Queen Rania's Working visit to India: March 10-11, 2006

[Little_star]

Jordan Queen visits 'alternative learning centre'
New Delhi, March 10. (PTI): It was a visit they did not even dream of but were overwhelmed when the 'Rani' of Jordan, Rania Al-Abdullah came calling to their 'alternative learning centre'. The 100-odd underprivileged children of Ritinjali Learning Centre at Kusum Pahari slums in South Delhi were overjoyed when Queen Rania entered their small school, which was once a water tank, sat amongst them and keenly watched the class in progress. #
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200603101501.htm


I wasn't even aware a trip to India was on the cards.


SifyMax, India's leading broadband website from Sify Limited will webcast "India Today Conclave 2006" live on Internet
The conclave will have global ambassadors sharing their views including Gerhard Schroeder, Former Chancellor of Germany, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, Union Minister for IT & Communications Dayanidhi Maran, leading economist Hernando De Soto, Corporate chieftains like Y C Deveshwar, Nandan Nilekani, Professor Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck School of Business and film stars Richard Gere, Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta among others.
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/mar102006/update1139572006310.asp

Pictures from Queen Rania's trip to India:

 

[Veram98]

Pictures from Queen Rania's trip to India:

nice pictures!

Another article on the trip:

Delhi slum kids mesmerised by 'Crownless' Queen of Jordan

By Sudhakar, New Delhi: “Where is the crown“ whispered a small child as Queen of Jordan Rania-Al-Abdullah seated herself among a dozen slum kids at the Ritinnjali Learning Centre situated in the Kusum Pahari slums here today.
Mesmerised by the Queen's sheer warmth and beauty, the kids had expected her to arrive in royal costumes.

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=23857

 

[asturiana]

Thanks for the pictures

From hellomagazine.com

Rania goes back to school with kids in New Delhi

Jordan's Queen Rania brought some excitement into the lives of a throng of underprivileged children when she jetted into the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday. Over one hundred impoverished youngsters were overjoyed when the popular royal went along to join them for the morning in their new school.
The mum of four, who is visiting the populous nation in her role as a Unicef goodwill ambassador, journeyed to the slums to the south of the city in order to meet her young hosts. Once inside the makeshift classroom she was told of how a new education program is helping build a brighter future for disadvantaged children all over the country.
Students gathered inside the improvised centre, which used to be a giant water tank, would have been forgiven for having difficulty concentrating on their lessons, after the glamorous VIP crouched down amongst them. King Abdullah's elegant wife watched intently as the teachers worked by candlelight to give their young charges basic elementary skills.
The school is one of 3,000 alternative learning centres that have been set up in a combined effort by the United Nations, the Indian government and over 180 non-governmental organisations. The scheme works by taking in children who have missed out on early education and providing them with enough skills to reintegrate into normal schools.

 

[lizz70]

Sonia Ghandi is looking great - very attractive lady especially in spite of the severe scraped back chignon and minimal make up - imagine what she would be like if she got the 'Vogue' treatment. Thank goodness there are things like this going on in the Delhi slums - from when I was there I remember how utterly abysmal it is for those people.

 

[purple_platinum]

Queen Rania in India

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan sprinkles rose petals on the memorial of India's Father of the Nation the Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, 10 March 2006, in New Delhi. Queen Rania is on a two-day working visit to India.
AFP PHOTO/Tekee TANWAR via ANP

 

[purple_platinum]

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan sits with under privileged children during a visit to an alternative learning center operated by the Ritinjali NGO, which provides bridging programmes for out-of-school children, 10 March 2006, in New Delhi. Queen Rania, a member of the UNICEF Global Leadership Initiative for Children, visited the learning center during her two-day working trip to India.
AFP PHOTO/Tekee TANWAR via ANP

 

[purple_platinum]

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan (L) shakes hands with India's ruling Congress President Sonia Gandhi, 10 March 2006, during a meeting in New Delhi. Queen Rania is on a two-day working trip to India.
AFP PHOTO/Tekee TANWAR via ANP

 

[fanletizia]

