Commonwealth Meeting

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  BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement Operational: Arun Jaitley

  A crucial economic mechanism to help BRICS member nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - deal with economic crisis, like balance of payments pressures, has become operational, said finance minister Arun Jaitley today. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement or CRA was declared operational, after being signed more than a year ago, in 2...

• Salman Khurshid regrets Prime Minister could not attend Commonwealth meet

  External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today expressed regret that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not visit Jaffna.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron's motorcade stopped by Tamil protestors in Jaffna

  British Prime Minister David Cameron's motorcade was stopped today by Tamil protestors in Sri Lanka's Jaffna, a district which bore the main brunt of the country's ethnic conflict in 2009. 40,000 Tamil civilians were allegedly killed in the final days of the ethnic violence. At Jaffna's Kannagi camp for about 500 people yet to be resettled after t...

• Aggressive Lankan President Rajapaksa says Commonwealth should not turn judgemental

  President Mahinda Rajapaksa today urged Commonwealth nations not to turn the grouping into a 'punitive and judgemental' body as he chaired a summit in the shadow of a dispute over alleged war crimes against Lankan Tamils.

• Prime Minister has respect for sentiments of Tamilians, says minister Vasan

  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by deciding to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka has respected the sentiments of people of Tamil Nadu, Shipping Minister G K Vasan has said.

• British Foreign Secretary in Colombo for Commonwealth meet

  British Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Colombo today ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starting on Friday.

• Torture claims cast shadow over Sri Lanka's Commonwealth summit

  Allegations of abuses against ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka four years after the army won a civil war against separatist rebels have put pressure on the government as it prepares to host a Commonwealth summit.

• Tamil Nadu reiterates demand for India's total boycott of Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka

  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today moved a resolution in a special session of the state assembly demanding India's "complete boycott" of the Commonwealth meet in Colombo.

• Commonwealth meet row: Karunanidhi says will support 'any resolution' over boycott

  Asked whether his party's support to the Centre was issue-based, he said, "Support is not for Congress. (It is) issue-based support."

• Torture claims cast shadow over Sri Lanka's Commonwealth summit

  British Prime Minister David Cameron says he will ask "serious questions" and demand an investigation into allegations of war crimes.

• Commonwealth meet row: Vaiko, 250 MDMK workers arrested during 'rail roko' protest

  MDMK chief Vaiko and around 250 of his party workers were arrested in Madurai this morning for staging a 'rail roko' protest.

• Tamil Nadu Assembly to meet tomorrow under anti-Commonwealth meet cloud

  An official release from the Assembly Secretariat said the session would begin at 6 pm but did not mention any agenda.

• Australian, New Zealand legislators leave Sri Lanka following detention ahead of Commonwealth summit

  In a joint statement, they said human rights abuses in Sri Lanka are so serious that the CHOGM meeting should be scrapped.

• Commonwealth chief arrives for Sri Lanka summit

  Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma flew into the Sri Lankan capital today, marking the arrival of the first dignitary for the CHOGM 2013.

• Commonwealth meet row: Vaiko urges traders to shut shops on November 12

  Vaiko urged the trading community to close down shops unmindful of the losses in the interest of the Tamil people.