Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, in partnership with British Council, India, is hosting the ‘Commonwealth Big Lunch’

KISS to host ‘Commonwealth Big Lunch’

Why in news?

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, in partnership with British Council, India, is hosting the ‘Commonwealth Big Lunch’. KISS is the only organisation from Asia to be selected by British Council to host the Commonwealth Big Lunch.

What is it? British Council is celebrating 70 years of inception in Commonwealth countries. On this occasion, it has organised a mega lunch. The initiative launched by UK PM Theresa May. The motto of the programme is to encourage people to get together to celebrate their Commonwealth connections through food.

The Commonwealth:

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent and equal sovereign states. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the member states as “free and equal”.

• The Commonwealth operates by intergovernmental consensus of the member states, organised through the Commonwealth Secretariat and non-governmental organisations, organised through the Commonwealth Foundation.
• The Commonwealth is home to 2.4 billion people and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. Thirty of our members are small states, many of which are island nations.
• Member countries are supported by a network of more than 80 intergovernmental, civil society, cultural and professional organisations.
• The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009.

Sources: the hindu.