Queen Rania speaks during the India Today Conclave titled 'India Tomorrow 2006 Bridging the Divide' in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 10, 2006. The conclave is an annual event for exchange of ideas among political leaders, Nobel laureates, policy makers, writers, actors and business leaders, according to the organizers

from yahoo/ap

 

[purple_platinum]

Queen Rania-Al-Abdullah of Jordan delivers the dinner keynote Address at the India Today Conclave 2006 in New Delhi, 10 March 2006.A forum for free and frank exchange of ideas among political leaders, Nobel laureates, policy makers, writers, actors and the who's who of business the conclave titled, INDIA TOMORROW 2006: BRIDGING THE DIVIDE, will be held in the Indian capital from 10-11 March.

from AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA via ANP

 

[mandyy]

Rania goes back to school with kids in New Delhi
Jordan's Queen Rania brought some excitement into the lives of a throng of underprivileged children when she jetted into the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday. Over one hundred impoverished youngsters were overjoyed when the popular royal went along to join them for the morning in their new school................
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2006/03/10/queenrania/

Photos from Hello magazine
http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=raniadop1a5kw.jpg

 

[Adamari]

Designer

Rania's evening gown is likely from Rochas fw2005-06.

 

[Humera]

what a wonderful surprise this trip is!
I hope to see more and more of such visits by Queen Rania to different parts of Asia. Im sure her role as a representative of UNICEF will take her to similar trips in many different countries.


1. Polfoto - Jordan's Queen Rania Al-Abdullah plants a sapling at an Alternative Learning Center for in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 10, 2006. A touch of royalty graced one of New Delhi's poorest neighborhoods Friday as Queen Rania visited to give her support to a program that provides eduction to poor children. The queen is a member of the UNICEF Global Leadership Initiative for children. (AP Photo/ Mustafa Quraishi)

2-3. Polfoto -Jordan's Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, right, interacts with students at an Alternative Learning Center for in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 10, 2006. A touch of royalty graced one of New Delhi's poorest neighborhoods Friday as Queen Rania visited to give her support to a program that provides education to poor children. The queen is a member of the UNICEF Global Leadership Initiative for children. (AP Photo/ Mustafa Quraishi)

 

[Humera]

Queen Rania charms Delhi slum children, teachers


NEW DELHI: It was certainly not a place for a queen. With open drains and narrow streets and garbage strewn all round, Kusumpur Pahari, a slum behind Vasant Vihar here, is hardly the field visit of choice for international celebrities. But Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan seemed perfectly at home on Friday during a visit to the Ritanjali Alternative Learning Centre.
She sat with the children and observed how they interacted with the teachers, and also looked at the artwork done by the students.

"The children all ran up to her with their books asking her to see their art work. She said the children were very enthusiastic. She also thought the way we were teaching the children was very innovative," Sushma Tyagi, head of the centre, said. The centre provides more than 150 children, most of whose parents are daily wage labourers, the opportunity to learn almost at their doorsteps. One of the 3,000-odd centres set up by non-governmental organisations, the Delhi Government and the UNICEF, it aims to give them a shot at a better life.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/11/stories/2006031106501200.htm

I cant post the entire article as per the rules but it has some great comments from the school children. I hope everyone reads it in its entirety.

 

[Humera]

Jordanian queen meets PM

New Delhi: Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

"All bilateral and other issues were discussed in the meeting," said an official.

Manmohan Singh hosted a lunch for the queen.

Later, she joined children and staff at the Ritinjali Learning Centre in South Delhi as part of her two-day trip to the Indian subcontinent.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=24035

 

[Savita]

Queen Rania

I am an Indian and I am so happy that QR has come to my country. Wish I was in India and in Delhi as I work in Bahrain.

 

[Humera]

I know. Trips like this are so wonderful. When QR was in Pakistan last year, everyone there was so appreciative.
The underprivileged kids she visited in India today had most likely never even heard of her but they clearly appreciated that someone in her position had come to meet them, they felt that they "mattered" as the last article on the first page pointed out. They were all excited, dressed up in special clothes, even guessing what the Queen was going to wear.
That's why I said that I'd love to see similar trips in Asia. People there aren't as familiar with QR as those in the ME and to a lesser extent in Europe and the US. But from what I've seen so far, her recent visits to Pakistan, and now to India, have endeared her to a whole new group of people.
There were the state and official visits to China, Japan, Korea etc. when KA first ascended to the throne but it'd be great to see more visits to this region under a less formal setting.

