UN sounds alarm on New Delhi's homeless

A United Nations independent human rights expert Wednesday voiced concern over the deaths of homeless people in India's capital from a cold wave, underscoring the need for adequate shelter to protect them from harsh weather.

"The lives of hundreds of homeless people in India are at risk as temperatures near zero degrees," said Raquel Rolnik, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.

Ten homeless people have lost their lives in the past month in New Delhi, while some 100 people have reportedly died in northern India due to the freezing cold over the last few weeks.

The number of homeless people in India has grown since 2007, but the number of shelters for them has plummeted from 46 to 24 in New Delhi, Rolnik pointed out.

This year's Commonwealth Games appears to be driving the closing down of shelters in New Delhi, with public authorities evicting homeless people and tearing down their places of residence in spite of the frigid temperatures.

Late last month, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi demolished a temporary night shelter on Pusa Road, leaving 250 people without shelter and allegedly resulting in the deaths of two people. In spite of an order by the Delhi High Court on 7 January requesting the immediate restoration of the shelter and the protection of the uprooted families, authorities have yet to help them.

A further 400 people were evicted from an area they were using as shelter at Pul Mitahi, where many construction workers for the Commonwealth Games and Dalit families were living.

Rolnik, who reports to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, welcomed the Delhi High Court's ruling and urged authorities to "halt the demolition of homeless shelters, to provide immediate assistance and adequate shelter to the affected persons, and not to evict homeless persons in the winter, on humanitarian grounds."

Walia exhorts MCD to implement sanitation action plan during CWG

Warning that no leniency in sanitation arrangements during the Commonwealth Games will be tolerated as the city government is all-out to present a picture of a clean city, Delhi Urban Development and Finance Minister A K Walia today exhorted the MCD to strictly implement its sanitation Action Plan during the Games.

The action plan has been prepared after a brain-storming meeting presided over by the UD Minister himself. A large number of instructions have been incorporated to make this Action Plan more comprehensive, feasible and result-oriented with an aim to ensure foolproof sanitation arrangements during the Commonwealth Games. Dr Walia has told the MCD that no leniency in sanitation arrangements will be tolerated and the city government is all-out to present a picture of a clean city. The MCD has been asked to take suitable steps towards ensuring that during the Games there is no unattended and un-collected wastage/garbage and no municipal solid-waste/other waste is found in any part of the MCD including unauthorised colonies.

As per the approved Action Plan, the MCD will be responsible for collecting the waste from different venue sites, bringing, putting the collected waste packed in different bags into the bins installed by the MCD. It will also be responsible for undertaking the sweeping of area inside and around the venue sites and premises. The corporation will collect the waste from the bins and transport it to the processing/dump facility during mid-night. This arrangement will be made at various 26th Competition Venues, Training Venues and other non-Competition venues. The MCD will install "Deep Collection System" bins which will be partially above and partially below the ground level. The waste shall not be approachable to rag-pickers, stray dogs and cattle. The waste from these bins will be collected mechanically through cranes. It has also been decided to install 68 Deep Collection System Bins at 20 locations in city zone and nine locations in SP zone. It is expected that a number of tourists including international visitors will be staying in the guest houses situated in these two zones. Apart from this, MCD will hire tipper truckers, loaders for collection and transportation of municipal solid-waste in Najafgarh and Narela area to bring maximum area under its jurisdiction in ambit of its Action Plan.

In order to develop a sense of duty, responsibility amongst Safai Karmacharis, it has been decided to make them wear apron and cap during their duty hours. It would lead towards better sanitation arrangements in Delhi. In all, 52,000 sets of apron and cap will be purchased. Dr Walia has further asked the MCD to intensify its mechanical sweeping process. The MCD has agreed to hire a number of mechanical sweepers for undertaking mechanical sweeping of roads having right of way greater than 100 ft and 60 ft. In all, 31 major roads have been identified for this purpose.

