India reassures on security for sports events

India sought on Wednesday to reassure foreign teams that it would host a safe field hockey World Cup this month after a weekend bombing and alleged new threats raised fresh concerns over security.

We have made elaborate arrangements for the entire World Cup hockey event, Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP. The arrangements are foolproof.

Home Secretary G K Pillai said late on Tuesday that the government had put in place elaborate security measures to ensure an incident-free hockey tournament and Commonwealth Games in October in New Delhi.

We are in close touch with security liaison officers of all countries that are coming here to participate, Pillai told reporters. So far, all of them have seen the preparations done by the Delhi Police and the MHA (Ministry of Home Afffairs). They are quite satisfied.

New security concerns rose after last Saturday's bombing at a restaurant in the western city of Pune which killed 11 people, including an Italian woman and an Iranian man.

A previously unknown Islamist group that splintered from a larger organisation claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to an Indian newspaper.

The group, calling itself Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi, linked the attack to upcoming peace talks between India and Pakistan, set for February 25.

The India and Pakistan teams are set to meet on the first day of the hockey tournament which runs from February 28-March 13.

On Tuesday, the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online news website said it had received a warning from Al-Qaeda-linked militant Ilyas Kashmiri about attacking sporting events in India.

The Pakistan-based extremist reportedly warned international competitors against going to the hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament that begins in March and the Commonwealth Games.

The report could not be verified by AFP, but the threat led New Zealand officials to delay the hockey team's departure for India until a security update had been received.

Hockey India, which is organising the World Cup in New Delhi, said no team had threatened to pull out of the World Cup.

As far as we know, all the 11 international teams are coming, said spokesman Anupam Ghulati. There are no concerns at all.

Any pull-out or disruption for India would be major blow as it gears up to host the Commonwealth Games in October, the biggest event on Indian soil since the Asian Games in 1982 which organisers hope could open the way to an Olympics bid.

In an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian field hockey coach Ric Charlesworth brushed aside the security concerns.

Having lived in India, there are all sorts of threats every day and there are 80 news channels, Charlesworth told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Everyone is looking for a story. There is always a story like that. I don't think we can distract ourselves with that.

Tiny Armored Car Unveiled as India's Newest Anti-Terror Weapon

The tiny battery-operated vehicle can squeeze into service elevators and withstand grenade blasts

India has proven friendly to small vehicles in the past, but its new golf cart-sized armored car took us by surprise. The battery-powered Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart (ATAC) can carry two fully-armed soldiers or security officers along as is traverses narrow indoor corridors and rides service elevators in the hunt for evil-doers, Agence France-Presse reports.

The $45,000 vehicle also boasts bullet-proof windows that can survive grenade blasts, according to manufacturer Metaltech Motor Bodies Pvt Ltd. Its design was inspired by the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India where Islamist gunmen held off Indian commandos for 60 hours inside two luxury hotels. The final casualties included 17 security personnel among the 166 people killed in total.

Four firing ports would allow the armed driver and rider to fire at enemies from the safety of their vehicle, and could possibly offer more protection than a bunker shield carried by SWAT or elite police units.

One ATAC prototype on display at the DefExpo 2010 in New Delhi reportedly drew applause from both visitors and Indian military scientists. Metaltech hopes to offer the prototypes on a trial basis to sponsors of the Commonwealth Games scheduled for November in Delhi, as well as to India's National Security Guards.

Each car can run for about six hours on a single charge and speed along at 15 miles per hour (25 km/hr). That sounds about right for patrolling stadiums or airports; but don't expect to take one of these out for a run along the highway.

Competition will be stiff, says Jung

He was the hero of the last Commonwealth Games, winning seven medals including five gold, but pistol shooter Samaresh Jung said that he was not looking at the medals this time in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship, set for inauguration on Thursday.

Restricted to two events — air pistol and standard pistol — owing to a stringent selection process, Jung said that he was viewing the championship as a good platform to launch his campaign for the season.

Conceding that he was not in his best form, Jung said that it was a good competition in which one had a fair chance to beat the field, though one had to really work for it.

He was categorical that there were some good shooters from abroad, including Sri Lanka and that the Indian shooters would have to sweat it out to be able to repeat their success in the last Commonwealth Games where they won gold medals.

