Commonwealth Games 2010: Apr 15, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Fitness worry for Indians

With less than six months to go for the start of the Commonwealth Games, most of the big names of Indian badminton, it seems, are not yet ready for the big meet.

On Wednesday, to the shock of the huge number of partisan spectators, a majority of the local heroes bit the dust against middle level opponents in Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia championships. Except for Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap and top-seeded doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and D. Viju, no other Indian could clear the second round barrier.

“Surely we are disappointed, but that’s not the end of the world,” said national coach P. Gopichand. “Fitness is the biggest problem for most of our players and even the top names are in that list. We are working to overcome the shortcoming,” said the former All-England champion.

If the national team’s Indonesian fitness trainer Atiq Johari, famous for his effective fitness regime, is to be believed, even Chetan Anand would have to work very hard to reach his peak fitness before the Games.

“Chetan is certainly the best, but he has to go long way as far as fitness is concerned,” said the Indonesian coach. “The women players, also, will have to work hard,” added Johari. Both the coaches informed that the players are now going through various fitness training including yoga.

Johari, however, has big hopes on Chetan. “He is our best bet in the Commonwealth championship. I am not saying he would be the champion, but don’t be surprised it he makes the semi-finals. At the moment he is injured. But once he regains his fitness, Chetan would be a big force.”

For Games, civic body begins work on upgraded toilets

With the Commonwealth Games approaching, upgrading public utilities seems to be the top priority of the city’s civic agencies.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has started work on 25 new public toilets at strategic locations ahead of the October event.

The toilets will have diaper-changing boards and shelves for purses in the women’s toilets. They will be disabled- friendly as well. Work on building and maintaining the toilets has been awarded to Hythro Power Corporation Limited. Recently, the NDMC sent a proposal to the company, asking for inclusion of the facilities mentioned.

“In shopping areas, women with babies often need a place to change diapers. Also, while using a toilet, women often find no place to keep their purses and bags. We have thus asked the concessionaires to incorporate shelves in the toilets and also have diaper-changing boards,” a senior NDMC official said.

The civic body is constructing the toilets in areas that see a lot of pedestrian traffic such as markets and office clusters.

He added the company has started upgrading 42 other toilets in the Rajpath area, also for the Commonwealth Games. Only minor structural changes will be made in these public utilities.

New mirrors, toilet pots and washbasins will be installed. Once the toilets are ready, the Health department of the NDMC will keep a regular check on its cleanliness.

The company will be responsible for the maintenance of the toilets for 10 years. The NDMC has also given work of maintaining 18 garbage stations to the company.

The new toilets are coming up in areas like Ashoka Road, Janpath Lane, Gole Market, Shanker Market, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, North Avenue taxi stand, Parliament Street, Tolstoy road, KG Marg and Babar Road, among others. The service will be free. The concessionaires will pay NDMC Rs 26 lakhs per month.

For Games, civic body begins work on upgraded toilets

Great days for Indian sport

One of my primary tasks as an Indian sports administrator is to bring up Olympic sport. I can see that interest is already growing substantially with a series of test events being conducted in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. With the Games itself to be held in October, there is a new thrust to Olympic sport --- and that warms my heart. Yes, there are great days ahead for Indian sport.

I am delighted that Delhi has responded really well to some of the big-ticket events like the FIH World Cup hockey, Commonwealth Boxing Championships and the Badminton Asia Championships. I am also pleased to hear of how the infrastructure that is coming up for the Commonwealth Games has come in for praise from those who have participated in these events. I was at hand to hear the visitors speak highly about the facilities at the lawn bowls complex at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
With superb infrastructure coming up --- of course we know there is some fine-tuning to be done --- I am confident that our National Sports Federations, encouraged by the Indian Olympic Association and supported by a clutch of sponsors, will ensure that we have a regular series of sporting events in the country so that the people’s hunger for quality events is satiated. And that we make optimum use of the facilities created for the Commonwealth Games.

One of the biggest learnings from the test events has been the fact that while security is of paramount interest, we need to ensure that sports protocol is followed so that the Games Family --- athletes, officials, sponsors, broadcasters, media and spectators alike --- have a wholesome sporting experience. After all, for more than three-and-a-half decades since the 1974 edition in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Commonwealth Games has been known as the Friendly Games.
The Friendship through Sport theme will feature prominently in the coming week when I will be in Australia to be with the Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi. Besides, the Commonwealth Business Club of India, set up in partnership with CII and FICCI, will host road shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast --- all sporting cities that have held --- and we will showcase India and the investment opportunities that exist here.

