Nearly 10,000 students from Delhi have registered as volunteers for CWG-2010

Nearly 10,000 students from Delhi have registered as volunteers for CWG-2010

Registration process, which began about two months ago, will conclude by this month end

The Commonwealth Games volunteer programme is turning out to be a big hit among students of various Delhi colleges and universities.

Nearly 10,000 students from Delhi University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi Technological University and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology have registered as volunteers.

Indian Institute of Technology is not sending volunteers as it has examinations in October.

The registration process, which began about two months ago, is scheduled to conclude by this month end.

Secretary Culture and Managing Director Delhi Tourism Corporation, Rina Ray said: “The Games will provide an excellent learning ground for volunteers who will gain in self esteem, acquire improved communications skills, learn collective responsibility and cooperation. They will also become part of the nation-building process. This is a once in a life time opportunity for students.”

“We need 18,000 student volunteers from Delhi. Some institutes have examinations at the moment. Once these examinations are done with more students will volunteer,” she added.

Volunteers will be trained for four days spread across the year beginning in April. The training will be in two parts -- general and specific. In the general training sessions, students will be briefed about basic hospitality, courtesy and knowledge about Delhi.

In the second phase specific training will be given to volunteers who will be allotted duties related to tourism, culture, sports events and crowd management while some will be stationed with the police, at media centres, hotels and the airport.

The skills of students will also be considered while allotting duties. Training will take place at halls and auditoriums in various colleges across the city.

Volunteers will be typically expected to work for approximately 10 days during the Games. They will be given specially designed uniforms, meal tickets and free transport for the duration of the Games.

Though no stipend will be given, volunteers will receive a certificate acknowledging their work.

In all, 30,000 volunteers are required from Delhi of which 18,000 will be from Delhi colleges and universities. The rest of the volunteers will be drawn from government organisations. Senior citizens and disabled people will also be made volunteers.

“Many former military personnel, retired bureaucrats, housewives and resident welfare associations have shown interest in the volunteer programme,” Ms. Ray said

“The hub of volunteering activity will be the Volunteer Operations Centre (VOC). We have identified a big building behind Lady Shri Ram College as the VOC where the initial interaction with the volunteers will take place. The VOC will be the central point for catering, uniforms and other matters related to volunteers,” Ms. Ray added.

Tourism ministry seeks 5-yr tax holiday extension for Games hotels till July 31

To speed up the development of hotel rooms before the Commonwealth Games due in October, the tourism ministry has urged the finance ministry to extend the benefits of the five-year tax holiday for budget hotels under construction in the national capital region (NCR) up to July 31, 2010, instead of the earlier deadline of March 31, 2010.

“Looking at the macro-economic situation over the past year, most of the hotels will take a little longer to complete.

Extending the tax holiday would be an incentive for hotels to speed up the process of development and start operations soon, adding to the country’s preparedness for the Games,” a tourism ministry official told FE.

The five-year tax holiday for budget hotels was introduced to attract hospitality chains to build more hotels in the NCR region. However, the economic downturn put a spanner in the development of a majority of properties raising concerns of a shortage of rooms during the Games, which are expected to attract around 1,00,000 tourists from across the world. According to estimates, there is a requirement of around 40,000 rooms in the NCR region to host the guests.

The tourism ministry has also urged the finance ministry for “non-inclusion of interstate passenger tax, state road tax and toll tax in GST as a result of which seamless travel and uniform road tax would not be possible”. Stamp duty, vehicular tax and toll taxes are part of the exemptions demanded by the empowered committee of state finance ministers, which is negotiating the GST rate and structure with the centre. States receive a consolidated Rs 10,000 crore annually from vehicles, according to the estimate of the 13th Finance Commission task force on GST.

The ministry has also demanded the restoration of Budget grant to Rs 1,000 crore, which was reduced to Rs 950 crore in the revised estimates of 2009-10. The ministry has also reiterated its demand for the revival of 80HHD of the income tax act of the tourism sector, which allowed the 50% of the profits earned from the services provided to the foreign tourists was exempted from tax and further 50% of the profit was also exempted if it was invested in the tourism sector.

