English Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday passed the Queen’s baton for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, starting the countdown to the sporting event to be held in New Delhi next year.
The baton was handed over to President Patil at London’s Buckingham Palace in the presence of Union Sports Minister M.S. Gill, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell and Suresh Kalmadi, chief of the 2010 Games Organising Committee.