King Charles III was on Saturday proclaimed Britain’s new monarch in a historic ceremony of the Accession Council that was televised for the first time in history. “God save the King” were the words with which those gathered reaffirmed the proclamation made by the clerk of the council.
The throne had passed to the 73-year-old former Prince of Wales following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday and Saturday’s ceremony marked his formal declaration and oath taking at St. James’s Palace in London. He was joined by his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, and his son and heir Prince William — the new Prince of Wales.
Flags lowered atop the palace in mourning for the late Queen were brought back up to full mast after the Accession Council proclamation, which followed a wave of further proclamations across the U.K. to go into Sunday — when flags will return to half-mast in a state of mourning for the Queen.
A Principal Proclamation was read in public for the first time by the Garter King of Arms from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St. James's Palace, accompanied by a 41-gun salute fired by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Hyde Park in London.
The Privy Council, which includes politicians, senior members of the clergy and Supreme Court justices, first gathered without the King to proclaim the new monarch and arrange business relating to the proclamation. Following the proclamation, King Charles III held his first Privy Council meeting and made his personal declaration to "assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty" and follow in the footsteps of his late mother.
In his declaration to the Accession Council, a centuries-old body of senior British royals, and political and religious leaders, the new monarch noted the “heavy responsibilities” of his new duty. “I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Liz Truss and senior members of her government took oaths of loyalty to the king. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was the first to pledge he will “bear true allegiance to his Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors,” followed by senior MPs and the Prime Minister.
20 dead in Maharashtra during immersion of Ganesh idols
At least 20 persons died, 14 of them due to drowning, in different incidents that occurred during the immersion of Ganesh idols in parts of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday.
The 10-day Ganesh festival, which had started on August 31, ended on Friday.
In Wardha district, three persons drowned at Sawangi, while another one died in a similar manner at Devli, an official said.
Two persons drowned in a pond in Yavatmal district when during the immersion of an idol, he said.
In Ahmednagar district, two persons drowned in separate incidents at Supa and Belvandi, he said, adding that two others died in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra — one each at Chalisgaon and Jamner.
One person each died at Ghodegaon and Yavat in Pune district, in Dhule district, Lonikand in Satara district and Solapur city, he said.
Four persons died in a road accident at Sakkardara area of Nagpur city during Ganesh immersion, he said.
In Thane, a 55-year-old woman was killed and four others injured after a tree collapsed on a Ganesh pandal in Kolbad area due to heavy rains. The incident occurred on Friday night, a civic official said.
“A huge tree fell on the pandal while the ‘aarti’ of Lord Ganesh idol was on as part ahead of its immersion. The woman, Rajashri Walavalkar, was seriously injured in the mishap. She and other injured were rushed to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead,” the official said.
Meanwhile, at least 11 persons, including a nine-month-old child, were injured after suffering an electric shock at Panvel in Raigad district during a procession. The incident took place on Friday evening at Wadghar Koliwada after a cable of an electric generator snapped, an official said.
“At least 11 persons, who were part of the procession, came in contact with the cable and sustained injuries. The injured include four children,” he said.
While some of them were rushed to a private hospital, others were taken to a state-run hospital in Panvel, he said, adding that all are responding well to the treatment.
Series of cash seizures by Central agencies in Bengal puts Trinamool in a tight spot
As battle lines are drawn between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the role of Central investigating agencies, the recent ‘seizures’ of large amounts of cash has put West Bengal’s ruling party in a tight spot.
ED seizes over ₹7 crore cash during raids in a money-laundering case against promoters of alleged fraud mobile gaming app in Kolkata on September 10, 2022. Photo: ED via PTI
On September 10, the Enforcement Directorate seized more than ₹7 crore in cash from the residence of a businessman in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area, allegedly in connection with a mobile gaming app fraud. This was the fifth seizure of cash by investigating agencies in the past two months since a large amount of cash was seized from the residence of an associate of former Minister and TMC leader Partha Chatterjee.
With photographs of piles of seized cash being aired and published by the media, the State’s ruling party is finding it difficult to counter allegations of corruption. Despite the latest seizure having no links to the Trinamool, a number of Ministers of the West Bengal government targeted the Central investigation agencies over it.
West Bengal Minister and Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim said that action needs to be taken against the guilty but the agencies were “destroying the economy of West Bengal” through a series of raids.
