NEW DELHI: India today [April 8] took over the administration of the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim, a Secretary of India`s Foreign Ministry said. The take-over was announced at a news conference at Gangtok, the besieged capital of the kingdom.

Avatar Singh told newsmen at Gangtok that `India acted in response to a communication from the Sikkim ruler`, Chogyal Palden Thondup. According to Indian news agencies, Singh said: `The Chogyal requested the Government of India this morning to take over the responsibility of maintaining law and order in Sikkim. The Chogyal has requested the (resident) Indian Political Officer ... to run the administration until the arrival of a senior Indian official.

According to an earlier report, political militants in Sikkim had demanded immediate Indian take-over of the administration. They may also like the king to abdicate, if necessary. News agencies [Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Mougins, France,] Pablo Picasso, the world`s most famous 20th century painter died today [April 8], aged 91. Picasso, a Spaniard who refused to return home while Generalissimo Francisco Franco ruled Spain, died as a virtual recluse.