“This benefit was discontinued from the financial year 2005-06 and the revivals of the benefits would set a path of growth for building up much needed tourism infrastructure in the country,” it said....

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to issue licences to 14,000 street vendors

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to issue licences to 14,000 street vendors ahead of Commonwealth Games.

A decision in this regard was taken in the licensing committee meeting of the civic agency held on Tuesday.

In all, the civic body had received about 1,31,000 applications for issuance of the licences to street vendors in the city.

“To maintain a record of all street vendors in the city, we will be giving out identification cards to all these vendors under phase I,” said Surender Gupta, chairman of the licensing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The civic agency said that it has completed the process of surveying all street vendors and registration.

“We have completed the survey. The process will help keep all types of unauthorised hawking in check,” said a senior MCD official.

“It will also help in monitoring the activities of the registered vendors,” he added.

“The database which will be created with these measures will be shared with the Delhi Police as well, for better co-ordination,” said a senior Municipal Corporation of (MCD) official.

Issue of licences and identification cards will help address issues like mutation of licence or selling of licences by original allotees to other vendors.

As per the policy, non-hawking zones and hawking zones will also be specifically listed, so that there is no ambiguity about the same.

According to the new terms, hawking will be prohibited in all residential colonies of the city after 8 pm.

This step has been implemented keeping in mind the security concerns of a residents of the city.

To implement its regulation plan and to relocate vendors hence removed from unauthorised sites, the Municipal Corporation of (MCD) has roped in a Delhi based firm too.

Don’t beautify at cost of poor, court tells Delhi

The Delhi High Court Tuesday slammed the state government for ’spending blindly’ on the beautification drive with an eye to the Commonwealth Games in October this year, while forgetting about the city’s homeless.

‘It is an astonishing fact that you (government) are beautifying every pavement in every nook and corner of the city as if the visitors during the games would examine the whole area. You are spending blindly,’ a division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said while hearing a case for providing night shelters for the capital’s homeless.

‘Do you think this beautification will increase your prestige in the world and for that you can throw women and children on the streets without shelter in this chilling winter?’ the bench added.

‘You talk about prosperity. Is this what you call national happiness?’ the bench asked the state counsel and sought details about how much the government is spending on the ongoing beautification drive in the capital.

According to an estimates, over one lakh people are homeless in the city.

‘The Master Plan of 2021 has the provision of 150 permanent night shelters, but it seems the government is trying to forget it and keep its focus only on the beautification,’ the bench observed while asking the government to take immediate steps to provide night shelter to the homeless.

The court directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to make arrangements for the homeless near Motia Khan, where a building is lying unused for the past 12 years.

‘MCD will ensure that the building is worth living for…homeless people,’ the court said. It asked the civic agencies to convene a meeting, headed by the chief secretary of the Delhi government, and look for an immediate solution so that people don’t die on the streets due to the cold. It asked for an action taken report by Friday.

The court also asked voluntary organisations working for the homeless to make their representation before the member secretary of the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Asha Menon, who will forward their suggestions to the government and the court.

The court also pulled up the government for stating that it does not have funds for constructing night shelters.

The court was hearing the case on the MCD pulling down a temporary night shelter Dec 22 last year as part of its beautification drive for the Commonwealth Games.

The MCD submitted that the demolition was made as people had encroached upon its land and did not vacate despite several warnings.

As the temperatures in the city dipped and biting cold set in, the move impacted the many homeless who took refuge in the shelter.

Delhi has 40 night shelters – 27 run by the MCD and 15 temporary structures run by the Delhi government – for roughly 100,000 homeless people.

AAI seeks Rs 35 crore from Delhi govt for DMRC

Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan is learnt to have agreed to Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) request for building the runway-tunnel ink from Dwarka roundabout to a road leading to the upcoming terminal (T3). DMRC has sought an advance deposit of Rs 35 crore, roughly half of the total cost of the 1.5-km-long and six-lane link with a 343-metre tunnel that will pass under IGI’s main runway. AAI, said sources, will ask the Delhi government to release this amount to them so that the work can begin at the earliest.