Narang confident

The other shooting star of the last edition, Gagan Narang, who had won four gold medals each in the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Championship in Melbourne, exuded confidence about improving his record to even six medals as he was competing in three events.

However, Jung knows that Warren Potent of Australia, the Olympic bronze medalist in Beijing, and champion in six World Cups apart from a World Cup final, will be the hot favourite in the 50-metre rifle prone event.

Narang, who has shed more than 10 kilograms in recent times, said that it was a challenge for him to shuffle between two sets of equipment. Though he was looking forward to the World Cups, Narang said that he was keen to give his best in the event at home and enhance the team's tally.

He pointed out that Australia was keen to get to the host and pay back for all the losses, but said that it would be important for him to keep his cool, particularly in the wind-swept 50-metre range, that could drive anyone crazy.

In with a chance

National coach Prof. Sunny Thomas said that there would be more chances for Indian shooters, as there were vacancies in three pistol events, which had only eight entries each, and the shotgun events for men.

There will be “zero shooters” filling up those spots, and they could be world record holder Ronjan Sodhi in double trap and Jung in one of the pistol events, for which he has not qualified — like free pistol or centre-fire pistol.

There will be two “zero shooters” in double trap, one in trap and five in skeet. The authorities are in the process of contacting the shooters to ascertain their availability and willingness to shoot even if their scores would not count.

The fate of the rapid fire pistol event which has only four entries is not known. The criteria for awarding medals in individual and team events that do not meet the minimum eligibility criteria in terms of number of entries had also not been decided upon by the authorities.

Chaos

With the private vehicles being denied entry into the range, the shooters depended on the official buses to reach the venue, and had to endure long delays. In fact, a bus load of volunteers from Army, trained shooters themselves, were denied entry at the range for hours, for lack of accreditation though they had been at the range the previous day as well.

Quite understandably, the shooters have resigned to the fact that it would be some time before things settle down and helps them focus purely on their shooting.

Games logistics behind schedule

With less than 230 days left for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), an internal audit by the organizing committee in the first week of February revealed that none of the key logistics such as security, accommodation and transport to move officials as well as athletes have been completed by the 16 February deadline.

A status report on the logistics, reviewed by Mint, indicate none of the 13 tasks associated with eight areas—security, ceremonies, sports, coordination, venue development, accommodation, technology and accreditation—have been completed. There had been no progress on any of the logistics since that assessment as of Wednesday, said a top government official familiar with the situation. The official did not want to be identified.

In all, there are 36 such areas that come under logistics. Mint could not independently review the status of the remaining areas.

Separately, another internal audit has found a similar slippage in developing the catering logistics for the CWG.

Alarmed by the slow pace, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed a three-member official panel in November to the organizing committee to hasten work on the projects. Mint reported Singh’s decision on 4 November to get involved in ensuring that the infrastructure is ready in time for the CWG, the country’s biggest sporting event in 28 years, scheduled for 3-14 October.

According to the official cited above, much of the delay is due to the organizing committee’s failure to take timely decisions.

“The cancellation of tenders at the last minute, delay in clearing the request for proposals in various projects and too much confusion in who does what led to the delay in implementing the tasks,” said the official. “We are still in the danger zone.”

An official of the urban development ministry, which is assisting in the coordination for the CWG, concurred.

“There are so many things that are not defined,” he said, on condition of anonymity. “It is not clear as of now.”

The same official maintained that while physical infrastructure such as bridges and stadiums would be ready, support facilities such as scoreboards, camera positions and other sports-related issues may not be ready in time. The ministry will undertake a review of infrastructure projects with officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi Development Authority on Thursday, the official added.

A separate audit reveals a similar slip-up in organizing the catering for the CWG. In November last year, the organizing committee decided to award the catering service for the Games Village to Australia-based Delaware North, the only international company that had qualified in the global tender. Nearly a month later, the organizing committee found that there were “technical gaps” in the bidding and decided to disqualify the company, which had teamed with the Taj Group.

Officials of Indian Hotels, which runs the Taj catering businesses, were not immediately available for comment, when called on the mobile phone.

Following an exchange of communication between officials in the organizing committee, on 3 February it once again issued a request for proposal (RFP) for catering service in the Games Village, where 36,000 meals would have to be dispensed for 12 days. The fresh RFPs are expected to be opened only after 24 February.

