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Queen Elizabeth dies at 96; Charles III ascends to the throne

The new British monarch, King Charles III, makes his first address to the nation after the Queen’s death, at 6 pm Friday (10:30 pm Friday, IST).

LONDON, Sept 8: Great Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully on Thursday afternoon at her Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96. A life marked by a strong sense of duty came to an end, the BBC said.

Queen Elizabeth had not been keeping well for some time and had stayed put at her Scottish estate during the summer. The new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, travelled to Scotland on Tuesday to receive the appointment as the Queen was not to return to Buckingham Palace soon due to what was described as “episodic mobility problems” especially since the death of her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and the longest-serving royal consort, last year.

When the doctors expressed their concern, the Queen's eldest son and king-in-waiting Prince Charles guessed it right and reached the palace on time to be at her bedside as she breathed her last. Other royals too rushed there, but most of them missed the moment.

A non-controversial figurehead popular among the masses, she died as the oldest queen at 96. She was on the throne for 70 years and 214 days, the longest ever in British history, having celebrated the platinum jubilee on February 6, 2022 - the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum. Starting with Winston Churchill, she had worked with 14 Prime Ministers.

Funeral

The body will be brought to Buckingham Palace in London on Friday and will lie in state for four days at Westminster Hall, a part of the Palace of Westminster, before funeral, for the masses to pay respects. The funeral will be at Westminster Abbey, may be about ten days later.

Charles succeeded to the throne automatically and immediately. A king-in-waiting for the longest period, Charles is the oldest ever to be crowned at an age of 73. Unlike the queen, he may be outspoken and could be unrestrained on occasion.

On Friday he was scheduled to address the nation as the new monarch at 6 pm London time (10:30 pm Friday, IST). He will pledge his duty to a life of service, just as his mother did in 1952, in the recorded televised address. “The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family," he had said on Thursday in a statement.

After an Accession Council meeting at St James’s Palace on Saturday he will be proclaimed as the monarch. However, the coronation at Westminster Abbey is expected to take months. The Queen's coronation was a year after the succession in February 1952. The Archbishop of Canterbury will then place the ancient gold crown on his head. Prince Charles will become King Charles III.

The royal scandals

During her time, traditions were respected but departures were not objected to. Instances were princess Diana's behaviour in "Squidgygate"; son Charles' second marriage; grandson Prince Harry's marriage and breaking with the royals. Then there was her second son Prince Andrew's embarrassing adventures which she handled with dignity too. Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal patronages and military titles after trafficking cases came to light. Then what happened to Princess Anne, the only daughter of the Queen? Yet another was Harry's cannabis case. Mostly 1990s were rocked by scandals.

There were serious scandals affecting the reputation of the royalty earlier also: King Edward VIII abdicated the crown in 1936 so he could marry a divorced American woman (that finally led to Elizabeth's unexpected coronation). Then there was sibling Princess Margaret's affairs, in 1953 - stories of failed affairs and a divorce to occur among royals in hundreds of years.

No political parties in the UK is anti-royal and there has not been any resistance shown by any sections. Still some do raise questions over the cost to the exchequer of retaining the system of monarchy and seek to abolish it. However, the queen's recently held platinum jubilee was a mark of her popularity.

While the Queen kept the unity of all the regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland intact, there is uncertainty about the Scotland movement for separation.

She never took sides during the long tenure but was not mute either. Her tenure was marked by stability and her reputation was without a blemish.

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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.

The irony lies in her illustration of her experiences in the country she has been living in for the last four years. What it really is!

ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

  • The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
  • The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
  • The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

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