‘Green helipads’ for CW Games

The face of air traffic in the National Capital Region could change drastically in the coming months with a number of projects to be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games.

Among the proposals that are being fast-tracked include a 'green helipad' — the country's first, to be built at the Commonwealth Games village site, and finances for which have already been cleared — at AIIMS and a heliport in Rohini.

Besides, state-run helicopter firm Pawan Hans is in talks with governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for land to build 10-12 helipads.

“Our team of experts visited AIIMS recently to see if the trauma centre building could sustain the load. We have cleared the proposal and suggested some small changes like doing away with the boundary wall on the roof. If fast-tracked, the helipad could be operational within six months,” Pawan Hans chief R.K. Tyagi told HT.

“The country’s first green helipad, which will have no concrete structure and can be removed without any trace, is coming-up at the Commonwealth Games village site. The DDA has sanctioned Rs 1.92 crore for the project and has allotted 10,000 square meters of land,” he said.

This helipad is going to witness the maximum activity during the Games when VIPs, Games officials would travel to the venue. Delhi Police, which is likely to hire helicopters from the Indian Air Force for surveillance purposes, would also have access to the helipad.

Officials did not rule out the possibility of ferry services being operated, if the government gave its approval, for those who would be willing to pay. Officials expressed hope that they would get land to build helipads in each of the nine districts.

The heliport coming-up at Rohini would including helipads, parking bays, night landing facilities, maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities as well as a training academy.

Pawan Hans, which operates a fleet of 35 helicopters and another eight belonging to other agencies, has ordered another 12 helicopters and has plans to expand its fleet by 100 choppers in next few years, officials said.

CWG silver medallist among three lifters banned for life

Three weightlifters, including Melbourne Commonwealth Games silver medallist Vicky Batta, were slapped with a life ban on Saturday after the Indian federation decided to act tough on drug cheats.

The other lifters who have been handed out the punishment are G Damodaran and Rajesh Kumar Singh of Services as they failed a dope test by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) during the 2009 season — their second such offence.

Damodaran (105kg) and Singh (94kg) first returned positive samples in 2006 during the inter-Services competition in 2006. Batta, meanwhile, was among the nine culprits who had failed a dope test during the Guwahati National games in 2007.

The federation, which has itself been fined by the world body for failing to control the instances of doping, has also imposed a penalty of $5,000 each on the three lifters. Batta, a Punjab Police lifter, will have to shell out an additional $500 for a B sample.

“The federation is very serious on taking strong action on drug offenders. We want to clean up the dope menace. The severe punishment given to the three lifters should set an example for young lifters in the country,” said IWF secretary general Sehdev Yadav.

“It’s the only way to cleanse the system,” he added.

Incidentally, Batta and Singh were handed a four-year ban by the International Weightlifting Federation — till September 2013 — after failing the out of competition WADA tests in September 2009. It led to the IWF executive council resigning and the world body imposing a hefty $500,000 fine on the Indian federation. Shailaja Pujari was handed a life ban by the world body, while the other five were banned for four years. Besides Batta, Pujari and Singh, the other three lifters were Harbhajan Singh, Sunita Rani and Arambam Bijaya Devi.

Recently, 70 lifters did not turn up for competition after sending entries for the senior national championships in Udaipur in January due to fear of being caught for doping as the IWF had conducted large-scale dope testing.

Pawan Hans eyes bigger role for copters

From being a favourite mode of transport for VVIPs and political leaders, more so during election campaigns, helicopters are now vying for attention to become the lifeline of the country by providing services to the common man during times of natural disasters, medical emergencies and maintaining vital infrastructure projects.

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) — a state-run helicopter organisation which has a nation-wide presence and undertakes pilgrimage trips — is set to carve out a bigger role for itself in the near future.

With heliports coming up in Delhi and Mumbai and helicopter corridors being earmarked by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the PHHL is poised to provide helicopter services during the Commonwealth Games to be held here in October.

The PHHL has also decided not to raise its fares for pilgrimage trips to the Vaishno Devi and Kedarnath shrines despite the recent imposition of additional duties on fuel, PHHL chairman-cum-managing director R.K. Tyagi told journalists here.

A round-trip fare to Vaishno Devi costs about Rs.2,450, while the Kedarnath trip fare has been kept at Rs.7,000.

On the arrangements for the Commonwealth Games, Mr. Tyagi said that while one heliport was coming up at Rohini, another would come up near the Games Village near Akshardham in East Delhi.

“The Delhi Development Authority is giving us Rs.1.92 crore for the construction of the second helipad near the Games Village,” he added.

Mr. Tyagi said the company was also holding discussions with the governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to acquire land for creating helipads at 10-12 places in the Delhi region.

The Rohini heliport in West Delhi would cover helicopter operations, maintenance, repairs and overhaul facilities as well as a training academy for pilots and technical personnel.

Primary Hub Centre

The one near the Games Village would be used as a Primary Hub Centre from where helicopters would operate during the day and position back in the evenings, and also facilitate the transportation of VIPs, officials and players to the 15 game sites in Delhi.

In view of the growth potential for its business in new areas such as law and order, medical services and tourism, the PHHL has ordered 10 helicopters and has plans to expand its fleet by 100 choppers in the next few years, officials said.

Commonwealth chief in India, Games tops agenda

Secretary General of the 53-nation Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma comes here Saturday night on a week-long visit that will focus on the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Games in the Indian capital Oct 3-14.

