Kocheril Raman Narayanan assumed office as President of India on July 25, 1997, taking over from Shankar Dayal Sharma.

He was born on October 27, 1920 in Uzhavoor village in Kottayam district, Kerala. After he obtained an MA in English literature from the University of Travancore, he secured a degree in economics from the London School of Economics with first class honours.

Starting his career as a lecturer, he shifted to journalism working at The Hindu and The Times of India.

Narayanan joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1949 and served in Indian embassies in Rangoon (now Yangoon), Tokyo, London, Canberra, Hanoi and Beijing and held different positions in the ministry of external affairs.

After retirement from the Indian Foreign Service in 1978, he was appointed vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University in January 1979 and held the post till October 1980.

He served as India's ambassador to the USA from 1980 to 1984. Narayanan entered politics that year and won three successive general elections (1984, 1989 and 1991) from Ottapalam in Kerala.

He served as Union minister of state for planning (1985), external affairs (1985-1986) and science and technology, atomic energy, space, electronics and ocean development.

February 23, 2000. President K R Narayanan, accompanied by Vice-President Krishna Kant, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, R C Tripathi, then the secretary-general, Rajya Sabha, and G C Malhotra, secretary-general, Lok Sabha.

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