 

[mandyy]

More photos
#1: AP
#2-7: Reuters

 

[Humera]

Jordan Queen visits slum kids in Delhi

NEW DELHI, MARCH 10:It was a visit they did not even dream of, but were overwhelmed when the ’Rani’ of Jordan, Rania al-Abdullah came calling to their alternative learning centre.

The 100-odd underprivileged children of Ritinjali Learning Centre at Kusum Pahari slums in South Delhi were overjoyed when Queen Rania entered their small school, which was once a water tank, sat amongst them and keenly watched the class in progress.
Financial Express

 

[carlota]

rania looks so beautiful in most of the pictures....

 

[Queen Malka]

I hope she dresses up in the traditional saris, she would look gorgeous in it!

 

[Humera]

I hope she dresses up in the traditional saris, she would look gorgeous in it!

I'd love to see that too.
But I dont think we'll be seeing that on a working trip.


1. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Queen of Jordan, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, at a luncheon meet organised in the queen’s honour, in New Delhi on March 10, 2006.

2. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh introducing senior officials to the Queen of Jordan, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, in New Delhi on March 10, 2006.
http://pmindia.nic.in

 

[lil Monkey]

I have to agree,she looks beautiful here,I haven't seen her look this good in a while.

 

[fanletizia]

Queen Rania-Al-Abdullah of Jordan visits the Kalwati Saran Children's Hospital in New Delhi, 11 March 2006. Queen Rania, a member of the UNICEF Global Leadership Initiative for Children, visited the hospital during her two-day working trip to India to encourage increased child immunization efforts

from getty

 

[Humera]

I believe Queen Rania is wearing a "dupatta" as a scarf in those last pictures!
She must've recieved it as a gift during her trip. This style of fabric is quite popular in Pakistan and I guess in India as well. I have a few of those in different colours myself and one that looks almost exactly like the Queen's. It was a gift from one of my aunts and its also got that multi-coloured/tie-dye effect like the one Rania is wearing. I cant remember the exact name of the fabric style but its kind of like chunri fabric. The cloth is all tied up for a certain period of time to give it that gathered look.
Its used both for dupattas (the scarves that are worn with the shalwar kameez) and even as trousers.

 

[lizz70]

It is similar in style to the Missoni skinny scarves

 

[Humera]

More pictures from Day 1

Petra and Gettyimages

 

[Humera]

Pictures from today:
Getty images and Petra.





Queen Rania visits India; brings global challenges of access to education and children’s health to forefront

Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - New Delhi) Giving children a fair and healthy start in life and, hence, a more hopeful future, through the provision of health and educational services to all children, was the focus of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah's two-day trip to India, which began on Friday.

“Through no fault of their own, children in different countries have tragically divergent life chances… As a mother it pains me that so many children are disadvantaged at birth… Our responsibility must be to ensure that each and every child gets a fair and healthy start in life, ” says Queen Rania. Rania Al Abdullah Queen of Jordan Official Web Site


Queen Rania asserts that 21st century global leaders must place ‘people, humanity and peace at the heart of the world's agenda’

Addressing an audience of leaders, opinion shapers and policy makers from all around India, on Friday, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah spoke of Jordan and India’s shared spirit of optimism and openness, charging one of the world’s emerging economic powers with the responsibility towards a moral and just leadership in the 21st century.

Her Majesty's remarks came at the India Today Conclave, an annual forum in New Delhi, India, which encourages free and frank exchange of ideas among political leaders, Nobel laureates, policy makers, writers, and leaders in business. The fifth since its launch in 2002, this year's conclave is titled India Tomorrow 2006: Bridging the Divide. Rania Al Abdullah Queen of Jordan Official Web Site

 

[Princess Robijn]

Rania's evening gown is likely from Rochas fw2005-06.

what evening gown??

 

[salma]

Any full version of Queen Rania green dress?

 

[Adry]

PPE