The UD Minister has been closely monitoring sanitation activities of the MCD including door-to-door collection of municipal solid-waste. The MCD has been collecting municipal solid-waste from door-to-door in Civil Line, Rohini, Vasant Kunj and Dwarka zones. It has now been decided to implement this scheme in Shahadra South and Shahadra North Zones.

Delhi races to stay in Commonwealth Games

IN the lobby of the concrete teepee that serves as headquarters for Delhi's Commonwealth Games, one of four machinegun- toting guards points me to the second-floor offices of the chief organiser. No identification is required and I wander past rows of open-plan cubicles.

The lack of building security is a running gag among staff but it's no joke at a time when India's ability to stage a secure event is under question.

Indian and Commonwealth Games Federation organisers have reacted angrily in recent weeks to suggestions athletes face a risk of terrorist attacks during the October 3 to 14 Games.

CGF president Michael Fennell accuses those who question India's capacity to provide adequate security, and to have the venues finished on time, of Western snobbery.

"If a problem occurs in India then it is viewed differently to the same problem in another country," he says.

"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."

However, it's not just outsiders expressing concern. India's outgoing National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan concedes the country could face attempted attacks during the Games and suggests Pakistan - or its proxy terrorist agents - would be responsible.

"We believe Pakistan's policy of using terror as a policy weapon remains," he told The Times newspaper, adding the nuclear-armed nation had done nothing to dismantle militant groups since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 180 people dead and more than 300 injured.

"From Pakistan's point of view it's important to disrupt the Games, so you can claim that India is not a safe place."

From his Delhi office, CGF chief executive Mike Hooper - a straight-talking New Zealander who has come to public blows with the Delhi organising committee over continual deadline slippages for construction and logistics work - is keen to dispel all fears.

"We are confident the Delhi government will deliver a secure environment for the Commonwealth Games," he says. "If that means lockdown or something else . . . I don't think that will be the case, but who knows?

"There's been a lot of talk and a lot of it is ill-informed. Our position is quite clearly that at this point in time the Games security planning is on track.

"If we didn't think it was so, we would say it's not so - and we did that two years ago, which is what prompted us to engage Australian firm Intelligent Risks."

IR, which has done several independent assessments for the CGF on security, refused to comment to The Australian but chief executive Neil Fergus said recently he holds no more concerns about security in India than he did for the Beijing or Athens Olympics.

India insists it is taking the terrorist threat seriously. Recent statements from the British Metropolitan Police and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, that they are satisfied with arrangements, have reinforced Games organisers' line that everything possible is being done to provide a safe event.

Four layers of protective security will be provided around the venues, a centralised command structure established, and 8000 additional police deployed to augment Delhi's 77,000-strong force.

Athletes and officials will be given armed escorts from the airport to the Games village and city hotels, and will travel in dedicated lanes. Anyone entering the village will have to use an electronic swipe card. Anti-terrorist commandos will be stationed inside the village.

But those arrangements have failed to assuage the doubts of regional experts about the capacity of security forces in India - a country located in one of the world's most unstable regions - to prevent attacks by terrorists from outside or within its borders.

"The problem is the sheer number of militant actors running around India today that could carry out a terrorist attack," says Scott Stewart, vice-president of tactical intelligence with US-based security analysis agency Stratfor. "You can lock down a stadium but you have crowds trying to get in. That crowd will be incredibly vulnerable to an attack before they get through security.

"I will say the likelihood is very high that India will face attacks. It's not a matter of if; it's going to be a matter of when and where."

Stewart says the splintered nature of the many terrorist groups in the region that might wish India harm, such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba - accused of staging the Mumbai attacks - and Kashmir-based militants, makes them harder to track and control. "Within Kashmiri groups and LeT there are those tied to the ISI [Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency] and others which are more radical and more closely aligned with al-Qa'ida. Because of that it's not like Pakistan can keep everything under control."

Threats also exist on India's northern border in the form of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, a group committed to the fight for an Islamic state in Bangladesh, which also has terrorist cells in northeast India.