“It took almost three months for the organizing committee to disqualify the chosen company and re-tender for a new one,” said the first government official cited above. “There is no surety that we would get the fresh bids on similar or lower amount. Even if we do, it’s a high risk as importing the utensils and equipment for setting up such a large kitchen itself will take more than three months.”

Setting up a multi-cuisine kitchen for an international event takes time and involves several security issues as well, the official said.

However, Jarnail Singh, chief executive officer, organizing committee, told Mint that all the work would be completed and the venues handed over to Delhi police by 30 June. The lock down date for security is expected to be 1 September.

SAI threatens to shut Pune CWG camp

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Wednesday threatened to shut the Commonwealth Games camp in Pune, scheduled to start from Monday, if the swimmers boycotted it. The swimmers had threatened to skip the camp if it was not shifted to SAI South Centre, Bangalore, which they claim has better facilities than the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.

Pravir Krishn, joint secretary, SAI, told TOI that it would be the end of the camp if the swimmers failed to comply with the SAI directives. "We will shut the camp if they skip it," he said. He also rubbished charges that the facilities in Pune were below par. "The swimmers had trained in Pune prior to the South Asian Games in Bangladesh. I don’t know what happened suddenly to demand a change in venue. The camp has been allotted to Pune and it will continue there," Krishn said.

Meanwhile, the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) has reacted sharply to the SAI ultimatum. "Let them shut the camp. We will not budge from our demand," said an adamant SFI secretary general Virendra Nanavati. "The federation has forwarded the coaches’ report to SAI. Our coaches will not attend the camp until a favourable decision is taken. We will not hesitate to approach the sports minister if SAI does not heed our request," he added.

JNU won’t close during Games

The buzz around the Commonwealth Games has inspired a change in new academic calendar across schools and universities.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is an exception.

While other institutions in Delhi are keen on closing during the event, JNU has told the Ministry of Human Resource Development that it will not be able to do the same.

The ministry had recently sent a circular to all central universities in the Capital — including Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia — advising them to accommodate the Games in their new academic calendar.

“We follow semester system and normally do not have an autumn break. October is a crucial and busy month and closing for as many as 10 days is not possible,” said Ramadhikari Kumar, rector, JNU.

The Delhi government on Monday had announced that all schools in the Capital would be closed from October 1 to 17 to allow students to attend the Games and ease congestion.

Institutions such as DU, IP University and Delhi Technological University (DTU), too, are keen on following this lead.

“We will suspend classes and try to make up either during the summer or winter break,” said PB Sharma, vice Chancellor, DTU, which also follows semester system.

With JNU being a residential campus, the authorities feel that their normal routine will not affect traffic in any way.

“Almost 85 per cent of our students live on campus. We are in one corner of the city and I am sure we will not affect the traffic situation,” said Kumar.

This decision will affect the JNU student volunteers for the Games. “The semester system is all about continuous evaluation. We are bound suffer if we miss classes,” said a student who did not wish to be named.

Pakistani militants threaten Commonwealth Games

A Pakistan-based militant group has warned foreigners not to attend three upcoming international sporting events in India, while another one has claimed responsibility for a deadly weekend bomb attack on a city in western India.

Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged al-Qaeda operative who heads the notorious militant 313 Brigade, contacted the Asia Times Online to warn foreigners not to come to the Hockey World Cup this month, the Indian Premier League in March, and the Commonwealth Games in October.

"We warn the international community not to send their people to the 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games," said an emailed message to Asia Times Online's Islamabad office.

"Nor should their people visit India - if they do, they will be responsible for the consequences."
A previously unknown group calling itself Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi also telephoned the Islamabad bureau of India's Hindu newspaper to say it carried out Saturday's bombing at a German bakery in Poona, which killed ten people, including two foreigners.

It claimed to have split from the larger Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant organization blamed for the Mumbai attack of November 2008, because LeT "took its orders from Pakistan's intelligence agency", according to The Hindu.

Both messages said they were motivated by Indian policies in the disputed region of Kashmir, which is claimed in entirety by both India and Pakistan and has sparked three wars between them since they won independence from Britain in 1947.

The two messages, which could not immediately be verified independently, are likely to place further strain on scheduled talks between the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries in Islamabad next week - the first such talks since the Mumbai attacks.

