Taxi, auto drivers taking lessons in etiquette

Training being given to drivers at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration in Gurgaon

Apart from teaching basics of English Language and etiquette, drivers are being taught first-aid

Considering that first impressions generally are the last, taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers at Indira Gandhi International Airport here who would be among the first to interact with foreign visitors coming over for the Commonwealth Games later this year, are being imparted training in English language, etiquette and first-aid so that they may serve as brand ambassadors for the country.

Training is being imparted to these drivers at the Haryana Institute of Public Administration in Gurgaon to enable them to interact better and converse in English with sportspersons and other officials and visitors coming in from abroad.

Crucial role

Stating that these drivers would be playing a crucial role in image-building, Institute director Rajni Shekhari Sibal said if their behaviour towards the visitors is good then the latter would return home with a good image of the country in mind.

As part of their training in English, the drivers are being taught to welcome the visitors with a “Good morning!”, “Good afternoon!” or “Good evening!”. Then they are being taught small sentences like “My name is....”, “I am your driver....”, or “Please come....”

The drivers will henceforth also be asking questions such as “Do you have a hotel booking?”, “Where would you like to go?”, “Which hotel?”, “Do you have change?” and “Are you comfortable?”. They will also try to make their passengers comfortable with small phrases like “No problem….”.

Apart from learning English, the drivers are also being taught stress management and first aid. In first-aid administration they are being trained in handling passengers in the event of a heart attack, road accident or any other emergency.

Star categories

Ms. Sibal informed that in the training programme being carried out by the Institute the drivers performing the best would be given four stars for affixing on their uniform. Others would be given three or two stars depending on their performance.

By the time the Commonwealth Games begin, the Institute would have trained about 3,500 taxi drivers and 8,000 auto-rickshaw drivers. The training programme is being conducted by the Institute in association with the Indian Institute of Public Administration, the Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi, and India Tourism Development Corporation. The drivers are also being imparted training on different routes of the National Capital Region and being taught the basic history of the country so that they are able to give the right information to the tourists.

The names, contact numbers and vehicle numbers of all the trained drivers will be put on the official website of the Union Tourism Ministry, Delhi Police and the Institute for easy accessibility.

Ms. Sibal said that from February the Institute would also be conducting a similar training programme for the drivers and conductors of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

Britain happy with Games security

Britain today said it was satisfied with India’s security preparedness for the Commonwealth Games and hoped to send a substantial delegation.

It denied any plans of sending the Scotland Yard to provide security to its athletes in October. “We won’t be involved in policing the games. A police team will accompany the athletes to liaise with India police and advise (our sportspersons). We will not take over the Indian police’s role,” said British high commissioner to India Richard Stagg.

He said Britain always sent a Metropolitan Police (also known as Scotland Yard) team with athletes to major sporting events to work with local security officials.

Stagg said a team of British security experts had visited India last week. “They returned to the UK very reassured, believing that the Indian authorities are on track to deliver very effective performance on security,” he said.

The high commissioner said that at present there was no security threat that could prevent his country’s athletes from participating in the Games. “We do not believe that there is a security threat to the Games at this moment. Current analyses do not suggest that. We are encouraged by the efforts made by the Indian authorities.”

UK broadcast firm, Doordarshan iron out differences over Games coverage

Having ironed out the differences with Doordarshan, the UK-based specialist outdoor broadcast company SIS Live has confirmed that it will not pull out of the broadcast coverage of the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 in high definition (HDTV) format.

In return, it is likely to receive extra money for covering the event for Doordarshan. The raise will be above the Rs 240-crore contract agreed between both parties last year, sources close to the development said.

This comes after SIS Live threatened to walk out of the CWG broadcast coverage deal with Doordarshan last month owing to a prolonged delay in signing the contract. In October 2009, SIS Live had announced bagging the CWG 2010 broadcast coverage deal from Doordarshan after a global tendering process.

“We are signing the contract with Doordarshan in next few days and will cover the Games for it,” Alan Bright, commercial manager and project head of SIS Live for CWG 2010 told FE from Singapore.

Commonwealth Games 2010 would be held in New Delhi from October 3 to October 14 and SIS Live will have to set up world-class telecast facilities at the venues of 17 sporting events.

SIS Live bagged the contract in October last year on the basis of a global tender, beating nine other broadcast firms. In the final round, only two firms-SIS Live and Nimbus Communications-had submitted the financial bids.

