Selling Incense Sticks To UPSC Chairman: 10 Interesting Facts About Dr Manoj Soni
Dr Manoj Soni's journey of becoming the new UPSC Chairman is an inspiring story of struggle and hard work.
On 5 April 2022, Dr Manoj Soni was appointed as the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
He succeeds Pradip Kumar Joshi. Prior to this, Dr Manoj served as the vice-chancellor of two universities and has earned several national and international awards and recognitions.
UPSC consists of the chairman and members appointed by the President of India.
The chairman and the members of the UPSC hold office for a term of six years or till the age of 65. Sir Ross Barker was the first chairman of UPSC in October 1926 and so far the UPSC has had 30 chairmen.
Things to Know:
· Born on 17 February 1965, Dr Manoj lost his father when he was in Class 5.
· The son of a street hawker who sold semi-finished clothing on the streets of Mumbai, after the untimely demise of his father, Dr Manoj took to selling incense sticks in Mumbai’s chawls to support his family and fund his education.
· In 1978, his mother decided to move from Anand in Gujarat to Mumbai.
· Dr Manoj did not clear his Class 10 examination and opted to take up Arts at Raj Ratna PT Patel College.
· He is a scholar of Political Science, with a specialisation in International Relations (IR).
. Dr Manoj taught IR at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar between 1991 and 2016.
· At the age of 40, he became the VC of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, which made him the youngest ever VC in the country.
· He has even authored a book, ‘Understanding the Global Political Earthquake.’
· Dr Manoj’s tenure will end on 27 June 2023.
· He is the 31st chairman of the UPSC.
(Edited by Yoshita Rao)
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