M A I N   N E W S

No 2nd term for Narayanan: PM
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30
In a significant development, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is understood to have rejected a second term for President K.R. Narayanan.

Mr Vajpayee, who met Mr Narayanan for 45 minutes this evening, reminded him that there was an unwritten convention that barring Dr Rajendra Prasad, no other President could have a second stint, a source confided in TNS today.

The Prime Minister, the sources said, also informed the President that there was a consensus in the NDA that this convention should be followed.

With Mr Vajpayee indicating the government’s intent on the issue, it is most unlikely that Mr Narayanan will throw his hat in the ring as he has made known that he would only accept a second term if it came without an election.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister apprised Mr Narayanan over the prevailing situation on the Indo-Pak border.

The Prime Minister is also understood to have apprised him of his visit to Almaty, Kazakhstan, beginning June 2 where he would attend a security conference.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is also expected to be in Almaty for the 16-nation meeting.

Chandigarh man is envoy to Hungary
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30
Chief Protocol Officer in the Ministry of External Affairs here, Mr Manbir Singh, the suave turbaned man who was virtually the shadow of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during his India visit last year, has been appointed the country’s next Ambassador to Hungary.

Mr Manbir Singh came in the media glare during the July 2001 visit of General Musharraf as every camera frame captured him with the General during the latter’s hectic visit here.

Born in Amritsar, Mr Manbir Singh calls himself a thorough Chandigarhian because his entire education was done in the city of Le Corbusier. Son of an eminent Chief Engineer in the Punjab Irrigation Department, the late Sant Singh, Mr Manbir Singh is married to Ms Jaspal Singh and has two daughters, Bahar and Samar.

Mr Manbir Singh has had postings in Iran, Canada, Moscow, Geneva and Abu Dhabi. He has been in the hot seat of Chief of Protocol in the MEA since 1999. He takes over his ambassadorial assignment in July-end.