Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi arrives to fanfare in Belize City

The Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi arrived to fanfare from Bahamas at the Phillip Goldson International Airport in Belize on Wednesday. Belize is the 47th country the Queen’s Baton has been to since the relay was launched at the Buckingham Palace on October 29. It is due to leave Belize on Friday for Bermuda after which it will travel to Canada.

According to The Belize Guardian, 10 members of Belize’s national cycling team hoisted the 2kg Baton high and in a scorching afternoon heat proudly led a motorcade as they rode with it from the Airport to the Stella Maris School on Princess Margaret Drive.

After a short ceremony on the Stella Maris Campus, cyclist Byron Pope handed the Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi to Michael Graham who won gold in the 200m race in the 2008 Special Olympics. Graham in turn handed it to Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers. She accepted it and said the Baton represents the heritage shared by Commonwealth countries.

“It is an honour for me to be handed over the Baton simply because this is a very prestigious event. It is an event that brings together all the Commonwealth countries. It is a camaraderie that we share, all of us speaking English in terms of all of us having a history and we share a lot in common,” she said.

On Thursday afternoon, the Mayor will formally hand the baton to Minister of Sports, Information, and Broadcasting Mr. Elvin Penner after a parade through the streets. It heads to Belmopan on April 9. On its way, it will stop briefly at the Youth Hostel at Mile 21. Thereafter, in Belmopan it will be presented to Mayor Simeon Lopez. Athletes will then relay it to the Governor General Sir Colville Young and British High Commissioner Patrick Ashworth.

Belize will be sending a contingent of 18 athletes to the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi that will be held from October 3 to 14.

Now, VIPs won't hold up traffic

This might bring some relief to commuters who have often been at the receiving end due to movement of dignitaries and other VVIPs. For the first time ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Police commissioner Y S Dadwal is said to have asked the special commissioner (traffic) to try and "categorize" VVIPs and VIPs so that the importance meted out to them can be "graded". Since such a move is likely to have wide political ramifications, senior officials refused to come on record. "The process has begun. However, it will take some time before we can work out all the modalities on ground," said a senior traffic cop at the police headquarters.

According to sources, it has been decided that the three most important political figures in the country — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and Congress president Sonia Gandhi — will be allowed a thoroughfare, free of all traffic "hazards". "Traffic will be regulated along the entire route. The regulations will be put in place much before their respective cavalcades reach a particular point," said a senior officer. The police said the plan will be executed before the Commonwealth Games.

For all others, including cabinet ministers, CM Sheila Dikshit and senior Supreme Court judges, monitoring will be done at a different level. "We will continue to regulate the traffic, but it will be done at a more local level thus reducing the speed of some of these officials. However, VIPs will not get stuck in any traffic jam," said the official. In a first, the traffic cops have been advised not to allow even senior police officers — not even the commissioner — to pass through. "They will have to wait for the signal to turn green," added the official.

The officials said the idea was mooted after allegations that a VVIP's movement around Chandigarh's PGI hospital led to the death of a patient. "Delhi has huge volumes of traffic and holding up movement during peak hours leads to congestion. We began preparations and the field trials in the Shanti Van area have been on since Tuesday. It will become more challenging once we move towards the traffic jam-prone areas in New Delhi and South Delhi.

Also, preparing the list is a Herculian task, given its political implications," added the officer. Officials claimed such a plan was integral in ensuring the success of dedicated corridors meant for Commonwealth Games officials and athletes.

Now in business: A new-look Chhatrasal Stadium

The renovated Chhatrasal Stadium, which would be used as a training venue for athletes during the Commonwealth Games, was on Friday inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who declared that with this project her Government has completed the construction of all the three stadia entrusted to it.

Speaking at the function, the Chief Minister also stated that all the other Games-related infrastructure projects which include flyovers, elevated roads and street-scaping works would be completed by June.

The face-lifting work of the Chhatrasal Stadium, she said, has been completed within the stipulated time-frame. It has a 400 metre by eight metre synthetic athletic track with four high-mast lights to give lighting of 500 lux. The stadium now also boasts a double-storey new athletic block and parking facility for 464 vehicles at the ground level and in the basement.

It has also been provided with a cafeteria, physiotherapy centre, medical room, security room, event managers' room and store on the ground floor and two separate athletic lounge for males and females, a VIP lounge, conference room and technical observer room on the first floor.

Renovated at a cost of Rs.70 crore, the stadium would be used as a training venue during the Games. Thereafter it would continue to serve as an important venue for national school games and State-level Republic Day and Independence Day functions.

Public Works Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan said the Department has strengthened and resurfaced the 450-metre road leading to the stadium and has also taken up street-scaping works to spruce up the roads leading to all the Games venues.

