Commonwealth: Gopi hopes for rich harvest

National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand today hoped that Indian shuttlers will put up a sterling performance at this year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

''In the previous Games, shuttlers bagged two medals,'' Padmashri Gopichand -- who also received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award -- told media here after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for promoting the sport in Madhya Pradesh and training players of the State Badminton Academy to be set up in Gwalior.

Gopichand, who bagged the All-England Badminton Championship in 2001, advised that Indians should pay more attention to fitness to compete against leading shuttlers from China, Malaysia and Singapore.

''It is not easy to confront China as -- in that country -- the infrastructure facilities and training method is much better and systematic. Many Indian players perform well in the beginning but are unable to maintain it. Dedication is required. Four major events are to precede the Games,'' he pointed out.

The state's Director (Sports) Sanjay Chaudhary said that the Academy is likely to be operational by June. The MoU is between the Sports Department and the Hyderabad-based Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. Gopichand will play the role of the Gwalior Academy's advisor.

South Africa 2010 to Decide Africa's Fate

The succcess or otherwise of the FIFA World Cup that South Africa is hosting this summer has been described as the likely determinant of whether the African continent has the capacity to host the Olympics.

Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings magazine that has just named FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter as the person to weild the greatest influence in the Olympic Movement this year, said yesterday that once the World Cup is a success, there was no denying the country the chance to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

"If the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is a success, the country is clearly in the running for the 2020 Olympics. Rio de Janeiro called for the first Games in South America and succeeded. We could see this happen with Africa," observed the ART editor in the current edition of the magazine.

Interestingly, Hula's observation appears to reinforce the general impression of most members of the Olympic movement within Africa.

Previously, the continent was concidered to lack both the capacity and men to drive a global multi-sports event like the Olympic Games. But Blatter's faith on the South African project has now opened a floodgate of opportunities, that is, if success is achieved this summer with the hosting. Nigeria in 2007 lost the bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games to Glasgow. The bid failed principally because members of the Commonwealth Games Federation were not convinced that Abuja nor any other African city has the capacity to host a successful Games.

Blatter while throwing his hat into the ring in support of South Africa for the World Cup, had in the wake of talks of possible taking away the hosting from Mandela's country due to slack in Stadium construction said there were plan B and C. "Plan B is South Africa while Plan C is also South Africa."

It is not impossible that Blatter's running of FIFA may have catapulted him to the top of the annual Around the Rings 'Golden 25' ahead of his International Olympic Committee (IOC) counterpart, Jacques Rogge, who managed the second position. Blatter has served as an IOC member since 1999.

In the past 14 years ATR has listed the most important and powerful figures in the Olympic Movement.

The FIFA President, who is ranked at number 53 in the Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people, was also named by EUROSOCCER as Switzerland's most influential person in November last year.

RTI applies to Commonwealth Games organising committee

The Delhi High Court Thursday ruled that the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) fall under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and have to provide information to an applicant.

Dismissing the appeals of the Games Organising Committee and the IOA against the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order to provide information, Justice Ravinder Bhatt ruled that both are public authorities under the RTI Act and have to provide information and cannot keep their accounts private.

‘India is in the midst of challenges. The model chosen by the government of ensuring spread of welfare and its benefits, includes functioning through non-government agencies, who are tasked and assisted for this purpose. The crucial role of access to information here cannot be understated,’ the bench said.

The CGOC had contended that it is an independent and autonomous body and not liable to reveal information under the RTI act.

On the other hand, the central government said that almost the whole budgetary support to the Games project is provided by the government and the committee cannot take the plea that it is an independent body.

‘The IOA is a registered society. No doubt, there is no state or public involvement in its establishment, or administration. It does not receive grants as is traditionally understood. It is the national face of the Olympic movement in India. But the funds and the other interests incurred by the association is accountable. It is held that the IOA is a public authority under the meaning of that expression under the Act,’ the bench ruled.

The dispute erupted after a person filed an RTI application in the sports ministry, seeking to know the details of payments made to actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan among others for taking them to the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Melbourne in 2006.

The CIC in November 2006 held that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was a public authority and directed it to provide the particulars of expenses incurred by it on tours in connection with the Commonwealth Games to the RTI applicant.

The court also asked Sanskriti School to provide information under the RTI act and said, ‘The school has been substantially financed by the central government, through various departments, and agencies. It is therefore, covered by the regime of the Act.’

The school had argued that the school is only funded by the government but is running with the efforts of the wives of civil services officers.

Lee and I should team for gold in Commonwealth Games: Mahesh

''If India has to win gold in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi, then Leander Paes and I have to pair up,'' Doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi said.

Talking to reporters after winning his first-round match in the Aircel Chennai Open alongside his partner Rohan Bopanna, Bhupathi asserted that Paes and he were best equipped to land gold in the CWG.

About their chances in the Chennai Open, he said ''we are taking one match at a time.'' About the super tie-breaker, Bopanna said, it gave a chance for every team to even upset fancied partnerships, adding ''one can't take things for granted.'' It may be recalled that Leander and Mahesh formed the most potent pair in the world winning a series of Grand slam titles before they parted ways.

