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Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Commonwealth secretary-general is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly. The Commonwealth secretary-general should not be confused with the head of the Commonwealth. Role The position was created, along with the Secretariat itself, after the fourteenth Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference in London in 1965, issued a memorandum describing the role of the Secretary-General: The headquarters of the secretary-general, as with the Secretariat generally, is Marlborough House, a former royal residence in London, which was placed at the disposal of the Secretariat by Queen Elizabeth II, who was the head of the Commonwealth. However, as the building cannot house all of the Secretariat's staff in London, additional space is rented elsewhere in London. From this operational base, a large part of the Secretary-General's work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag Of The Commonwealth Of Nations
The flag of the Commonwealth of Nations is the official flag used by and representing the Commonwealth of Nations. Its current design dates to 2013, a modification of a design adopted in 1976. Description The flag consists of the Commonwealth symbol in gold on a blue field. The symbol centres on a globe, representing the global nature of the Commonwealth and the breadth of its membership. History The flag developed from car pennants produced for the first time at the 1973 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, held in Ottawa, Ontario. The initiative for its design is credited to two Canadians: the first Commonwealth Secretary-General, Arnold Smith; and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. It was officially adopted on 26 March 1976. Original design The original design featured a globe surrounded by 64 radiating, approximately quadrilateral, sunrays, which form a 'C' for 'Commonwealth'. The number of sunrays did not represent the number of member states (there have never b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamalesh Sharma
Kamalesh Sharma (born 30 September 1941) is an Indian diplomat. He was the fifth Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2008 to 2016, having previously served as the High Commissioner for India in London. He has served as the Chancellor Emeritus of Queen's University Belfast. Early life and background Kamalesh Sharma is an alumnus of the Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, St. Stephen's College in Delhi and King's College, Cambridge. Career Sharma was an officer in the Indian Foreign Service from 1965 to 2001. He served as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, from Aug 1997 to May 2002, before his retirement from IFS. From 2002 to 2004, he served as UN Secretary General's special representative to East Timor. He was appointed as the High Commissioner of India to Britain in 2004. He is a Vice-President of the Royal Commonwealth Society. He has also been the Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast since July 2009. Commonwealth Secr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting 2011
The 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, commonly known as CHOGM 2011, was the 22nd Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. Held in Perth, Western Australia, between 28 and 30 October 2011 and hosted by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Venue Perth, Western Australia, hosted the conference, the first time the city hosted the event and the first time the event had been held in Australia since the 2002 meeting at Coolum, Queensland. Kings Park served as the leaders' retreat. Security A heavy security presence was placed in Perth with many parts of the city being declared "security areas" as delegated with newly enumerated authority to clamp down on protests. In the Perth Central Business District, where the Queen was due to open the summit, nearly every street corner had a police presence. F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets of the Royal Australian Air Force also patrolled the skies.(27 October 2011)Australia police out in force for Commonwealth me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Round Table Journal
''The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs'' is an international relations journal established in 1910 relating to the Commonwealth of Nations. History The journal was established in 1910 as an off-shoot of the Round Table movement, established the previous year to promote closer union between the United Kingdom and its self-governing colonies. It was initially subtitled, 'A Quarterly Review of the Politics of the British Empire'. Though some of those associated with the Round Table movement promoted Imperial Federation, a proposal to create a federated union in place of the existing British Empire, it was early on agreed that the journal 'should not come out flat-footed' in favour of constitutional change, and disagreements within the Round Table movement meant that it never did. It was founded by Lord Milner, former High Commissioner for South Africa, Lord Selborne, his successor, and members of "Milner's Kindergarten", who were associated with Milner th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don McKinnon
Sir Donald Charles McKinnon (born 27 February 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008. Early life McKinnon was born in Blackheath, London. His father was Major-General Walter McKinnon, CB CBE, a New Zealand Chief of the General Staff, and once Chairman of New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. McKinnon's brothers include the twins John McKinnon, the former New Zealand Secretary of Defence and a former Ambassador to China, and Malcolm McKinnon, an editor and academic, and Ian McKinnon, Pro-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington, School Headmaster of Scots College and former Deputy Mayor of Wellington. The McKinnon brothers are great-great-grandsons of John Plimmer, known as the "father of Wellington". McKinnon was educated at Khandallah School and then Nelson College from 1952 to 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshman Kadirgamar
Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, President's Counsel, PC ( ta, லக்ஷமன் கதிர்காமர்; si, ලක්ෂ්මන් කදිර්ගාමර්, 12 April 1932 – 12 August 2005) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and statesman. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005. He achieved international prominence in this position due to his wide-ranging condemnation of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and his efforts to have them banned internationally. A distinguished lawyer and international humanitarian, he was assassinated by an LTTE sniper in August 2005 Accounts of his views on politics and international relations, with much information about his life and career, can be found in the book ''Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror: Lakshman Kadirgamar on the Foundations of International Order'', edited by Adam Roberts (scholar), Professor Adam Roberts. Early life Lakshman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona language, Shona, and Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele the most common. Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age, the Bantu peoples, Bantu people (who would become the ethnic Shona people, Shona) built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe which became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century, controlling the gold, ivory and copper trades with the Swahili coast, which were connected to Arab and Indian states. By the mid 15th century, the city-state had been abandoned. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the second most circulated English-language newspaper in India, after '' The Times of India''. , ''The Hindu'' is published from 21 locations across 11 states of India. ''The Hindu'' has been a family-owned newspaper since 1905, when it was purchased by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar from the original founders. It is now jointly owned by Iyengar's descendants, referred to as the "Kasturi family", who serve as the directors of the holding company. The current chairperson of the group is Malini Parthasarathy, a great-granddaughter of Iyengar. Except for a period of about two years, when S. Varadarajan held the editorship of the newspaper, the editorial positions of the paper were always held by members of the family or held under their direction. Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straw Poll
A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order to gain votes. Straw polls provide dialogue among movements within large groups. Impromptu straw polls often are taken to see if there is enough support for an idea to devote more meeting time to it, and (when not a secret ballot) for the attendees to see who is on which side of a question. However, in meetings subject to Robert's Rules of Order, motions to take straw polls are not allowed. Among political bodies, straw polls often are scheduled for events at which many people interested in the polling question can be expected to vote. Sometimes polls conducted without ordinary voting controls in place (i.e., on an honor system, such as in online polls) are also called "straw polls". The idiom may allude to a straw (thin plant stalk) held up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Ballot
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote buying. This system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy. Secret ballots are used in conjunction with various voting systems. The most basic form of a secret ballot utilizes blank pieces of paper upon which each voter writes their choice. Without revealing the votes to anyone, the voter folds the ballot paper in half and places it in a sealed box. This box is later emptied for counting. An aspect of secret voting is the provision of a voting booth to enable the voter to write on the ballot paper without others being able to see what is being written. Today, printed ballot papers are usually provided, with the names of the candidates or questions and respective check boxes. Provisions are made at the polling place for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Term Limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes " president for life". This is intended to protect a republic from becoming a ''de facto'' dictatorship. Term limits may be applied as a lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve, or the restrictions may be applied as a limit on the number of consecutive terms they may serve. History Europe Term limits date back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic, as well as the Republic of Venice. In ancient Athenian democracy, many officeholders were limited to a single term. Council members were allowed a maximum of two terms. The position of Strategos could be held for an indefinite number of terms. In the Roman Republic, a law was passed imposing a limit of a single ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