They are also sure to heighten fears of further militant attacks in India, especially among British and other Western athletes who are due to attend the three upcoming sports events.

Following the Mumbai attacks, last year's IPL had to be staged in South Africa and Australia pulled out of a tennis Davis Cup tie in India.

New Zealand has already responded by announcing that its men's hockey team will delay travelling to the World Cup, which is due to start in Delhi, the Indian capital, on February 28.

"While Hockey New Zealand still plans for the Black Sticks men's team to attend the Hockey World Cup in Delhi, it has decided to keep the team in Perth until further notice," Hockey New Zealand chief executive Hilary Poole said.

"We have been monitoring this situation all along. But the events over the past 24 hours have lead us to reassess the situation."

The New Zealand Olympic Committee, which is responsible for the New Zealand team going to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, said it was aware of the reported threat.

"We are seeking government advice on the nature and validity of the threat and will take action as appropriate," an NZOC spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said the government was closely monitoring the situation.
Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, also said his government was keeping a close eye on the situation, and liaising with Indian authorities.

"Indian authorities have pledged to implement strong security procedures for all upcoming sporting events in India,” he said. “We, however, will be following this very, very closely.”

Perry Crosswhite, Chief executive of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, said he had discussed the threats with the Department of Foreign Affairs, but had yet to alter any plans.

Ric Charlesworth, the coach of the Australian men's hockey team, said he was not overly concerned, but the Kookaburras have been assigned an armed guard.

Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive, agreed the threat level in India had escalated, but said changes to IPL players' travel plans would not be made until closer to their departure date.

"We've gone from a situation where the threat levels in India have been concerning in recent times but now your looking at a probably legitimate, direct threat against the event,” he said.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which organizes the IPL, said it would be seen as an insult if any Australian players pulled out because of safety concerns.

“It won't be seen in a good light. They must come, so they should believe the assurances being given by the government," spokesman Rajiv Shukla told Australian radio.

Lalit Bhanot, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee secretary general, also downplayed the threats.

"We have taken that responsibility, we will provide them security and our government, our police, home ministry, the OC (organizing committee), everybody here is committed to providing them security cover,” Mr Bhanot said.

Kookaburras await India safety briefing

Hockey Australia says no Kookaburras players have indicated they want to pull out of the men's World Cup in New Delhi as they wait for more information about a reported al-Qaeda-linked terror threat.

HA chief executive Mark Anderson said the Kookaburras' plans to play in the tournament remained unchanged on Wednesday pending the outcome of security assessments of the report on the Asia Times Online website.

He expects to have a comprehensive breakdown of the security situation in India before the team is due to fly out for India on Sunday.

Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani militant Ilyas Kashmiri reportedly warned athletes against competing in India at the hockey World Cup, which starts on February 28, cricket's Indian Premier League starting next month and the Commonwealth Games in October.

Anderson emphasised the team's safety was of "paramount importance" to HA and noted extensive security plans were already in place for the tournament.

"We are not forcing any players to go," Anderson told AAP on Wednesday.

"So at any stage if they are not comfortable with the situation they can elect to opt out of the team, so there is no pressure on team members.

"But at this stage there's no indication that anyone is going to exercise that option.

"We're keeping them abreast of the situation and they're aware we're going through the right process and we'll provide them with the information once the advice comes to hand as well.

"There is no decision to be made at the moment, the critical message is we are still planning to attend so all plans are in place for us to keep our current plans.

"If we receive advice that would change those plans then we'll re-assess.

"But very much we are still planning on attending."

Anderson said there was no need for HA to organise extra security for the Kookaburras despite the latest threats.

"There's no added security as a result of this threat because the security plans were already extensive," he said.

"And it has the same level of security planning as the Commonwealth Games from local security and police.

"But obviously they (authorities in India) will be taking on board this latest threat and assessing those plans to make sure they're appropriate."

The Kookaburras pulled out of the 2004 Champions Trophy in Pakistan with HA citing security fears and Anderson said HA would take a no-risk approach in regards to the upcoming World Cup.

"Hockey Australia has been in contact with a range of security experts and officials for several months both in Australia and India," he said.

"We have a process in place for assessing emerging threats and changing conditions.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is currently assessing the reported threat and we will continue to maintain close communication regarding this, and all other security issues."