Tom Daley has sights on 2010 Commonwealth Games gold

Diver Tom Daley says he will spend 2010 perfecting two new dives - but still has his sights set on a synchronised gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Daley will only compete in the 10m platform World Series in Mexico next week and in Sheffield on 23-24 April.
But the world champion, 15, says the Delhi Games are still in his sights.
"I will focus on getting my new dive secure and once I have got that sorted, then towards the Commonwealths I can think of synchro again," he said.
Daley's latest dives, the back two-and-a-half somersault, two-and-a-half twists and the armstand back triple somersault pike, have a higher difficulty tariff which, if executed well, can earn him higher marks from the judges.
The teenager performed both dives at the season-opening World Series event in Qingdao last month, where he finished fourth out of eight competitors, earning more points than the dive that won him a shock gold medal at the World Championships in Rome last year.

And he will again attempt both dives next week at the second World Series event in Veracruz, Mexico before performing in front of his home crowd in Sheffield at Pond's Forge in a fortnight.
"In China, it [the back two-and-a-half somersault dive] was the highest scoring dive I did, I pulled it off at preliminaries and the semi-final," said Daley.
"But it takes a lot to get your head around the dives, so I need to do them more and more in competition and try to get the hang of it.
"It's about developing technique and, because it's new, it's quite scary. But with more practice, I will be able to jump up more on the start and be more confident."
Daley has a busy schedule in the next 12 months with the World Cup in May, the National and European Championships in the summer, with a potential trip to Singapore for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore sandwiched between the Commonwealth Games in India in the autumn.

And next year will see Daley defend his world 10m crown in Shanghai in July, the first qualifying event for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
With so much emphasis on the individual event, Daley has chosen to place the synchronised event on hold, leaving diving partner Max Brick, with whom he finished ninth at the World Championships, to compete with Pete Waterfield.
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist beat Daley at the British Gas National Cup in Sheffield in February, when the teenager first unveiled his latest dives.
However, Daley hopes that if Waterfield can master his two latest dives, the duo could unleash them on a world stage.

"Once I have got my dives sorted and someone else has the same degree of difficulty of dive then I start focusing on synchro," added Daley.
"Pete is an amazing diver and hopefully in the future I can try synchro with him."
And Daley also admitted that he has increased his work rate since his Olympic debut in Beijing.
"I think people have realised my mindset changed after Beijing and the fact I thought 'I need to work 10 times as hard as I did before," he said.
"I try and work as hard as I possibly can because I want to have no regrets going into competition.
"It's good to be known as one of the top divers. Since Rome people have started to think I am maybe one of the top divers, whereas before I was thinking 'oh no, they're the top divers, I've got no chance'."

Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium to be inaugurated on Saturday

A renovated Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, gymnastics venue of the Commonwealth Games to be held from October 3-14, will be inaugurated by Sports Minister M S Gill on Saturday.

The 14,500-seater state-of-the-art venue, which has been reconstructed at a cost of Rs 240 crore and has a built-up area of 72,425 square metre, will be the largest indoor stadium in India, a Ministry release said on Friday.

The stadium is equipped with green-building features like thermal insulation of entire roof, gypsum board partitions and wall panellings, external glazing with low energy tinted glasses and energy efficient lighting fixtures.

It is also equipped with water conservation features like water harvesting by recharging of existing lakes in the complex with rain water. It will have a 2200 lux lighting system.

The entire stadium will be under electronic surveillance through fixed and PTZ cameras connected to central control room, which has integrated network for connecting various facilities to meet the operational requirements of various tournaments, the release said.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Minister of State for Sports Pratik Prakashbapu Patil will also be present in the inauguration function on Saturday.

Rodent trouble giving jitters to CWG officials

The ongoing beautification drive, for which roads have been dug up and drains overhauled in the capital, could spell disaster during the upcoming Commonwealth Games (CWG) as it will lead to rodent infestation, a senior health official of the Organising Committee said.

"There have been large-scale construction works. They (government agencies) have to remove all debris by August. Because of this there will be a problem of rodents and other similar infestation problems apart from the dust," the official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

He added: "This will have to be looked into seriously, otherwise what is the point of renovating roads and footpaths?"

All construction work must stop at least two months ahead of the Oct 3-14 CWG by early August so that pest-infestation can be controlled properly, the official added.

"The Games village is on a river bank, so extra caution will be required. We are coordinating with the government health department and civic agencies," he added.

Apart from rodents, the committee is also concerned about mosquitoes which begin breeding during the post-monsoon month.

"The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started its work on this. It has decided to deploy 3,500 domestic breeding checkers. We have had three rounds of meetings with the health and waste management teams of the MCD and New Delhi Municipal Council," the official said.

The government has its own action plan as well, he added.

The Organising Committee is also not leaving any stone unturned to control pest infestation, especially at the CWG village.

"We have different plans (including using) WHO approved sprays and other pest control methods like electronic pest repellants. Advisories will also be circulated amongst visitors that they should use mosquito repellants," the official said.

"We have also suggested to the Commonwealth Games Federation that small mosquito repellants be given in the welcome kit to the visitors," he said.