Mrs. Dikshit and Kalmadi launch ticket sales for Delhi’s biggest badminton event since 1982

Chief Minister Mrs. Shiela Dikshit and Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Chairman Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP, today launched the sale of tickets for the Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship to be held at the state of the art DDA Siri Fort Badminton Stadium from 12 April 2010. It is the biggest badminton competition in the Capital since the 1982 Asian Games.

Mrs. Dikshit said she was confident the event would draw full houses, especially since India’s own Saina Nehwal is a big draw. “Last month, Delhi showed it loves top notch sporting events by supporting the FIH World Cup Hockey and the Commonwealth Boxing Championships. I am sure that the Badminton Asia Championships, featuring a lot of leading names, will also draw a terrific response,” she said. 

Mr. Kalmadi said he expected the Badminton Asia Championship to be a roaring success. “Badminton Association of India hosted the World Junior Championship in Pune and the World Championship in Hyderabad successfully. By bringing the Asian Championship as the test event for the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, BAI has ensured that the sport stays in the public eye,” he said.

BAI President Mr. V. K. Verma pointed out that the ticket prices were pegged really low. “Given the fact that the world class players will be competing for honours in the event, we have pegged the ticket prices really low,” he said. “The prices range from Rs 50 to Rs 200 for the first two days, Rs 100 to Rs. 350 for the third and fourth days, Rs 150 to Rs 500 for the quafterfinals and semifinals and from Rs 300 to Rs 1500 on the final day.”

Bookmyshow.com has been identified as official ticketing agency. Tickets can be booked online by logging on to www.bookmyshow.com from 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30, 2010. The agency will setup a call centre (011-39895050) and will send SMS/e-mail alerts for updates on the Championship 2010.

Tickets will also be available for purchase at Café Coffee Day outlets near Siri Fort Sports Complex and across major areas in Delhi. CCD outlets at the following locations will have tickets for sale: Gargi College, Chanakyapuri, Greater Kailash I M-Block Market, Greater Kailash II M-Block Market, Lajpat Nagar, Ansal Plaza, South Extension II, Rajouri Garden, Connaught Place Inner Circle and Galleria Market (Gurgaon).

One game to another, a political play

The voice of the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, the showpiece event of Indira Gandhi’s Congress, is not welcome for this year’s Commonwealth Games, the extravaganza set to symbolise the might of Sonia Gandhi’s Congress.

The Commonwealth Games organising committee today all but ruled out the demand for making Amitabh Bachchan the brand ambassador for the event to be held in Delhi from October 3 to 14.

“We are thinking of brand ambassadors from sports like Milkha Singh, P.T. Usha. We are thinking of young people,” committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said when asked about the suggestion of BJP leader V.K. Malhotra that Bachchan be made the main brand ambassador of the event.

Malhotra is the vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association, headed by Kalmadi.

That the megastar is no longer considered worthy of being the ambassador of such a showpiece event of the Congress is in many ways symbolic of the final break in what was once an extremely close relationship between two of India’s most famous families.

Bachchan’s baritone reciting the hymns at the Asiad opening ceremony, watched by childhood buddy and future Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, heralded the event which was touted as Indira’s crowning glory following her triumphant return to power post-Emergency.

Bachchan, now facing barbs from the Congress over his association with Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, has maintained he has been apolitical save the brief period as Lok Sabha member between 1985-87 when the actor had teamed up with Rajiv to serve the Congress.

However, a closer look at the actor’s life shows how destiny has always brought together politics and political figures. It also explains why Congress leaders, including Sonia, are outraged over his association with Modi.

Almost all of these events and instances are well documented in books and memoirs, which have not been contested by the Bachchan family.

The Bachchans’ tale of friendship with the Nehru-Gandhis dates back to Anand Bhavan, Allahabad. Indira was still unmarried and Sarojini Naidu had introduced poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his Sikh wife Teji — Amitabh’s parents — to Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter as “the poet and the poem”.

Amitabh was barely four when he was introduced to Rajiv, who was two then. There was a fancy dress party at the Bachchans’ Bank Road residence in Allahabad at which Rajiv was dressed up as a freedom fighter.

In an interview, Amitabh had recalled: “Ma (Teji) says he messed up his pants. We were all such tiny kids then, absorbed in our little games that it did not seem a big deal that Pandit Nehru’s grandson was in our midst.”