Sreedharan conveyed his consent last Friday. DMRC has sought Rs 35 crore immediately to begin preliminary investigation and preparatory work, said a relieved top AAI official. Metro had initially expressed reservation about taking up the project as its hands were full in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. But given Metro’s expertise in tunnelling work, the aviation ministry was very keen that it agrees. So AAI chairman V P Agrawal took up the issue with Sreedharan. Now DMRC will be building both high-speed rail and new road link to T3.

The aviation ministry is according top priority to this project as it has to be ready much before the Commonwealth Games in October. Last Friday, after getting Sreedharan’s consent to take up the job, it sent the proposal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for approval . The regulator is will examine the technical details as it passes under an operational runway. The tunnel will pass under the area that houses the approach lights of the main runway (28), next to the famous Jumbo Point.

IGI’s runway tunnel will be the first hi-tech dream of AAI taking concrete shape. There are three other fancy plans for extending runways. In Kullu, it plans to extend the existing air strip by making a bridge over the river Beas that flows next to the airport. Similarly, there are plans to extend Lakshwadeep’s runway by linking two islands through a sea link. And finally, to ease congestion at Mumbai’s main airport, it wants to extend the runway at Juhu airport by covering the road ahead of the airstrip. Traffic is planned to be routed through an underground tunnel below the extended runway.

‘‘All these plans are in different stages of conception. But Delhi is a flashpoint as T3 has to handle all international and domestic traffic in a few months. So, having just one approach road to the terminal is a recipe for jams. We simply had to do something before the Commonwealth Games and came upon this idea. In fact, this plan was the last to be conceived and will be the first to be implemented,’’ said a senior AAI official.

Delhi Commonwealth Games security fears eased

WELSH sporting chiefs have revealed they are confident over security issues threatening the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later this year.

The issue of security reared its head again at the beginning of this month after reports England were set to pull out of the Games in October.

But Wales chef de mission Chris Jenkins is hopeful the showpiece games will go ahead.

“I am confident at the moment about the security but it is an ongoing issue and our number one priority,” said Jenkins.

“Plans are well in advance and I am more reassured now than I was back last November.

“We met with Delhi police just before Christmas and I was very impressed with their plans.

“We also met with the Met Police last week and they have also been out to Delhi recently.

“Everything and more is being done at the moment, although we are still nine months away from the Games.”

And Jenkins is also confident the venues will be completed in time.

“We went out there just before Christmas and I was surprised how much had changed,” he added.

“They had come a long way with some of the venues and I was surprised how much they had managed in a couple of months.

“There are still some critical issues surrounding some two or three venues but we are confident they will be ready.”

Some top athletes like Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis have already stated they are likely to miss the games. But Jenkins has insisted Wales’ top stars will be attending.

“All the British countries met last week and the strength of the teams we are sending was an issue we spoke about,” he added.

“This is Wales’ most important sporting event, while for Scotland this is a massive Games because Glasgow is hosting the event in 2014.”

Jenkins was talking at the official kit-fitting for the athletes at the Village Hotel just outside Cardiff.

“This sort of event is a big milestone towards the Commonwealth Games,” added Jenkins.

“It makes it feel a lot more real for the athletes and that is the important thing.”

Fennel warning over Dehli decision

Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell has warned there may be repercussions for the London Olympics if England opt not to send a team to Delhi in October.Last month Commonwealth Games England officials said they would make a final decision on their participation at the Games in September but currently had no major security concerns over the Delhi event.

Fennell warned that any decision to withdraw from Delhi 2010 could have a knock-on effect for London 2012. He told The Times: "I wouldn't want to go down that road, but some people will be thinking that way.

"A country that wants to host an event should think how other people will then view the security risks in their own country.

"The fact is there is always a security risk. Everybody has to make their own decisions but if you don't go (to Delhi) I suggest you don't travel anywhere in the world."