In News:

• The 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games – Birmingham came to an end
• Australia is to host the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.

What’s in today’s article:

• The Commonwealth
• News Summary

The Commonwealth

• The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries.
  • The last two countries to join the Commonwealth were Gabon and Togo in 2022.
• The Commonwealth's roots go back to the British Empire. But today any country can join the modern Commonwealth.
• The member governments have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace.

Background:

• The early Commonwealth
  • Over time different countries of the British Empire gained different levels of freedom from Britain. Semi-independent countries were called Dominions.
  • Leaders of the Dominions attended conferences with Britain from 1887.
  • Later, at the 1926 Imperial Conference, Britain and the Dominions agreed that they were all equal members of a community within the British Empire.
  • They all owed allegiance to the British king or queen, but the United Kingdom did not rule over them.
  • This community was called the British Commonwealth of Nations or just the Commonwealth.
• Birth of the modern Commonwealth
  • After its independence in 1947, India wanted to become a republic which didn't owe allegiance to the British king or queen.
  • However, it also wanted to stay a member of the Commonwealth.
  • The London Declaration of 1949 said that republics and other countries could be part of the Commonwealth.
  • Thus, the modern Commonwealth of Nations was born.

Commonwealth Games

• The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.
• The first official Commonwealth Games (called the British Empire Games) were held in 1930 in Canada.
• Since 1930, the Games have taken place every four years, except in 1942 and 1946 (due to World War II).
  • India hosted the game in 2010.

News Summary

• After 11 days of action-packed sport,Commonwealth Games 2022 came to an end.

Key Highlights:

• India’s performance
  • India ended with 61 medals, which is five less than last edition's tally of 66.
  • 
• India’s best CWG performance
  • India’s 61 medals at 2022 games might seem well short of the 101 won in the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. India’s 22 gold medals are also below the 26 won at Gold Coast four years ago.
  • Despite this, analysts believe this is actually India’s best CWG performance.
  • This is because many disciplines in which India had strength, were missing at 2022 games.
    • Shooting, archery, Greco-Roman wrestling and tennis were not part of the CWG 2022.
  • This time, medals came from areas such as athletics, steeplechase, Lawn bowls etc. These are disciplines where India had not performed well in the past.
  • 
• India’s lesson from CWG
  • The Commonwealth Games programme is evolving faster, with some radical changes proposed for the next edition in Victoria, Australia.
  • Hence, there is need for India to start looking beyond shooting and wrestling for medals.
  • Athletics, swimming, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling, and canoeing, together account for 50% of the total medals on offer at the Olympics.
  • The top Olympic nations follow a strategy to channel all their energy into these heavy-medal sports for a major chunk of their tallies.
  • However, of the six, India can only claim to be a serious player globally in wrestling.