In India there are said to be as many as 800 homegrown terrorist cells capable of causing mayhem or - as was the case with the 2001 attack on Delhi's national parliament - assisting others to do so.

Former athletes, including Australia's Dawn Fraser, have expressed disquiet about the terrorist threat. Last month British government sources quoted in London's Daily Telegraph said there was "virtually no chance" British athletes would attend the Games.

England's chef de mission Craig Hunter has since denied his country had decided to withdraw.

Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief Perry Crosswhite says the 600-strong Australian team will attend, although no athlete will be forced to go. But the rhetoric from both countries strongly suggests they are hedging their bets.

Hunter says a final decision on whether the team will go will be made in September. Crosswhite's language is similarly cautious.

"At the present time the Australian team is going to the games. We believe security arrangements are adequate. But I will continue to assess the situation, as I must do with nine months still to go," he tells The Australian.

In August, Britain withdrew from the World Badminton Championships in Hyderabad because of a perceived threat. In April, Australia's Davis Cup team pulled out of the Chennai event for similar reasons.

At the front of athletes' minds will be the ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team last March in Lahore, Pakistan. The attack, in which six people died and seven cricketers were injured, disproved the theory that sportspeople are immune from terrorism.

Security is not the only concern, of course.Construction of venues has been slipping further behind deadline for the past year, prompting Fennell to warn that India's lack of preparedness was putting at risk the Commonwealth Games brand.

In December the CGF Co-ordinating Commission toured all Games sites and issued a subsequent report describing delays in the completion of all 17 venues as "distressing".

Less than nine months out from the event, not a single venue has been completed. The main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the swimming complex are so far behind deadline they will not now be finished before June 30 - little more than 100 days before the opening ceremony.

A Test hockey event scheduled for January 5 in Delhi was cancelled just days before, without explanation. The first real test this year for how the government will handle a big sporting event will now not occur until late February, when Delhi hosts the Hockey World Cup. The next security assessment review will be conducted around the same time.

In its December report the federation cited problems ranging from ticketing and transport to accreditation and accommodation, amid reports only 10,000 of the 40,000 hotel rooms expected to be needed are available.

Days later Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit confessed she was "praying" that all work would be finished and that Delhi would "not let the country down".

Lights now blaze through Delhi's foggy winter nights at the main stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics will be held, and at the adjacent weightlifting centre where construction workers toil to transform concrete shells into sports arenas.

Much is riding on the success of these Games.

The event is India's chance to show the world the face of a modern nation capable of matching the military-style efficiency of China, and transform international perceptions that India is a country of lepers and slumdog millionaires. India fears failure to deliver a dazzling and safe Games will spark unfavourable comparisons with China and the success of the Beijing Olympics. The government is determined the Delhi Games will be a showcase of Indian ingenuity.

But the federation is now calling on the organising committee to swallow its pride and recruit more international experts, warning that "successful delivery of the Games is at risk in key areas".

Australian security expert Clive Williams fears the same brand of Indian nationalism could hamper security measures come October.

Williams says India has "long had a poor track record in the areas of security intelligence, command and control, and counter-terrorism response" and the biggest security concern will be "India's own willingness to accept and act on external advice".

While the serious failings of Indian security forces during the Mumbai attacks prompted an overhaul of national counter-terrorism and policing strategies, security experts in India and abroad agree insufficient work has since been done to plug the gaps.

Ajay Sahni, editor of the South Asia Intelligence Review and head of the Delhi-based India's Institute for Conflict Management, believes India has proven its ability to prevent terrorist incidents "on definitive targets for short periods" and doubts any terrorist strike during the Games would succeed.

Britain's Royal United Services Institute's head of Asia Security Program Alexander Neil agrees the risk for Delhi could be in the lead-up to the event.

"The big question will be whether a group like Lashkar-e-Toiba decides to do another Mumbai-style attack with the Commonwealth Games approaching," Neil says.

