Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering
plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in
the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces
such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. Thistle is the floral
emblem of Scotland.
In 1884, while visiting
Australia, Lord Rosebery described the changing British Empire, as some of its
colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations”. The Commonwealth developed from the Imperial
Conferences. A specific proposal was presented by Jan Smuts in 1917 when he
coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations" - it is an intergovernmental organisation of
53 member states that were mostly territories of the former British Empire. The
Commonwealth dates back to the mid 20th century with the decolonisation of the
British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was
formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the
member states as "free and equal". The Queen is also the monarch of
16 members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth realms. The other members
of the Commonwealth have different persons as head of state: 32 members are
republics and five members are monarchies with a different monarch.
It is Commonwealth Games
.... and as memory would haunt, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, were held in
Delhi, in October 2010. A total of 6,081
athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports
and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games to date. The official song of the Games was "Jiyo Utho
Bado Jeeto". India struck it
rich, winning 101 medals in total, including 38 Gold medals, securing second
position behind Australia. For the first time in the history of the Games India
won over 100 medals in total.
Now it is - 2014 Commonwealth Games (officially the XX
Commonwealth Games), held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014. It
will be the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland with around 4,560
competing athletes across 17 different sports. There will be 71 participating
nations at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with approximately 4,500 competing
athletes making it one of the largest commonwealth games staged to date. Gambia,
which has withdrawn from the Commonwealth is also participating. There are a total of 18 sports and 261 medal
events that will be contested at Glascow.
Among sport disciplines removed from 2010 include the walking events in
athletics, synchronised swimming and Greco-Roman wrestling, while mountain
biking will be contested for the first time since 2006. Shooting medal events
also dropped from 44 in 2010 to 19.
Clyde, a thistle
named after the river which flows through the center of Glasgow, is the
official mascot of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The mascot was designed by Beth
Gilmour, who won a competition run by Glasgow 2014 for children to design the
Mascot. Clyde’s story is inspired by the past
– a real ship called the SS Cameronia built on the Clyde in 1920 - but set in
the present day. Clyde is described as a cheeky wee thistle who has been nurtured by
seafaring Scot, Captain Bristle. Clyde
is also a significant departure from all previous Commonwealth Games mascots,
the first time the official mascot has not been an animal, a trend that has
continued ever since the first Commonwealth Games mascot for Edmonton in 1978 –
a bear called Keyano.
The Queen's Baton Relay,
similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, is a relay around the world held prior to
the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the
Head of the Commonwealth, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Relay traditionally
begins at Buckingham Palace in London as a part of the city's Commonwealth Day
festivities. The Queen entrusts the baton to the first relay runner. At the
Opening Ceremony of the Games, the final relay runner hands the baton back to
the Queen or her representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open
the Games. On this photo is Sudha Singh, the current Indian national record for
3000 m Steeplechase with a mark of 9:45.60, established while winning the Gold
in the 63rd National Inter-State Athletic Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Singh finished
13th in her steeplechase heat and did not qualify for the finals. Here she is
seen holding the baton in front of Tajmahal.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
23rd July 2014.