When Nehru moved to New Delhi’s Teen Murti Bhavan as India’s first Prime Minister, Rajiv and his brother Sanjay were often spotted playing with Bachchan siblings Amitabh and Ajitabh along with Adil Shaharyar, the son of Indira aide Mohammed Yunus, and Kabir Bedi.

While Rajiv and Sanjay were studying at Doon School, Amitabh and Ajitabh were at Nainital’s Sherwood. During the holidays in New Delhi, which fell around the same time, the boys met and swam every day at the pool of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Rajiv and Sanjay exposed Amitabh to avant garde cinema when European films were specially screened at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the Nehru-Gandhi family. Amitabh recalls attending with Rajiv and Sanjay the screening of films like Cranes are Flying and other Czech, Polish and Russian movies rich in anti-war message.

Indira’s close aide Yashpal Kapoor was extremely fond of Amitabh. Kapoor, more famous for toppling Opposition governments in states, is said to have tried getting Amitabh to Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College. For some reason, Amitabh did not join, preferring to move to Kirorimal College (perhaps due to a better course option) but his younger brother Ajitabh studied economics at Stephen’s.

Amitabh’s first break in Bollywood was in K.A. Abbas’s Saat Hindustani, based on the liberation of Goa. Abbas was considered close to Indira, the then Prime Minister, and there were whispers that she had put in a word for the struggling actor. But Abbas stoutly denied having acted at Indira’s behest.

Harivansh Rai, later to become a Rajya Sabha member, was requisitioned in the foreign office by Nehru’s government while Teji was made director of the Film Finance Corporation in 1973. This was the time when Amitabh got married to Jaya. The guest list was extremely short but Sanjay was present, representing the Gandhis.

When Amitabh emerged as an actor, Rajiv would often visit him on the sets, extremely unobtrusive, waiting patiently till he completed a shot.

Amitabh recalled: “His nature was that he would never misuse his family name. More often than not, Rajiv would not disclose his surname, fearing the distance it would create between him and the common man.”

Then came the Emergency. Amitabh, who was frequently seen in Sanjay’s company, faced media wrath for supporting it. On April 11, 1976, Delhi hosted a function called “Geeton Bhari Sham,” ostensibly to raise money for Sanjay and Rukhsana Sultana (actress Amrita Singh’s mother)’s controversial family planning programme. Both Amitabh and Jaya were present in the company of Sanjay.

Around that time when Indira’s Emergency information and broadcasting minister Vidya Charan Shukla was clamping down on violence in Hindi films, came Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay.

Writers Salim-Javed and the rest were tense if the film would pass the censor board. Amitabh’s association came in handy as the otherwise intimidating Shukla cleared it with minor cuts, including a change in the climax.

Throughout the 19-month-long Emergency, Amitabh remained silent on the ban imposed on Kishore Kumar by All India Radio and Doordarshan and the ostracism of the likes of Pran and Dev Anand, both outspoken critics of the government.

Film journalism faced stiff censorship where even a gossip item about a young Amitabh and the sensational Zeenat Aman was not tolerated.

After Sanjay’s death, the entry of Rajiv saw Amitabh offering his signature voice at the 1982 Asian Games opening ceremony in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. Rajiv, the chief organiser, sat in the front row as Amitabh anchored the show.

Following the Bofors uproar, Amitabh, an MP from Allahabad, left politics, disillusioned. The superman was accused of being a middleman. Amitabh fought for his honour and won a protracted legal battle, but he could not sever his links with politics.

In August 1996, Amitabh’s Juhu residence saw two VVIPs, the then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda breaking bread with the Shiv Sena’s Balasaheb Thackeray. The sight of an iconic Amitabh bowing before the self-proclaimed moral guardian did not go down well with many of his admirers.

A series of financial setbacks brought Amitabh close to Amar Singh and, through him, to the cash-rich Sahara group of Subroto Roy.

As Amar fell out with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam, Amitabh was seen in the company of Narendra Modi, who he described as “shahenshah”. Activist and dancer Mallika Sarabhai, who had unsuccessfully contested against Advani, alleged that Amitabh’s association with Gujarat is based on three specific reasons.

“I was told by a Gujarat government official that Mr. Bachchan wanted tax exemption in Gujarat, free land for his film city and a Rajya Sabha seat for his wife Jaya Bachchan, who may not be able to represent Uttar Pradesh with the change in the political equations there,” she said.

Amitabh has not commented on Sarabhai’s allegations but he had once told a scribe why he chose to quit politics.

He had recalled that once in Assam, a fan came running to him saying how much he loved the actor but hated his association with the Congress. “Please do not make me choose between the two personalities,” the fan is said to have pleaded with him.