Back home, the 20,000km route chosen for the Queen’s Baton Relay across 100 cities and thousands of villages in 28 States and seven Union Territories will also act as a great impetus for the promotion of the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi. Our genial mascot, Shera, is already gaining popularity across the country, with our road show in Kochi showcasing that fact.
We are in talks with a number of corporates who want to come on board as our partners and associates. In the coming weeks, we will also announce the plans for the launch of ticket sales and unfold Games merchandise which are important revenue streams for us in our effort to repay the Rs 1,620 crore loan that we will get from the Government to organise the Games.
Believe me, Team India --- the Governments of India and Delhi, the Indian Olympic Association, the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi --- will deliver a great Games.

No place for beggars

The upcoming Commonwealth Games has pushed the Delhi government to undertake measures to stop the begging menace in the Capital.

In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the government said on Thursday it has set up biometric machines at Sewa Kutir to identify repeat offenders and consolidate records.
Sewa Kutir is a special home for beggars, picked up from the streets and lodged there, till they are released. The Sheila Dikshit government’s promise to tackle the menace includes setting up of a special control room that would enable citizens to lodge complaints or suggestions about beggars.
Additional sessions judge Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the government, said 13 anti-begging teams have been constituted to round up beggars. Some areas have been declared ‘zero tolerance zones’, he said.
As a part of its beggar rehabilitation programme, the government is imparting vocational training in accordance with the inmates’ abilities and health.
The government also claimed that efforts were made to improve and expand medical care services to the beggars.

The Delhi government has collaborated with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to provide services to beggar inmates such as counselling and psycho-social support, training and capacity building.
Temple committees, Gurudwara Prabandhak committees and Railway authorities have been requested to help in the anti-begging campaign.

The affidavit, filed in response to a public interest litigation by advocate Indra Sawhney, said exclusive mobile courts are also operating for expeditious disposal of cases related to apprehended beggars.

Delhi social welfare minister Mangat Ram Singhal said they are working on modalities to set up a call centre to provide counselling and psychosocial support to beggar inmates and expanding medical services for them.

“We are preparing estimates on how much money would be needed to provide these facilities and manpower required for the call centre,” Singhal said.

HC seeks list of Games projects

Delhi High Court has sought a list of projects related to the Commonwealth Games to fix accountability towards labourers.

This comes after a court-appointed high-level committee indicted various authorities in the capital for ignoring the rights of 17,000 labourers involved in Games projects in a hurry to meet the deadline.

Those under fire are Sports Authority of India and agencies in charge of construction —Delhi Government, DDA, CPWD, NDMC and MCD. The panel has recommended “exemplary” fine on errant parties.

Each agency has also been asked to specify projects under them and the list of labourers. A bench of Acting Chief Justice and Judge Mukta Gupta also directed the government and civic bodies to register all labourers, provide them passbooks and safety equipment.
The committee had conducted inspections at various work sites, acting on a PIL filed by NGO People’s Union For Democratic Rights.

Delhi govt shows apex court how it is curbing begging

Sheila Dikshit government, which has been indicted by the Delhi high court for denying safety equipments to a large number of workers engaged in construction sites of the fast approaching Commonwealth Games, has sought to pacify an anguished Supreme Court saying it is committed to curb begging in the capital.

Additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran on Thursday listed steps the government has taken in this regard and said 13 anti-begging teams have been formed to round up beggars and also declared certain areas “zero-tolerance zones”.

Besides, two exclusive mobile courts are already in operation for conducting trial of beggars, the government said in an affidavit.

The government affidavit came in response to a PIL seeking direction to the authorities to check increasing menace of begging in Delhi and taking appropriate steps for their rehabilitation.

In a matching development relating to the plight of the hard-pressed worker force striving to make the Games a success, a Delhi HC bench headed by chief justice Madan B Lokur asked Dikshit government and all civic authorities in the capital to register all labourers working in different sites and provide them safety equipments.

Seeking details of workers employed at various sites and the contractors who have employed them, the HC expressed concern at violation of basic rights of the workers.

A committee set up by the HC had pointed out that workers at the Games’ construction sites were not being paid minimum wages and made to work overtime for no extra money.

It had also recommended “exemplary fine” to be levied on errant authorities and stressed the need for stringent steps to start time-bound registration of workers and extend to them benefits like weekly offs and hygienic living conditions.

A PIL filed by People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) said the workers, ignorant about their rights, were housed in “crowded hovels” with no protection during winter. They don’t have electricity and live in filthy atmosphere and don’t have toilets.

PUDR had sought insurance, wage slips, weekly offs and proper medical care for about 4.15 lakh workers.

Hooker keen to rise to Bubka's height

STEVE Hooker knows better than to offer any guarantees. But if everything comes together at this weekend's Commonwealth Games athletics trials in Perth, the world No. 1 pole vaulter might be ready to again take aim at the long-standing world record of Sergey Bubka.