Sharma will Monday attend a seminar on the future of Commonwealth Games and participate in a Commonwealth Writers' Conference here.

He will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold discussions with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Ahead of his visit, Sharma struck an upbeat note, saying the 2010 Games will be "a big success".

"I have confidence that the infrastructure will be ready in time and the Games will be a big success. It is for the Organising Committee to attend matters connected with the preparations of the Games," Sharma had said.

He will also take up Indian authorities allegations about 43 workers dying on sites being built for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

A five-member panel set up by Delhi High Court had made critical observations about workers' conditions at Games sites.

Commonwealth Games: Drug agency keeping close tabs on Delhi race

It was one step for the World Anti-Doping Agency to accredit the Delhi laboratory for service in September 2008 but readying it for October's Commonwealth Games is more ambitious.

Complicating the issue for WADA is that responsibility is now essentially out of its hands, although it is keeping a close eye on things as India trains doping control officers (DCOs).

The lab has worked successfully through several curtain-raisers, including the Commonwealth Shooting Championship, the Hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

New Zealander David Howman, WADA's director-general, is off to Delhi in May to further monitor the situation. WADA's interest will extend past October.

"I have no problem with the lab. It has been meeting regular testing programmes from the samples sent back to us. If there was a slip in scientific standards, we'd be on to it like a robber's dog.

"The issue is for the lab to retain its accreditation beyond the Games as one of only 35 labs in the world capable of doing [WADA quality] testing.

They have to analyse 3000 samples a year to do that. One starting point is cricket's Indian Premier League."

Howman says WADA still feels obliged to guide India in running a full-time programme.

"The Commonwealth Games Federation [CGF] is training its own DCOs but the ideal is that they use Indians. Those people then need to be kept on after the Games."

Drug Free Sport New Zealand boss Graeme Steel can see value in providing overseas expertise, given the number of qualified DCOs in the Commonwealth.

"India has been slow setting up domestic programmes and has had problems with drugs, especially in power events. I shouldn't be too critical from a distance but, at a major Games, it's vital experienced and well-trained officials are on the job, much like bringing in top-match officials or referees."

WADA is extra conscious of policing a new test for human growth hormone (HGH) which should be operational later in the year.

Cheating athletes tend to use HGH during intense out-of-competition periods and the current testing model can only pick up synthetic HGH within 48 hours of it being taken.

When synthetic HGH is ingested, the body shuts down normal production of HGH so artificial material can be detected briefly.

Second phase of Delhi Metro before CWG: Sreedharan

The second phase of work for Delhi Metro would be completed before Commonwealth Games in October, which could be a world record, E Sreedharan, Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said.

"In fact, we are running much ahead of the deadline. It would be a world record when the second phase of work is finished before Commonwealth Games," he said after being conferred the Sir Jehangir Ghandy medal for industrial and social peace at XLRI during his career of 36 years in Indian Railways.

Referring to the first phase of work in Delhi metro, he said, "The project was completed well before time and within the allocated funds. The second phase of work is also within budgetary limits."

He said the Kolkata Metro, which had taken 22 years to complete with the expenditure going up by 14 times, the first phase of Delhi Metro covering 65 km was completed not only before schedule but within the budgetary allocations.

Around ten lakh more people would travel by Delhi Metro after the second phase of work is finished, he said, adding around 1.65 lakh vehicles will be off the roads.

The proposal to lay 20 km of high-speed line was part of the metro network, which would connect New Delhi with the international airport in 18 minutes, he said.

FDCI lends support to Commonwealth Games 2010

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), India’s apex fashion body, Saturday came out to support the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in the capital this year.

The FDCI, along with the Games’ Organising Committee, unveiled a graffiti wall at the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) here, with several designers writing their wishes for the Games on it.

“All the best”, “Good luck”, “The Games rock” were messages that designers Parvesh-Jai, Niharika and Charu Parashar respectively wrote on the wall.

“The FDCI and Commonwealth Games Organising Committee are two vibrant bodies. So we decided why don’t we merge together and support this sports event for public awareness,” FDCI president Sunil Sethi told reporters here.

“We (FDCI) are also planning to involve some of our top designers to deisgn uniforms for the players participating in the Games,” said Sethi, who shared the stage with Commonwealth Games mascot Shera, Organising Committee vice president Raja Randhir Singh, hockey player Sandeep Singh and former hockey captain Zafar Iqbal.

The Commonwealth Games are to be held here in Oct 3-14.

Veronica Campbell Brown considers pulling out of Commonwealth Games in India

World indoor 60 metres champion Veronica Campbell Brown is the latest marquee athlete reportedly hesitating over whether to compete at the Commonwealth Games in India later this year.

According to a report in the Jamaica Observer, the sprinter's agent Claude Bryan said she was leaning against competing in Delhi in October, although the decision wasn't final.

"Well currently, I don't think it will be a go," Bryan said. "We haven't sat down and made a final decision, but given the time of the year that it is, I just can't see it happening with the World Championships coming up next year."

Campbell Brown, a two-time Olympic 200m champion who was also 100m world champion in 2007, won the silver medal in the 200m and gold in the 4x100m relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne.

Campbell Brown ran a personal best 7.00sec to win the world indoor title in Doha earlier this month.

A number of Jamaican athletes, including triple world record-holder Usain Bolt and former men's 100m world record-holder Asafa Powell, have indicated they may not make the trip to India in October.