a member of 19 Indian delegations to the UN General Assembly, ECOSOC and the Human Rights Commission.

Governor Singh was President of the G-77 and also served as India 's Governor on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Apart from a teaching stint in Agra University, Singh was a visiting Professor and Member of the Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Singh contributed articles to many journals and newspapers in India and abroad on international relations, geopolitics and current developments. He was also a frequent television commentator.

His was familiar with Persian, Sanskrit, Urdu and Hindi. (ANI)