Hooper and Fennell say there are no contingency plans to move the Games to another country in case of a terrorist strike or catastrophic deadline failure.

Commonwealth Games terror attacks `inevitable'

REGIONAL security experts watching Commonwealth Games preparations in Delhi have warned that a terror strike aimed at derailing the biggest sporting event held in India is virtually inevitable and the only question is when and where it will occur.

While Games organisers have reacted angrily to recent claims that athletes face a high risk of terror attacks during the October 3-14 event, South Asia security experts in India, Britain, Australia and the US consulted by The Australian have all questioned India's ability to effectively repel a strike before or during the event.

"The problem is the sheer number of militant actors running around India today that could carry out a terrorist attack," said Scott Stewart, vice-president of tactical intelligence with US-based security analysis agency Stratfor.

"You can lock down a stadium but you have the issue of crowds trying to get in. That crowd will be incredibly vulnerable to an attack before they get through security.

"The likelihood is very high that India will face attacks. It's not a matter of if; it's going to be a matter of when and where."

India's outgoing national security adviser M.K. Narayanan conceded earlier this week that the country faced likely attempted terror strikes during the games and suggested Pakistan -- or its proxy terror agents -- would be responsible.

But Mr Scott said India faced multiple threats from Pakistan-based militants to the west, groups in Bangladesh and internally from Kashmir and Maoist-held regions -- which could have been plotting a strike for as long as Delhi has been planning the event.

Australian National University counter-terrorism expert Clive Williams yesterday said the two most likely threats were from Kashmiri separatist groups wishing to embarrass India, and from militants targeting athletes from countries such as Canada, Australia and Britain, with troops in Afghanistan.

"In the 2001 attack on (Delhi's national) parliament, (terrorists) had passes from the Interior Ministry and parliament, and wore military uniforms," Dr Williams said. "They may well have inside support again, and if they're wearing military or police uniforms and driving a military-style vehicle those kinds of circumstances would be very difficult to deal with."

Ajay Sahni, editor of the South Asia Intelligence Review and head of the Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, said while India could sustain sufficient security for the duration of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi would be most vulnerable in the months leading up to the event.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has been at pains to dispel fears of a terror strike amid concerns that athletes, or whole teams, could pull out. CGF chief executive Mike Hooper said he was confident India would deliver a secure environment.

Swimming: Ryan Walsh seeks Games boost

RYAN WALSH is hoping a touch of New Year resolution and Sheffield steel can help him realise his Commonwealth Games dream.

The Derwentside swimmer takes to the water for the first time in 2010 in the annual Burns Meet on January 30 and 31, which will be held at the South Yorkshire city’s Ponds Forge Pool.

The event is the first of series of meets offering possible qualification for the England swim team for this autumn’s Games in Delhi – and Walsh hopes to make a big splash in five events.

The 17-year-old from Tanfield Lea, Stanley, will contest the 50, 100 and 200 metres butterfly and the 50 and 100 metres freestyle.

His father David said: “It will be very hard for Ryan to make the Games squad because of his age, but if he performs well in Sheffield then who knows what might happen.

“Even if he fails to make it then at least he will be able to test himself against some of the best in his age group, and the experience will hold him in good stead for the future.”

Walsh goes into the Meet bolstered by a superb effort in his home club’s pre-Christmas Open Meet, where he gained four qualifying times for August’s National Championships in Sheffield.

Part of Derwentside Swimming Amateur Club which boasts Olympic gold medallist Jo Jackson among its members, the youngster’s potential was recognised last year when he clinched a place on the British Swimming Beacon Training Programme.

The Tanfield School pupil also made the British Swimming AASE Programme, an advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence, which he joined on September 1 for two years.

Last summer Walsh swam at the National Championships in Sheffield, where he claimed a personal best in his 200m butterfly and a pb and a semi-final finish in the 100m butterfly.

Before that he competed at the British Championships for the first time, gaining personal-best times in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly, then followed up with two bronze medals at the North East Regional Championships.