However, SIS Live could not sign the contract offered by Doordarshan owing to the differences over financial, technical and legal norms in the contract. Doordarshan, in turn, had blamed SIS Live for backing out of the mutually agreed terms.

However, any increase in the pay out to SIS Live by Doordarshan is likely to lead to legal hurdles later, experts say. “If it is established that a firm has received additional payments than what it had submitted in the tendering process, the entire tendering process can come under the legal scanner,” says a senior executive in a legal firm that handles several media related contracts.

Meanwhile, Nimbus Communications is miffed with Doordarshan over the entire tendering process. “We have not taken the legal recourse yet...if the tender has not been signed even after the stipulated time frame then something is wrong somewhere. Technically, a fresh bid should have been called by Doordarshan as it failed to enter into contract with any firm.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Shelter for the Homeless amid Big Chill

Happiness for Alok and Saddam is the bare canvas tent set up in the middle of a grassy traffic island close to Delhi Gate, the entrance to the old quarter of India’s capital.

"For warmth we have each other," said the grinning homeless youth, tucked up under a pile of coarse blankets provided by a non-government organisation.

The boys, in their late teens, should soon benefit from court rulings which will ensure the tent – set up by the Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan (AAA) or Shelter Rights Campaign, to shelter up to 100 homeless people – will exist through this season’s chill and dense fog across northern India, where temperatures hovering close to zero degrees Celsius have already taken 300 lives.

On Wednesday, India’s Supreme Court, acting on a petition from the People’s Union of Civil Liberties, a human rights organisation, ordered the Delhi state government to ensure that no one suffers for want of shelter. "If there are no shelters, put them in some vacant buildings. It is only for a few days till the conditions improve,’’ ordered Justice Dalveer Bhandari.

The court, citing reports submitted to it, noted that "a number of deaths have taken place because of extreme cold weather in Delhi for the last two weeks" and made the observation that "malnutrition and hunger are … making people susceptible to extreme weather conditions.’’

"While last year there were 46 shelters during winter, which included 17 permanent shelters and 29 temporary shelters, this year the number has been reduced to 33 [17 permanent and 16 temporary] shelters. Further, of these 16 shelters, one was demolished," the apex court said.

Perhaps it was judicial anger at that one demolition, carried out by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Dec. 22 last year, as part of beautification work for the Commonwealth Games being hosted by the city in October, that saved several hundred homeless people from having to sleep under the pitilessly cold sky this winter.

Taking suo moto notice of newspaper reports on the demolition, or acting on its own cognizance, the Delhi High Court summoned officials to explain how the shelter, on a traffic island in the busy Karol Bagh shopping area, was demolished.

"Have you thought of the suffering of people due to the demolition? You give as explanation for the demolition the grounds of beautification and the Commonwealth Games?’’ Chief Justice A.P. Shah thundered at them.

Within days of the hearing the MCD put up an alternate shelter, but not before two of the 250-odd affected people died of exposure. Moved by the plight, St. Michael’s, an elite school in the neighbourhood run by the Archdiocese of Delhi, threw open its classrooms for homeless people to sleep in at night.

"We are providing shelter and blankets to people who cannot avail themselves of facilities from the MCD," confirmed a church spokesperson. Another Catholic school, St. Columba’s, has been offering similar services for eight years now.

But the schools’ charity may be the closest encounter that Delhi’s elite could ever have with homeless people. It is not unusual to see climate-controlled luxury cars driven at top speed by the well-heeled whizzing past rows of sleeping human forms covered with torn blankets or newspapers on the pavements.

Curiously enough, it was hope of finding work for the Commonwealth Games, the holding of which is considered prestigious for rapidly globalising India, that brought many of the homeless to New Delhi.

"I heard that there was a demand for construction labour in Delhi, but the living conditions here are terrible,’’ said Choki Lama, who arrived in the capital from Siliguri in eastern India a few months ago. "I am grateful for this tent [at Delhi Gate], but there is no security and I have to sleep with my footwear under my head to prevent them from being stolen.’’

"This is one of the contradictions of the system – while well over 1.6 billion U.S. dollars are being spent on an event, mostly on infrastructure and construction, there is nothing planned for the labourers who are actually doing the building work,’’ said Dunu Roy, well-known activist and planner.

"What is happening is that the government has neatly passed on the responsibility of accommodating workers to the contractors," Roy told IPS. "As the principal employer, government clearly has the responsibility, but then (it) is both employer and regulator, judge and jury.’’

