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".
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
