Nepal's first president sworn in with pomp and pride

Ousted king Gyanendra, who is in virtual exile, was not invited to the programme though royalist politicians and former ministers in the king's cabinet were present. Kathmandu: A new chapter began in Nepal's history on Wednesday with a 61-year-old physician from an impoverished peasant's family being sworn in as the Himalayan republic's first president, replacing dethroned king Gyanendra as head of state and assuming office in a former palace once out of bounds for commoners. Ram Baran Yadav, a renowned physician who gave up medicine to join politics as a member of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's ruling Nepali Congress, resigned from his party and gave up his seat in the constituent assembly to be administered the oaths of office and secrecy in a brief but grand ceremony on Wednesday. Shital Niwas, once a palace and... [read full story]