Roy recalled that the same callousness was visible at the time of the Delhi Asian Games in 1982 when over a million construction workers moved into the city but were not provided accommodation. "Many of them built houses for themselves along the banks of the Yamuna river (which passes through the capital), see them being bulldozed later as encroachments. And now, the supreme irony – the Commonwealth Games village is itself being sited on the banks of the river."

"Under the Delhi Master Plan, brought about by an Act of Parliament, there should have been 150 night shelters in Delhi, a city of 15 million people, when there are only 46," said Roy. "So when the Supreme Court says that the shelters can be there until the weather improves it is not being quite fair. The real issue is, why should there be homeless people at all when millions of dollars are being spent on all this infrastructure?’’

"There is little doubt that the Delhi government is evading its responsibility to provide shelter to people who live and work in the city,’’ said Paramjeet Kaur of the AAA. "We estimate that there are around 150,000 people living in the capital without access to shelter, water or sanitation, and clearly the government is not prepared to recognise this."

Kaur said the government had failed to issue Delhi’s homeless people below- poverty-line (BPL) cards, the key to food and other entitlements, as directed by the Supreme Court three years ago. This despite the fact that the Commissioner of Food and Civil Supplies had identified 15,000 homeless families as being eligible for the cards.

"We find ourselves up against a mindset in the government that sees homeless people as a burden on the city’s resources rather than as people who provide valuable services as rag pickers, rickshaw pullers and construction labourers, so they are doomed to remain faceless, without identity and entitlements as citizens,’’ she told IPS.

What that means is that the homeless are extremely marginalised and vulnerable to exploitation for their labour, to brutality at the hands of the police. Without access to medical aid or support, they often go hungry, especially if they do not find enough work or are unwell. They are also exposed to Delhi’s extreme weather and to the filth and severe pollution on the streets.

"At the permanent shelters, AAA is able to provide meals and some medical care, especially for the old and ailing. But not in the tented, temporary shelters," Kaur said. Of New Delhi’s 25 permanent night shelters, 10 are run by the MCD and 15 by AAA, which also has 38 tents set up in different part of the city. "After the court orders, the government’s main activity has been to put up banners near our tented sites to just claim the credit," Kaur added.

According to Sanjay Kumar, who also works with the AAA, the official indifference extends to women, who form about 10 percent of Delhi’s homeless people, especially after the sole shelter for women in the capital was shut down in June 2007.

"You can see them huddling together in busy places like railway stations, road intersections and temples, where they are warmer and safer. Sleeping on the roadside is asking for trouble – from policemen to passing vehicles driven by reckless or drunken drivers," he said.

Kumar believes that the Supreme Court order on Wednesday could go a long way in making a positive change in the attitude of the government and ordinary citizens towards the plight of the city’s homeless people. "We have been providing shelters in the city for more than 10 years now, and this is the first time that there has been any appreciable official move to recognise and help them."

"At least we have now have a solemn assurance made in court by the government that shelter, blankets, water and toilet facilities would be made available to all homeless people on a priority basis," said Kumar. "We will be watching closely to see how they implement this promise; they have broken so many others."

Preparations are on to put together Team India for the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is less than nine months away. Whatever may be the level of preparedness on the organisational front, there is clearly no sign of relaxation on the part of the players. In keeping with its structured programme, which had helped the players win recognition at the international level, the Squash Federation of India has started its initial trials involving the cream and those on the threshold of fame with a step-by-step approach. The aim is to build a compact team for the Games.

Will medals be ours?

There are five gold medals at stake for squash in the Games — men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles. Can India bring home a Commonwealth medal in squash? These are early days yet, said Maj S. Maniam, Consultant Coach from Malaysia. He is the man who has scripted the upward journey of Indian squash over the last decade. “It is a tough task because there are so many players much higher in ranking than the best Indian players,” he said. But, he added, that nothing is impossible. “Did not Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal spring a surprise by making it to the final of the World doubles right here six years ago?”