Congressmen who know Sonia’s mind well wonder how Amitabh, who has championed the cause of the downtrodden in many of his films, now feels about the millions of his fans who are uncomfortable about Modi.

New Delhi to be first Indian city to forecast air quality

India’s capital, which will host the Commonwealth Games in October, isn’t just getting a fresh coat of paint, several overpasses, hotels and roads, and assorted sports infrastructure towards this.

It is also getting its own air quality forecasting system.

And so, New Delhi will become the first city in the country to be able to provide, 48 hours in advance, a pollution forecast, much like a weather forecast.

French firms Aria Technologies SA and Leosphere SA, which created a similar forecasting system for the Beijing Olympics (2008), are helping New Delhi create its pollution forecast. India doesn’t have an official pollution forecasting system.

“Our goal in Beijing was to put together a pollution index for the Games. Paris, which has a similar system, uses the information to control pollutants in the near future. This (the pollution forecasting system in New Delhi) is a first for South Asia,” said Sarath Guttikunda, deputy programme manager, Aria.

The two French firms are working with India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to create the system. Leosphere manufactures hardware and software for the laser-based monitoring systems and Aria Technologies develops and distributes air quality modelling systems.

The New Delhi project is sponsored by the French government. Officials at its embassy in New Delhi declined comment, saying they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“After the Games, CPCB will take it forward. We will be training the board so that they will be able to continue the forecasting,” added Guttikunda.

CPCB has the mandate for collecting and releasing data on air pollution. It does provide real-time data on the concentration of various pollutants in New Delhi. However, this is point-in-time data, not a forecast.

The new initiative will help it do better, said an official at CPCB. “The focus is on better understanding of pollution for national, regional and urban areas. This will be continued after the Games also. Delhi is just the pilot and we hope we can replicate it for other cities,” said Prashant Gargava, environmental engineer and in charge for computer division, CPCB. “Advance warning and information on ambient air quality can help citizens in planning outdoor activities. It can be used for planning air quality management systems, understanding sources of pollution and how to manage them.”

however, it wasn’t clear whether New Delhi would emulate Beijing’s aggressive environmental management.

In Beijing, where the forecasts were available five days in advance, officials “used it as a policy tool, through which they planned their short-term pollution control methods. They had a clear target, which was to meet air quality standards during games,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhary, associate director, Centre for Science and Environment, an environmental activist organization.

“They ordered three million cars off the roads and shut down industries to meet the standard,” she said, adding that New Delhi should have a similar plan.

Guttikunda, too, would like to see CPCB or other agencies use the data to good effect. “Our objective is to persuade the agencies to make an informed decision on pollution control rather than an ad hoc one.”

The forecasting system that is being put in place will use Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. The process involves a laser beam which is released and captured, with the before-after difference being converted into concentrations of various pollutants.

The system will also factor in regional data because it is needed to make an accurate forecast, said Guttikunda. For instance, data from Rajasthan can help predict dust storms in New Delhi.

Guttikunda said the main aim of air quality forecasting should be public health. “For instance, Delhi is known as the asthma capital of the country. Air pollution, especially particulate, is linked to respiratory disorders and advisories could be based on such advance warning system for better public health.”

Several cities in other parts of the world do issue such health advisories.

New Delhi to be first Indian city to forecast air quality

Kalmadi no to Games ambassador role for actor

Amitabh Bachchan will not be made the brand ambassador for Commonwealth Games, Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said on Tuesday.

“We are thinking of making sportspersons as Games ambassador. We will think about cultural ambassadors from Bollywood later,” Kalmadi said. “Also, we are thinking of younger brand ambassadors.”

Senior BJP leader and vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association V K Malhotra had written to Kalmadi suggesting Bachchan’s name as the brand ambassador for the event that will be held in Delhi from October 3 to 14.

Some Congress leaders had objected to Bachchan’s presence at a government function in Mumbai recently. Later, Bachchan had written in his blog that son Abhishek was sidelined during the Earth Hour event in Delhi, where he was the brand ambassador.

Reacting to Kalmadi’s rejection of his suggestion, Malhotra said the age issue was irrelevant as most of the key people involved with hosting of the Games were above the age of 55.

Malhotra had earlier said that Bachchan was the brand ambassador of 1982 Asian Games and should be made ambassador of the Commonwealth Games as well.