Walsh won his first medal – a bronze – as a nine-year-old in the 50 metres freestyle at the Northumberland, Durham and District Championships.

In 2008 Walsh won nine gold, seven silver and three bronze medals in competitions.

He was also crowned Sport Aid champion.

Athletics: Holl is the new Scots boss

A FORMER Scottish international ultra distance runner who is now boss of England netball has been named as the new chief executive of Scottish Athletics.

Nigel Holl, who quit his post with the Scottish Institute of Sport to pursue his career in England, has been charged with one of the toughest jobs in Scottish sport, that of taking athletics forward to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Holl, 41, went to primary school in Fife and continued to live in Stirling despite moving south to work.

He begins his new job on 1 April and will immediately be involved in the build-up for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the team for which is due to be announced in August.

He takes over at Scottish Athletics from Geoff Wightman, who has moved over to take up a post in road running but will continue to work at Caledonia House in Edinburgh where Scottish Athletics is based.

The man overseeing the change will be the new chair of Scottish Athletics, Royal High School FP Frank Dick, the former Head Coach of UK Athletics and a former Scottish National coach.

"I'm delighted that Nigel will lead the Scottish Athletics executive team as we raise our rhythm of operations to address necessary change in this period of wonderful opportunity," said Dick.

Games preparation- Sports persons nightmare delight: Prof Malhotra

In a damning indictment of the preparation of the Commonwealth Games, senior vice-president of the IOA Vijay Kumar Malhotra today said 'it was fast turning out to be middle men's delight and Sports persons nightmare'.

Talking to newspersons here, Prof Malhotra said the reports that Commonwealth Games will cost the state exchequer staggering two billion dollars is mind blowing. ''Games which are meant to showcase the brilliance of the sports persons seem to have become hostage to the big hoteliares,construction companies and middle men who are laughing their way to banks.'' Prof Malhotra, who is also president of the Archery Association of India (AAI), was of the view that ''in this whole mad scramble in which land is being promised to hoteliars at throw away prices, projects are handed over to construction companies through dubious middlemen, the real actors-sportspersons have beeen forgotten.'' He said after the Manchaster Commonwealth Games and Busan Asiad (2002) government gave Rs 20 lakhs to each gold medal winner but gold medal winners at 2006's Melbourne and Doha Asiad were given only Rs 10 lakh each.

He said the government has announced that gold medal winner in the Delhi Commonwealth Games will receive Rs 10 lakhs, silver winner Rs 5 lakhs and bronze medallist Rs 3 lakhs.

''This is fifty per cent less than what our medal winners got in 2002,'' Prof Malhotra said.

He demanded that the prize money for the medal winners in the coming Commnwealth and Asian Games be increased. ''The government should enhance the prize money for Commonwealth and Asian Games to Rs 50 lakhs (gold), Rs 30 lakhs (silver) and Rs 20 lakhs (bronze) respectively.'' ''The government should make announcement to this effect immediately,'' he said.

He reminded the concerned authorties that Olympic games held in recent past at Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Beijing and Commonwealth games at Kualalumpur. Manchester and Melbourne are being remembered for the brilliant showing of the home athletes besides the infrastructure.

''Beijing Olympic is talked about because Chinese sports persons topped the medal tally and not because of Bird's nest (athletic stadium) or for its swimming pool.'' India's medal tally at Manchester was 70 (30 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze) and at Melbourne, the country bagged 50 medals(22 gold, 17 silver, 21 bronze) at these games we finished fourth ''If we had to finish fourth again then what is the use of spending so much of money,'' he asked.

Prof Malhotra said,''it is ridiculous to spent Rs 700 crores on the renovation of Connaught place and put it into Commonwealth games account but reduce the prize money of Players.'' ''The billions of rupees being spent on brake neck speed to complete the infrastructure is result of myopic policies adopted by the Government, which slept over these projects for nearly six years and suddenly woke up to realise that in case games flop, India will become a laughing stock in the International Sporting arena,'' he said.