One of the distinctions that Indian squash has accomplished over the last few years is winning a medal in the Asian Games (Doha in 2006), courtesy Saurav Ghosal who bagged a bronze. But, the Commonwealth Games is tougher. In fact, some of the best squash players, outside of Egypt, are from the Commonwealth countries such as Australia, England, Malaysia and Pakistan. The pressure will be high on top players such as Saurav and Joshna Chinappa. “We expect them to cause a few upsets,” said Maj Maniam. He expected Saurav and Joshna to improve their world ranking which would enable them to be part of a comparatively easy draw. This would raise hopes of their bringing home a medal. Maj Maniam believed there are better chances in the doubles because this is an area where competitions the world over are comparatively few. National coach Cyrus Poncha said, “The trials are just an initial exercise for the key players such as Saurav, Ritwik, Siddarth Suchde, Sandeep and Vikas Jangra, Gaurav Nandrajog, Joshna, Dipika Pallikal, Surbhi Mishra, Anwesha, Aparajitha, Saumya Karki and Anaka. The tournaments ahead — the Chennai Open, a doubles tournament in Manchester, the Asian senior championship in Delhi (at the Games venue) — will be considered further tests. There will be more competitions after this which will help us decide the best five men and women players who would form the Indian squad.”

Besides these, professionals like Saurav (ranked 29) and Joshna (ranked 34) have their own plans to play in the PSA and WISPA circuits. “Get into the top 20” is the aim of these two but the task, they admit, is arduous.

Nonetheless, the Indian players are confident. As the Leeds-based Saurav, an experienced pro now, who trains under Malcolm Willstrop put it, “Even in a tough PSA circuit, I have always played with confidence and never allowed pressure to baulk me. I am currently playing some of the best squash of my career and have stretched several top-ten players. I am looking forward to do better this season especially in “the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games that follows.”

Poncha said the early start to the preparations was possible thanks to the Union Sports Ministry which has funded the entire programme as part of its exercise to help the various Federations prepare strong teams for the Games.

Delhi CM inaugurates BRPL's Rs 14 cr grid at Dwarka

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today inaugurated BRPL's newest grid sub-station at Dwarka here today. The grid is the fourth in Dwarka and 71st in BRPL's area spanning 750 sq kms.

Speaking on this occasion, Ms Dikshit said, ''I am sure, this grid will fulfill the demands of the residents and commercial and other establishments of this fast-developing hub.'' She appreciated BRPL's efforts to strengthen its network to meet the ever-increasing demand of electricity in its licensed area. She said her government has ensured a comfortable summer ahead for Delhiites as power supply from Bawana Gas-based Power Plant, Indira Gandhi Power Plant, Jhajjar, NDPL's Gas-based Power Plant Rohini and Dadri would be enough to meet the requirements during coming summers and thereafter Commonwealth Games. While mentioning successful power reforms of Delhi, Ms Dikshit stated that T&D losses have been brought down from 55 per cent to 19 per cent and there is no hue and cry for power which used to be there in Delhi during 1997-98. She exhorted elected representatives to facilitate installation of meters and accelerate the pace of power conservation campaign and said to construct and commission more grid sub-stations on those plots which have been made available to the DISCOMs. She also said development is a continuous process, which needs to be further enriched to percolate the benefits to the needy people. With successful hosting of Commonwealth Games and commissioning of infrastructure, Delhi is all set to become a world-class city.

Others present on the occasion, included MP Mahabal Mishra, MLA Somesh Shokeen, Councillor Ganapati Galhot, Rajendra Kumar, Secretary, Power and senior government and BRPL and BYPL officials led by CEO Gopal Saxena and Ramesh Narayanan.

Mr Mishra expressed his gratitude to the Chief Minister for undertaking a lot of developmental works under his Parliamentary Constituency. He described last 10 years as an unprecedented era of development in Delhi and also demanded commissioning of a grid sub-station at Vikaspuri and added that Dwarka, which is a planned sub-city, will soon become a centre of attraction because of its unique infrastructure and civic services. Local MLA Somesh Shokeen also addressed the gathering. BRPL CEO Gopal Saxena said the BSES is committed to ensure quality and reliable electricity supply to all its consumers.

This next generation and state-of-the-art 66/11 KV grid sub-station, has been constructed at a total cost of over Rs 14 crore, keeping in mind the present and future requirement of this fast developing sub-city.

The grid will have an initial capacity of 40 MVA (2x20 MVA), which will be expanded to 65 MVA over the next few months. Conforming to the stringent international standards and incorporating the latest advancements in distribution technologies, this grid has several class-leading features. Some of them include SCADA Compatible, State-of-the-art Numerical Relay for Protection, 66 KV Feed through underground cables to further enhance system reliability and Green Cover around the Grid. To begin with, this grid will be manned, but over the next 9-12 months, this grid will become an unmanned one.

