Born on October 12, 1935, Shivraj V. Patil, a former Lok Sabha speaker (1991-1996), has secured the second most important position in the Union Cabinet-that of the Home Minister, even though he lost in the 2004 polls from the Latur constituency. Patil, 68, is a respected and a widely acclaimed politician. He has held several ministries under the Congress governments of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. He was first inducted in the Indira Gandhi-led government in 1980-82 as Minister of Defence. Thereafter, he was given independent charge of the Ministry of Commerce between 1982-83, from where he went on to acquire the Science & Technology Ministry. In the Rajiv Gandhi government, he was Minister for Personnel, Defence production and soon after held independent charge of Civil Aviation and Tourism. A former university lecturer, Patil has multifarious interests. An avid reader, he is also keen on writing and painting, apart from swimming, horse-riding and shooting. He has held a number of important positions in the Congress party since Sonia Gandhi took over the presidentship of the party. He held the chairmanship of the Committee on Finances in 1999, and was also the member of the General Purposes Committee and Committee of Privileges. He's had the unique distinction of being the Speaker of both the Maharashtra Assembly(1978-1979) and the speaker of the Lok Sabha where he allowed live broadcasts of proceedings for the first time. By his liberal approach, amiable disposition and exemplary patience, coupled with an abiding sense of impartiality, he proved to be an excellent moderator in conducting the proceedings of the House. As the Presiding Officer, he delivered several rulings which will go down as landmarks in our parliamentary history both for their content and significance. A great votary of peace and cooperation, Patil repeatedly emphasized the importance of promoting inter-parliamentary relations. He stressed the fact that inter-parliamentary conferences and meetings provide forums for parliamentarians from all over the world to meet, discuss and exchange ideas and views on bilateral, multilateral and international matters which certainly go a long way in widening the areas of understanding and cooperation. Under the leadership of Speaker Patil, India had the privilege of hosting as many as four major international Parliamentary Conferences. Patil was fully aware of the demands of constituents for attending to small developmental works in the constituency which involved a certain amount of money. Hence, when he became the Speaker, he took up this matter with full vigour and pursued it with the concerned authorities. The efforts eventually bore fruit in December 1993 when the MPs Local Area Development Scheme was announced in the Parliament. Patil's commitment to strengthening the parliamentary institutions was evident to all-members, media or general public, legislative bodies of the State or parliamentary bodies of other nations. As the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Patil was equally respected by both the ruling party and the Opposition. There were several occasions when the situation in the House became tense and tumultuous, but by his exemplary patience and commendable forbearance, he invariably succeeded in defusing the tension and the surcharged atmosphere. Patil's abiding commitment in strengthening parliamentarism came to the fore when the Indian Parliamentary Group set up an Outstanding Parliamentarian Award to be given every year to an eminent parliamentarian for his contribution in upholding the parliamentary traditions. Today he returns to the Union Cabinet with a great deal of legislative experience, lending his experience and expertise to his colleagues in the highest deliberative forum in the country.