President Droupadi Murmu in UK to attend state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
London, Sep 18: President Droupadi Murmu has arrived here on a three-day visit to attend the state funeral of British Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled at Westminster Abbey on Monday, and to offer condolences on behalf of the Indian government.
The Indian head of state, who arrived on Saturday evening, will join around 500 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and royals from across the world, in a congregation of around 2,000 expected at the Abbey for a sombre ceremony starting at 11 am local time and concluding with a two-minute silence around the country an hour later.
"President Droupadi Murmu arrives in London to attend the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
Ahead of Monday's funeral service, the President is invited to a reception hosted by King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla at Buckingham Palace.
All visiting heads of state, government and official overseas guests are expected at what has been described as an "official state event .
During the day on Sunday, a visit to Westminster Hall where the Queen's coffin is Lying-in-State and Lancaster House nearby to sign a condolence book is also likely to be on the President's schedule.
Zaki Cooper, who worked in the Queen's Royal Household between 2009 and 2012 and has written widely about the monarchy, believes the Queen enjoyed an "affectionate relationship with India" and was instrumental in the transition from empire to Commonwealth.
By recognising the desire for many countries to self-determination, she embraced the Commonwealth, said Cooper.
The Commonwealth often featured in her messages and speech. She was the organisation's head and also its inspiration. Her legacy of developing friendly relations between nations is one that will continue to inspire the Commonwealth, as it embarks on a new chapter with King Charles III as its head, he said.
Representatives of the Realms and the Commonwealth will be among those in the congregation at Monday's funeral service.
Hours before the ceremony, the Queen's Lying-in-State will close to members of public queuing for the past few days, with waits of around 24 hours expected over the weekend as the queue stretches to around 10-km-long.
The gates to Abbey will open at 8 am local time on Monday for the visiting dignitaries and guests invited to the funeral, which will include hundreds of people who were recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours earlier this year, many honoured by the late monarch for their extraordinary contributions to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and volunteering in their local communities.
Under the plans in place for the day, all heads of state and overseas government representatives, including foreign royal families, are expected to gather at a central venue and travel under "collective arrangements" to the Abbey.
The state funeral service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, with Prime Minister Liz Truss and Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland reading lessons .
The Archbishop of York, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches Moderator will say prayers and the sermon will be given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will also give the Commendation.
The conclusion of the first state funeral in the UK in 57 years, last held at the Abbey for Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965, will be followed by a service and a private burial ceremony at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. The late monarch will be laid to rest in the chapel at Windsor Castle.
The Queen's eight grandchildren on Saturday held a 15-minute vigil around her coffin - with Prince Harry wearing a military uniform at the King's request.
Prince William, who was also in military uniform, was at the head of the coffin as the Duke of Sussex stood at the foot.
All eight grandchildren of the Queen had their heads bowed as thousands of people filed past them in Westminster Hall.
Meanwhile, King Charles has thanked police officers involved in the long-term planning of Operation London Bridge - the codename for the operation following Queen Elizabeth II's death.
During a visit to the Metropolitan Police Service Special Operations Room on Saturday, the King asked officers if the plans are working.
The officers, who have been involved in the operation for three years, said "they are, absolutely".
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
