New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other leaders paid tributes to the former Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi, on the occasion of her 91st birth anniversary at Central Hall of Parliament House in New Delhi on Wednesday. The Prime Minister also offered floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at Shakti Sthal, her samadhi, in the Capital.

         A national integration week also begins on this day in homage to the late Indira Gandhi. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will administer the national integration pledge marking the start of the 'Quami Ekta' week. The state governments have been directed to organise meetings, symposium, seminars, special literary and cultural functions and programmes during the week so that the message of communal harmony and national integration could permeate every part of the country.

          Indira Gandhi was born in Allahabad in 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, India 's first Prime Minister and Kamala Nehru. She was the recipient of India's highest civil award, Bharat Ratna. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 1984. She was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1964 and also served as the country's Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri. She is noted for declaring a state of emergency after a court struck down her election in 1975, and also for her handling of the 'Operation Blue Star' against Sikh militants. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards at her residence on October 31, 1984.   
-Nov 19, 2008