Besides improving the power supply situation for over 20,000 consumers in the fast-developing sectors 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19 and adjoining areas of Dwarka, this grid will also provide electricity to Hotels Ramada Plaza and Park Plaza, which have been specially constructed to cater to the visitors for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Other large customers who will benefit from this grid include Guru Gobind Singh IP University, Delhi Jal Board Pumping Station and EROS Metro Mall.

Scotland Yard won’t be part of Games security: British envoy

Expressing satisfaction at Delhi’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games, Britain Friday said there was no terror threat to India and that Scotland Yard would not be involved in securing British athletes arriving for the October event.

British High Commissioner to India Richard Stagg, voicing his satisfaction, said: ‘As of now, there is no terrorist threat to India.’

‘We are positive and encouraged by the efforts and progress made by the Indian authorities,’ the envoy added.

Dismissing media speculation, the envoy said the British Metropolitan Police, popularly known as Scotland Yard, will be accompanying the British contingent – expected to be around 1,500 athletes and officials, to Delhi in October, but they will not be involved in the security of the Games or that of the British athletes.

They will come here to liaise with the Indian authorities, he said. They will not take over the role of the Indian police, he added.

It was standard practice for Scotland Yard to accompany British athletes to foreign countries, he explained.

Scotland Yard has since August 2009 been working with the Delhi Police and other Indian security agencies associated with the Games and has played an important role in the review of safety measures related to the event.

Last week, a delegation of security experts from Britain held meetings with the Indian government and Delhi Police here to discuss various aspects of security planning for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.

The British envoy’s remarks come days after media reports speculated that British athletes might not participate in the 53-nation sporting event due to security fears.

We may have to prevent CWG visitors from going to Yamuna: Gill

Concerned over the poor state of the Yamuna, Sports Minister M S Gill on Friday wondered whether the authorities will have to stop foreign visitors from going near the river during the Commonwealth Games here in October.

"Having turned into a drain, Yamuna is a horror today," Gill said at the 'Brand: CWG Delhi 2010' event organised by industry association ASSOCHAM.

"With such a high level of pollution we might have to prevent all our foreign visitors from going near the river," the minister said.

Noting that all efforts undertaken to cleanse the river were proving futile, he said, "On the one hand, we call rivers like Yamuna as our religious symbols from which we try to gain spiritual comfort but on the other hand we use them as drains for our city."

"Yamuna is a horror and we are surprised that we still have religious relation with it as also rivers like Ganga but we do little to protect our religious symbols," he said while elaborating on various steps being taken to spruce up the city during the mega sports event.

"Over 10,000 athletes besides lakhs of tourists are expected to descend on Delhi to watch the event. Hence we need to be a good host and present the city's best features," the minister added.

Gill also expressed his disappointment over the industry's failure to prevent effluent discharge into the river. The industry has a role to play in keeping the Yamuna clean, he noted.

As many as 18 drains in the city are flowing into the Yamuna, adding to the municipal sewage and industrial effluents which are mainly responsible for water-borne diseases as well degradation of water quality.

UK sending security people along with athletes for CW Games

Britain will send a security contingent along with its sportspersons during the Commonwealth Games here later this year.

British High Commissioner to India, Sir Richard Stagg, said at a press conference here that the security contingent, however, would not be here to ''advise'' Indian Police or authorities on the security arrangements but would only ''liaison'' with them (the authorities). He said that as of today, there was no security threat which would affect the visit.

Britain was ''very positive and encouraged'' by the efforts made by the Indian authorities, he said and added that a senior security expert from London who visited India about ten days ago, was assured at the effectiveness of India's preparations. Sir Richad said he expected Britain to send a substantial delegation to participate in the Games.

''We have got no plans to advise anybody. We don't believe in that...We are very positive and encouraged by the efforts made by the authorities...We will be sending some security people (alongwith the sportspersons). But this is not to take over the role of the (Indian) Police. They will be here to liaison with the authorities and police,'' the High Commisioner said.

Weightlifting: India woman gets life ban for doping

Indian woman weightlifter Shailaja Pujari has been banned for life and five others suspended for four years for doping offences, an Indian official said on Friday.

Pujari, who won three gold medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, failed an out-of-competition test conducted by India's National Anti-Doping Agency last September.

