Pratibha Patil AP PHOTO

Still, it's not clear how much 72-year-old Pratibha Patil — a lawyer, congresswoman and former governor of the northern state of Rajasthan — will do in the mostly ceremonial post.

Patil won 65.82 percent of the votes cast by national lawmakers and state legislators, P.D.T. Achary, the secretary general of Parliament, said July 20. She had the support of the governing Congress Party and had been expected to win.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 28, 2007
(C) All rights reserved