The President of India is the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.
The President is indirectly elected by the people through elected members of both the houses of Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies of New Delhi and Puducherry and serves for a renewable term of five years. The oath of the President is taken in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, and in his/her absence, by the most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
Although Article 53 of the Constitution of India states that the President can exercise his powers directly or by subordinate authority, with few exceptions, all of the executive authority vested in the President are, in practice, exercised by the Prime Minister with the help of the Council of Ministers.
The President of India resides in an estate in New Delhi known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan(which roughly translates as President's House). The presidential retreat is The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam (President's Place) in Hyderabad.
The 13th and current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and sworn in on 25 July 2012.He is also the first Bengali to be elected as President.