The cash was seized from the residence of Kolkata-based businessman Nisar Ahmed Khan, whose son, Amir Khan, had allegedly launched a mobile application, E-Nuggets, to defraud the public.
“ED has been carrying out search operations under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 (on 10.09.2022) at 06 premises in Kolkata, in respect to an investigation relating to the Mobile Gaming Application. Huge cash (More than ₹7 Crore) has been found at the premises.” ED tweeted after the seizure.
The recent seizures began on July 23, when cash valued at ₹23 crore along with gold ornaments was seized by the ED from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, former Trinamool Minister Partha Chatterjee’s associate. A few days later, ₹27 crore was seized in cash from a different property of Ms. Mukherjee’s. The ED made those seizures in connection with the school service recruitment scam.
On September 3, the Central Bureau of Investigation in a press statement said that ₹80 lakh cash had been seized from the premises of Trinamool leader Raju Sahani, chairperson of the Halishar Municipality, in connection with a chit fund scam. A day later, ₹1.40 crore cash was seized by the West Bengal CID from a fish trader at Gazole in Malda.
While no cash was recovered in connection with the arrest of Trinamool leader Anubrata Mondal, the CBI had pointed out that a fixed deposit worth ₹16.97 crore belonging to his family members and associates had been seized by the investigators. Mr. Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11 in a cross border cattle smuggling scam.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said that the seizures indicated, “black money is dominating the political and economic landscape of the State”. The State BJP leadership, including Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the cash seizures and had alleged that the money seized from Mr. Chatterjee’s aide was “someone else’s money”.
While the Trinamool leadership had described the arrests of its leaders by the Central agencies as “politically motivated” the party chairperson has herself appeared concerned over the cash seizures. “If tomorrow the agencies say that Bobby [Firhad Hakim] has been arrested because huge cash was seized from him, people should not believe it. It will be completely staged,” Ms. Banerjee said at a public meeting on August 29.
Bharat Jodo Yatra | BJP accuses Congress of ‘Hindu hatred’; Congress says ‘hate factory’ at work
The BJP cited a video of a Christian priest’s purported comments mentioning Hindu goddess Shakti during a conversation with Rahul Gandhi to allege it shows the “anti-Hindu” face of the Opposition party, drawing a sharp reaction. In response, the Congress accused the BJP of spreading mischief through its “hate factory” and alleged that the ruling party has turned more desperate ever since the successful launch of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
In the video shared by several BJP leaders, the priest identified as George Ponnaiah is purportedly heard telling Gandhi that Jesus Christ is the “real god. ...revealed as a human being. Not like Shakti...” He was responding to the Congress leader’s query if Jesus is considered god or not.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed the video has exposed the reality of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. It insults goddess Shakti ahead of the beginning of Navratra, he said. This is not the first time the Congress has been involved in such incidents as the party had earlier questioned the existence of Lord Ram, he added. During elections, Mr. Gandhi pretends to go to temples but the “anti-Hindu” face comes to the fore after the polls are over, he also said.
AICC general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said the BJP’s “hate factory” is sharing tweets about Gandhi which have no relation to the audio.
“An atrocious tweet from the BJP hate factory is doing the rounds. It bears no relation whatsoever to what is recorded in the audio. This is typical BJP mischief that has become more desperate after the successful launch of Bharat Jodo Yatra which is evoking such a huge response,” he tweeted.
Targeting the Congress, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, said, “George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says ‘Jesus is the only God unlike Shakti (and other Gods)‘. This man was arrested for his Hindu hatred earlier - he also said ‘I wear shoes because impurities of Bharat Mata should not contaminate us’. Bharat Jodo with Bharat Todo icons.” The Opposition had “anti-Hindu DNA” which keeps reflecting itself, he alleged, referring to “saffron terror” remarks of the Congress when it was in power.
Countering Mr. Ramesh, Mr. Poonawalla said the Congress’s “factory of hate” was witnessed in 1984 riots against the Sikhs when the then Prime Minister sought to allegedly justify it.
In Brief
Russia’s Defence Ministry has said that it is pulling back forces from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counter offensive has made significant advances in the past week. Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the troops would be regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to the Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. Mr. Konashenkov said the move is being made “in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas,’” one of the eastern Ukraine regions that Russia has declared sovereign. The claim of pullback to concentrate on Donetsk is similiar to the justification Russia gave for pulling back its forces from the Kyiv region earlier this year.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
Published - September 10, 2022 09:22 pm IST