''The government is following 'penny wise pound foolish' policy.

It should remember that Delhi 2010 will be remembered for the medals we win and not for the construction.

''I urge the Government to turn its attention on the preparations of the Indian contingent for the Games, because this is the chance for India to showcase its sporting prowess as the Chinese did it in Beijing or Aussies did in Melbourne,'' he added.

It’s a family affair for promising star Smith

IT’S official, the north west is buzzing at the prospect of Paul Smith and Tony Dodson squaring off for the British super-middleweight crown, writes Martin Dobbing.

The whole British boxing community awaits with baited breath, but funnily enough, if you ask most knowledgeable pundits, the most talented man on the bill will not be appearing in the main event.

Stephen Smith, younger brother of British champ Paul, and the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist ( he also won the European Championship bronze medal the same year) is gaining such plaudits for his performances, that many believe he could and should win a world title.

Coming from a fighting family it was no real surprise that the 24-year-old featherweight laced on the gloves many years ago.

Smith says: “We lived just across the road from the Rotunda ABC in Liverpool.

“One day my older brother Paul went in with his mates and started. I just followed on and my younger brothers likewise.

“My dad has always followed boxing, though – there isn't much that he doesn't know about the sport and that had an influence, too.”

Success followed success for the youngster. He won two ABA titles at feather, beating Akaash Bhatia in 2005-2006 and outpointing Samieri Mounieme a year later.

He won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Melbourne, the same year winning a bronze medal at the European championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

The youngster only lost out to amateur legend Albert Selimov in the semi-final, nothing to be ashamed of.

“Every title I won was special but the the first time I won a national title was extra special,” says Smith. “It gave me a feeling of recognition that I was the best.

“My greatest memory was winning the Commonwealth Games gold in Melbourne. It was an amazing place and an amazing trip anyway. The experience itself was invaluable but winning the gold just topped it off.

“As for the best names, Albert Selimov from Russia was brilliant, lovely loose southpaw style, he was World and European champion.

“Alexei Tischenko, the double Olympic champion was another great name I fought for obvious reasons.

“I fought him at a Multi-Nations in Helsinki. I remember having a good first round – they were pressing the button for fun with him just winning the Olympic title in Athens.”

However, there is no doubt about who Smith regards as his greatest opponent.

“For me the best lad I ever shared a ring with is Frankie Gavin,” he says. “I fought him twice and lost 5-4 and 7-4.

“No-one else came close – he was so hard to hit and had everything. I believe he will go all the way.”

In June 2008 Smith started his pro career, stopping Shaun Walton in three rounds. He signed up with the country's largest promoter, Frank Warren – a wise decision according to the youngster.

“It was an easy choice, really. I believe there is no other promoter who can match him. He is the best promoter in the UK,” he says.

Smith has gone on to win nine straight bouts, five inside the distance. Though many youngsters struggle to adapt to the pro ranks, Smith believes his style will help him get to the top.

Obviously Stephen has created a great name for himself, but he would always get a lot more publicity due to his famous brother.

A lot of fighters struggle with that pressure – Matthew Hatton has only just started coming into his own after seven years as a professional fighter.

This however, has not affected “Swifty”.

“Having Paul as a big brother I believe helped me earlier in my career as he sort of let me know what was ahead,” Smith says.

“Even now I don't see it as pressure, but for my youngest brother Callum, having three brothers, all ABA champs and all doing well as pros, I do believe he has a lot more pressure unfortunately.”

Finally the conversation had to get around to his older brother Paul's clash with cross-city rival Dodson. With the war of words heating up between the pair, the question arose, How does the younger sibling feel the fight is going to go?

“I have never had a problem with Tony until recently really,” he replies. “I just think he is a bit deluded when he goes around slagging Paul off for losing to Steve Bendall when he lost to Davytan, who had never won a fight!”

Smith adds: “He isn't able to take the shots, in my opinion. He will be fit and up for the fight and meet Paul head on – and Paul will knock him out.”