She had earlier tested positive for a banned steroid and was dropped from the squad for the next Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.

“I can confirm that the International Weightlifting Federation has given a life ban and also fined her 5,000 dollars,” said Indian weightlifting official Sahdev Yadav.

Five other weightlifters, including 2006 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Vicky Batta, have been banned for four years and fined 5,000 dollars each for failing dope tests, stated Yadav.

Batta, Harbhajan Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Vijaya Devi and Sunita Kumari will miss the Commonwealth Games later this year which India will host in New Delhi.

Indian lifters missed the Asian Games in Doha in 2006 following a 12-month ban imposed on the national federation after four athletes tested positive within a year.

India’s lone lifter at the Beijing Olympics, Monika Devi, was withdrawn over an alleged doping offence. Devi denied the charge and is fighting the allegation in court.

It was not immediately clear if a suspension would also be served on the Indian weightlifting federation, which would keep the host nation’s weightlifters out of their own Commonwealth Games this year.

Come forward to support Women's hockey: Gill to Indian Inc

With the national game suffering due to lack of funds, Sports Minister MS Gill today made an earnest appeal to Indian corporate sector to come forward in rescue of Women hockey team, which at this hour needs support and thus ''lift a finger for it to carry it's burden.'' Inaugurating ASSOCHAM organised 'Conference cum Exhibition Brand: CWG Delhi 2010' here, Gill explained that the government has it's limitations to raise funds and sponsorships for games like Hockey and especially for it's women wing which currently is in the dolldrums. ''You would be surprised to know that Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry is spending Rs 678 crore towards coaching and training of Indian athletes for Commonwealth Games 2010 in which major chunk is going to those close to 30 hired coaches from overseas land.

Perhaps CEOs of best known multilateral organisations are paid lesser than those coaches, India hired to train it's athletes,'' he said. ''The centre has been spending crores of rupees to ensure smooth and effective conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth games and therefore Indian business houses should liberally come forward, donating sponsorships for Commonwealth games to promote their brands but also carry burden for women's hockey team which needs fiscal assistance,'' he added. Responding to Gill's appeal, ASSOCHAM Commonwealth Games Committee Chairman, Vinay Rai committed a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to the Minister, which was pledged to be handed over by tomorrow morning. The Minister said despite apprehensions expressed and negativity attributed to hosting of CWG 2010, the Indian government and Commonwealth Games federation would ensure that the games would be hosted in the best possible manner perhaps better than those of last held in Melbourne.

''The Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range has been turned into one of the best sports facilities in the world and all shooting facilities worth naming are their and the range is well set to be inaugurated in next 10 days time and could be even earlier than that,'' Gill informed. ''Likewise, Dhyan Chand National Stadium has been completely overhauled and would also turn out to be one of the best stadia in the world. ''It's completion is progressing well,'' the Minister added. He reiterated that all the national stadia and sports facilities would be timely completed so that the CWG 10 games are held at the optimum satisfaction of all participants and when they return their respective homes after games are over, the sports person carry the best with them. Gill, however, regretted that since Commonwealth games were signed in 2003, in the following 5 years required infrastructure, sports facilities and all stadia meant to host the games should have been completed but things were not executed as promised.

However, work is now catching up and all planned events will happen in a manner intended for. R K Pachauri, Advisor, CWG 2010 and Director General, TERI suggested that Safdarjung Airport should be converted into a full forest to cleans Delhi's air and affforestation activities should happen in it without any delay. Creation of bio-walls should also happen without delay in and around here so that India succeeds in building a brand for commonwealth games. Among others who spoke on the occasion included Mr Shekhar Viswanathan, Dy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd, Mr Harindra Singh, Vice Chairman and MD, Percept and Mr D S Rawat, ASSOCHAM Secretary General.

Australian shooters worried about safety during Commonwealth Games

Australian shooters are concerned about their safety at the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi and an Olympic gold medallist has said that the "worry will always be in the back of our minds".

Olympic gold medallists Michael Diamond and Susie Balogh are part of over 100 clay target shooters currently competing in Brisbane for selection at the games to be held Oct 3-14.

Diamond said: "Our safety in New Delhi is definitely a concern."

"As long as Australia is sending a team, we have to trust that security is being taken care of, but that worry will always be in the back of our minds," AAP quoted Diamond as saying Friday.

Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Perry Crosswhite has said that the risk was manageable but it would be up to athletes to decide whether they will attend.