July 25: On This Day in World History … briefly
Patil won the election held on July 19, 2007. She garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes and took office as India's first woman president on July 25, 2007.
2007: Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first female president
Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician who served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012. A member of the Indian National Congress, Patil is the only woman to hold the office. She previously served as the Governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007.
Patil’s term as the President of India saw various controversies. She commuted death sentences of 35 petitioners to life, a record. President’s Office, however, defended this by saying that President had granted clemency to the petitioners after due consideration and examining the advice of the Home Ministry.
Patil was noted for having spent more money on foreign trips, and having taken a greater number of foreign trips, than any previous president. Sometimes accompanied by as many as 11 members of her family, there had been 12 foreign trips spanning 22 countries by May 2012, when she was away on her 13th trip. Those completed travels had cost Rs 205 crore (Rs 2.05 billion).The Ministry of External Affairs said that taking family members ‘was not abnormal’.
The Office of President has a five-year term and Patil retired from the role in July 2012.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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