Australian head coach Eric Hollingsworth says the new Western Australian Athletics Stadium is a ''performance paradise'', with the lightning-fast track, warm conditions and prevailing breeze all tailor-made for jumpers, vaulters and sprinters.

There is a $100,000 incentive if Hooker can better Bubka's 16-year-old outdoor mark of 6.14 metres on Sunday. The legendary Ukrainian also holds the world indoor record of 6.15. But the sport's world governing body no longer distinguishes between the two marks, meaning Hooker is likely to have the bar raised to 6.16m if he goes for broke.

The Australian's best clearance of 6.06 metres was recorded indoors last year in Boston - higher than any man apart from Bubka. All of his previous attempts at the record have been under a roof, although as the reigning Olympic and world champion, Hooker is just as comfortable competing outdoors.

''Just knowing what it feels like to run in and have that bar up there at world record height is an advantage,'' Hooker said yesterday.

''It's all experience, it does help your confidence, it does make it seem like just another bar.''

' He can also draw confidence from having set a new Olympic mark of 5.96 metres in Beijing.

Hooker, discus world champion Dani Samuels and long jumper Fabrice Lapierre have been pre-selected for the Commonwealth Games, but will still defend their national titles in Perth.

Government told to pay minimum wages to Games workers

Expressing concern over the plight of workers at Commonwealth Games' construction sites, the Delhi High Court Thursday ordered the government to ensure payment of minimum wages and supply of safety gear to them.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta said the workers should be registered under the labour law and more attention should be given to their security and avoiding accidents.

The Delhi government agreed to register all the workers at construction sites within the next two weeks and issue them identity cards. With this, the workers will start getting basic facilities like a minimum wage and medical care at the construction sites.

The court on Jan 27 ordered a five-member committee, including former United Nations ambassador Arundhati Ghosh, the labour commissioner and the labour secretary, to conduct inspections at Commonwealth Games sites.

The court had ordered the inspection on a public interest petition filed by non-government organisation People's Union For Democratic Rights.

"The labourers are working and living in highly dangerous and deplorable conditions. They get less than the minimum stipulated wage and have no access to basic sanitation and health facilities and safety equipment," the petition stated.

The committee had also substantiated the complaints in the petition. Its report said the labourers were not being given additional money for working extra time.

MCD may issue temporary licence to hotels ahead of CWG

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Thursday proposed to give temporary licences to illegal hotels, restaurants and guest houses in the national capital in the run up to the Commonwealth Games.

At the MCD standing committee meeting Thursday, members said temporary licences should be granted to the hotels operating illegally so that foreign visitors during the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games don't stay in unlicensed accommodations.

"Why doesn't the civic body give temporary licence to hotels, restaurants and guest houses particularly in Karol Bagh and Paharganj where a large number of popular illegally operating guest houses are situated," Vijendra Gupta, former standing committee chairman told IANS.

"There are over 1,000 hotels in and around the walled city functioning without licences. We propose that they be given temporary licences or else the foreign visitors during the Commonwealth Games would be staying in illegal outlets," Gupta added.

Meanwhile, MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra said this would take time.

"The re-development plan, proposed to be completed by February 2010, is delayed since plan approval from the Delhi Development Authority is awaited. Because of this we are not able to issue licence to any guest houses, hotels or restaurants as of now," he said.

World Broadcasters Meet for CWG right holders to begin

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee and Prasar Bharti will jointly host a three-day second World Broadcasters Meet for the right holding broadcasters of the CWG starting from Friday.

The Meet will update international and national Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) on all the broadcasting activities of the Games, OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi said in a statement.

"We acknowledge the importance of the Rights Holding Broadcasters and place on record that the revenues earned from the sale of broadcast rights will help us repay the loan of Rs 1620 crore that we are getting from Government to conduct the Games," Kalmadi said.

"We shall appraise the RHBs of the arrangements we are making for them to ensure that they showcase the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi to a world-wide audience," he said.

Rs 827.85 cr allocated to UD Ministry under Commonwealth Games

An amount of Rs 827.85 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Urban Development in connection with the Commonwealth Games this year, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The amount has been allocated to the Ministry for releasing to Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to develop Games Village, and other competition and Training venues, Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Ray said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Apart from this, an amount of Rs.73.5 crore has been allocated for Installation of Security System (ISS) in the venues being developed by DDA. So far, an amount of Rs 724.45 crore has been released to the DDA (Rs652.25 crore for infrastructure development and Rs 72.2 crore for ISS). The DDA has informed that an amount of Rs 588.77 crore has been utilized for infrastructure development and Rs38.36 crore has been released for undertaking the ISS.