London: For the first time in 40 years, Queen Elizabeth II will skip the Commonwealth summit to be held in Sri Lanka in November, deciding to send her son Prince Charles instead for the biennial event. 87-year-old Queen will miss the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) for the first time since 1973, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that the Queen will be represented by the Prince of Wales. The reason is that we are reviewing the amount of long-haul travel that is taken by the Queen. As a result of that, she won't be travelling to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting later in 2013", a spokesman said.
This year's CHOGM has been mired in controversy, with campaigners including Amnesty International calling for not holding the summit until an investigation is carried out into alleged human rights abuses in the final six months of the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war.
Britain is facing pressure to lead a boycott of the meeting, with Canada indicating that it will not attend unless specific criteria are met. However, Buckingham Palace said the Queen's decision not to attend was not related to the political situation in Lanka....
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04:15 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Ace Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia will be participating in the opening leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meetings series in Doha on May 10, which will give her a launchpad for her preparations for the Asian and World Championships later this year. Poonia is expected to compete in a star-studded field, which will also include reigning Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia. The Indian had finished seventh...
06:32 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting on the 2G scam that was scheduled for Thursday has been postponed. JPC Chairperson PC Chacko said that the next date of the meeting will be finalised after consulting other members. The meeting is likely to take place next week, Chacko said. This came after the Lok Sabha was adjourned following a request from MPs to mourn the death of Trinamool Lok Sabha...
11:58 AM, Apr 25, 2013
New Delhi: An all-party meeting has been called on Thursday to discuss the Land Acquisition Bill, which seeks to strengthen landowners' rights during acquisition for development. This will be the third all-party meeting on the Land Acquisition Bill. The parties, which failed to arrive on a consensus on the bill in the last two meetings, were asked to give their suggestions by April 15 and six parties are reported to...
08:19 AM, Apr 18, 2013
While speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh ruled out an apology from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Below is the full text of the transcript: Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to Devil's Advocate. Could Narendra Modi be the great savior of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its biggest problem? That is the key issue I shall...
08:30 PM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: As its ally Janata Dal (United) prepares to adopt its crucial political resolution on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh has expressed hope that any anti-Narendra Modi resolution brought by the JD(U) would be amended. He added that it was not the party president but the BJP's Central Parliamentary Board which will decide on the prime ministerial candidate. Singh was speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate....
07:35 AM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) key ally Janata Dal (United) on Saturday reiterated its demand for a "secular" prime ministerial candidate and said the announcement of the candidate should be made before the Bihar Assembly elections, sources told CNN-IBN. The JD(U) has made it clear that there will be no question of compromising on the basic principals of the alliance with the BJP, sources added. The JD(U) will...
04:18 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Rajgarh: Claims by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan that hail-frost affected farmers were compensated are just the opposite from what facts conveyed, Digvijaya Singh alleged in Rajgarh on Friday. "If the government has a strong will, then no power on earth can prevent it from compensating farmers," he said while addressing a protest meeting against delay in distribution of relief to hail-frost affected farmers. Talking to reporters, the...
12:57 AM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday cancelled her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, citing ill health, highly placed sources said in Delhi. "She was supposed to meet the prime minister. But it was cancelled as she was not well," a highly placed source said. Sources said her blood pressure had gone down so she had to cancel the meet. The chief minister had earlier faced...
03:13 AM, Apr 10, 2013
Nagpur: Union Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Sunday ruled out the formation of a Third Front for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. "There is no possibility of a Third Front as talked about by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh," Pawar, who is the Union minister for Agriculture, told reporters at Wardha near Nagpur. When asked about his recent meeting with Mulayam Singh, Pawar said that not much...
02:30 AM, Apr 08, 2013
Expressing commitment to continue with reforms, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday indicated the government will further liberalise FDI regime in the coming months and push the land reforms measures. ...
03:19 PM, Apr 03, 2013
Delhi BJP Vice-President Vijay Jolly on Tuesday claimed the meeting of US Congressmen with Narendra Modi was not sponsored and those spreading such rumours were "jealous" of the Gujarat Chief Minister. "The trip hasn't been sponsored by either BJP or Gujarat government. These rumours are being spread by our opposition parties which are feeling jealous that Modi's good governance mantra is admired by foreign countries also," Vijay Jolly, BJP's Overseas...
03:18 AM, Apr 03, 2013
Conceding to the demands of non-Congress Chief Ministers, the Centre has diluted the much touted NCTC with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde exuding confidence that the anti-terror hub would see the light of the day during the Chief Ministers' conference in New Delhi next month. ...
04:38 PM, Mar 28, 2013
Dismissing speculations that he deliberately skipped the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) executive meeting on Monday, party chief M Karunanidhi's son MK Alagiri said he was unwell and therefore couldn't be a part of the gathering. "I wasn't feeling well and so I couldn't attend. It is not necessary for all leaders to attend all the meetings," he said. ...
05:14 PM, Mar 25, 2013
A day after the DMK pulled out of the UPA, the government scrambled to bring a consensus on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue but all efforts were in vain as the all-party meeting ended in complete disagreement. ...
11:58 PM, Mar 20, 2013
A day after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the government on Wednesday scrambled to bring a consensus on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue but all efforts were in vain as the all-party meeting called by Speaker Meira Kumar ended in complete disagreement. ...
11:29 PM, Mar 20, 2013
Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, who was ticked off by Congress after his comments against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav created a controversy, on Tuesday said he will continue to remain in the party and is not resigning from the Cabinet. "Log jhooth bool rahe hein. Hum jeevan bhar Congress mein rehenge. Jo log bool rahe hein unko bolne do (People are lying. I will remain in Congress all...
06:08 PM, Mar 19, 2013
Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma skipped the Congress parliamentary party meeting amid speculations that he may be leave the Congress and join the BSP. Sources say Beni is in touch with BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra, but he is yet to meet the party chief Mayawati. ...
10:42 AM, Mar 19, 2013
The Cabinet is all set to meet again to consider and possibly clear United Progressive Alliance's ambitious Food Bill. No decision could be passed on Monday since two Cabinet ministers P Chidambaram and AK Antony were not present. ...
09:24 PM, Mar 18, 2013
The Cabinet at its meeting in the evening on Monday agreed to raise the age of consent to 18. The new legislation was cleared after the Cabinet failed to achieve consensus on the anti-rape bill at the two all-party meetings held on Monday. Emerging from the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that the Cabinet had agreed to raise the age of consent and also made some changes to the Bill,...
07:26 PM, Mar 18, 2013