“Bachchan is an Indian and he is an icon. If we want to make the Games truly successful then we should try to mobilise and get support from every Indian and also recognise the services of the Indians who have brought laurels to the country and Bachchan is one of them,” he said.

“Not a single meeting of the OC has been held so far to discuss the appointment of brand ambassadors. But I will raise before the Executive Board of the OC,” he said.

Kalmadi said that a final decision on brand ambassadors will be taken in the executive board meeting, after consulting all members.

CWG security: Delhi Police chief, officers visit abroad

In its effort to ensure foolproof security during the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Police chief YS Dadwal and his officers recently toured London to have a closer look at latest gadgets and technologies which can be deployed during the mega sporting event here.

Sources in the department said while Dadwal and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Commonwealth Games) Prem Nath visited a number of security related exhibitions, joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi range) Dharmendra Kumar along with some senior Home Ministry officials attended a special orientation programme for diplomatic security.

They said the three-day-long tour in the United Kingdom has been successful and the police chief is understood to have decided to acquire some latest surveillance gadgets.

"The officers were officially invited to attend the programme. The purpose of the tour was to see the use of modern technologies being used in policing in other countries," a senior police officer said requesting anonymity.

Police will be better prepared to avert any sort of security related challenge during the games, the officer said.

During their stay in London, the officers also interacted with their counterparts and exchanged security and safety related concerns, they said.

The Commonwealth Games are due in the national capital between October 3-14 and central security agencies have expressed their concern about possibility from terror attacks during the sporting extravaganza.

The Delhi police will also deploy commandos of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) at all the sport venues and outside important installations in the national capital.

Big B won't be CWG Brand Ambassador: Kalmadi

Indian Olympic Association and Commonwealth Games chief Suresh Kalmadi on Tuesday said that the upcoming Delhi Games will not have actor Amitabh Bachchan as its face and the CWG committee was looking for a new brand ambassador.

“We need to keep young people, can’t follow the module of the Asiad Games (1982). We had thought of names like Milkha Singh and PT Usha but are currently looking at younger people (to represent CWG 2010).”

He also said that it was not his decision alone to appoint the brand ambassador and since it was everyone’s event, consensus would be taken before a final call.

Hinting at politically driven motives for the move, BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told Zeenews that it was unfortunate and questioned Kalmadi’s authority for taking such a decision. He further accused the core working committee of the Commonwealth Games to be Congress dominated and hoped to get public support behind him on the issue.

However, this came after BJP suggested Amitabh Bachchan's name as brand ambassador of Commonwealth Games yesterday. Congress, on the other hand, said the party has a habit of "fishing in troubled waters".

A day after senior BJP leader and Indian Olympic Association's senior vice-president Vijay Kumar Malhotra suggested Bachchan's name as the main brand ambassador for the Commonwealth Games, Congress leader Ambika Soni said, "BJP has a habit of fishing in troubled waters. Without any background they have to interfere in each and every matter. I don't want to comment on this statement any further."

“On a daily basis, BJP raises some issue and we cannot spend time on reacting to each and every statement of theirs," she added.

The Commonwealth Games 2010 are to be held in New Delhi from October and the event has been marred with controversies from its early days.

Commonwealth Games tickets to be sold online by IRCTC

A railway subsidiary has bagged a contract to sell Commonwealth Games tickets online and sports lovers will get the option of choosing the row and seat at different venues.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has got the contract of Rs 12 crore to become the official ticketing agency for the Games, to be hosted by Delhi in October this year.

IRCTC, a subsidiary of Indian Railways, will develop a dedicated website for issuing tickets of the Games. "We are developing the website with the latest software for the sale of Commonwealth Games tickets, including for the inaugural and closing ceremonies," said a senior IRCTC official adding, "We will be also responsible for commissioning and maintenance of the portal."

According to the Organising Committee, there will be a total of 22 lakh tickets of different denominations to be sold for various events during the Games. One can choose his or her seat in a particular row and the sold-out seats will be also shown in the website, said the official.

The sale of tickets is estimated to generate about Rs 120 crore as revenue, said another senior Organising Committee official, adding the prices of tickets will be ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1000.

However, the ticket rates for the inaugural and closing ceremonies at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium have not yet been decided as these are expected to be much higher. Besides the online process, tickets will also be sold through call centres, retail outlets and at the venues.

IRCTC, which does catering service in trains, is also currently engaged in issuing rail tickets online. Once the ticketing website is launched, one does not have to stand in a queue for a ticket during the Games as it will be available with just a push of the button.