Their fairytale run started in the Chennai Open when they won three titles in a row and went on to win Grand Slam titles, forming the most potent combination in the world.

Making citizens behave, a daunting task before Commonwealth Games

Delhi is leaving no stone unturned to overhaul its transport system for meeting the demands of the upcoming Commonwealth Games, but it still faces one of the most daunting tasks -- to groom its citizens to behave courteously while travelling.Delhiites have gained a dubious distinction of being discourteous, especially when they use public transport, and now this attitude has become a headache for the authorities, who blame it on degradation of values of citizens.Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who wants the sporting extravaganza to be a memorable one for tourists, had recently announced that her government would launch a campaign to "change the way the society behaves so that it becomes more caring and also sharing". But it does not seem to have any effect on the citizens of the national capital, which is expected to receive about 1,00,000 tourists and 9,000 athletes and officials from the 52 Commonwealth countries during the mega event, said a DTC official.

"Value system has degraded. People have grown selfish and see their comfort only. Some passengers get into a tiff with co-travellers and do not leave their seats," rues DTC spokesperson R K Kasana.

"We received a number of complaints of passenger misbehaviour during the past year. The situation forced us to paste stickers reserving four seats each for ladies, senior citizens and needy in each coach," said Anuj Dayal, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson.

"We have launched these initiatives for the convenience of travellers, but they can be successful only with people's cooperation," Dayal told PTI.

Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) also has a similar seat reservation system, but officials feel "passengers need to be cooperative to make these initiatives a success.

"Had people realised their responsibilities as sincere citizens, there would not have been any need for such reservations," he said. On the issue of security of passengers, especially women commuters, Kasana said, "DTC has framed guidelines which empowers its drivers and conductors to ask a misbehaving passenger to leave the bus."
They can hand over an erring passenger to the police, if required, he said.

"CISF is responsible for security arrangements at all metro stations," Dayal said, referring to the security measures adopted by the DMRC. "Inside the trains, we have passenger alarm buttons to establish contact with train driver. A person who needs help can contact the driver and he will do the needful," he said, adding that each train has around twelve such buttons.

Pointing out that the driver was the only DMRC employee on each train, he said, "It is for the commuters to cooperate and make things move smoothly." The DMRC has also taken strict measures to keep its stations and trains clean and any one found littering and spitting inside metro premises is fined Rs 200. "The fine is not for the books only. We extract it from the offender and if a person desists from paying the fine, we hand him over to higher authorities for appropriate action," he said.

To catch offenders red-handed, DMRC has "special flying squads" which pay surprise visits to metro stations and trains and catch anyone flouting the rules.

The DMRC has also launched a citizen voluntary movement under which trained volunteers inform passengers about 'dos and donts' to maintain security and cleanliness inside metro stations and trains.

DTC, however, has no such provision. When asked, Kasana said, "One should not compare DTC with metro. Metro has a dedicated line and premises, but we have an open area to cover.

M P Singh of Institute of Public Health and Hygiene-IPHH, a city-based NGO, feels, "Delhiites are not just aggressive and careless, they also lack civic sense."

"People here often ignore traffic rules and enter into an argument if objected," Singh said, adding this seems to be a major area of concern which the authorities have to look into ahead of the sporting event. Even the MCD has taken a call on the issue. It recently approved a legislation that allows a penalty of up to Rs 200 -- three times that of the existing penalty -- for those found littering, spitting and urinating in public and committing other similar offences.

Singh, however, believes that imposing fines would only have a marginal and short term effect on people. "Their mindset needs to be changed and it can be achieved through extensive awareness drives," he said.

MCD Director (Sanitation) Anil Prakash said, "We will have to make people realise that the city is their own and that they should support the authorities in their efforts to make Delhi a better place."

Australia pulls out of Commonwealth Championships in India

Indian pugilists will be up against some of the best boxers of the world in the Commonwealth Championships that commences from March 10-18 here even as Australia continued to have reservations in sending its athletes to India.

All the major Commonwealth countries have confirmed their participation for the event that will see 120 boxers competing in 10 weight categories but Australia preferred to stay away from the Championships.

Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) secretary general Col Muralidaran Raja said around 15 countries including, England, Pakistan, South Africa have already confirmed their particpation and added that a Canada is also expected to join the list.

He claimed that it was because Australia was itself hosting an international event during the same time, so they chose to keep themselves away from the 11-day event.

''We have received confirmation from all the major Commonwealth countries and Canada is expected to confirm any time soon. Australia has pulled out of the event. We don't know the exact reason but we are told their boxers will be participating in an event at home,'' Raja told mediapersons today.

At a time when various test events for the Commonwealth Games are being postponed, a successful conduct of the Boxing Championships will come as a huge boost for India.

''Yes we have all the support from the AIBA (International Boxing Association) and the Sports Ministry here. boxing is no longer a sport that it used to be in India but has now grown in stature and that was the reason we wanted the our boxers to compete against the best in the world,'' Raja said.

The AIBA has already approved the Championships and has nominated a liost of foreign officials who will oversee the conduct of the event.

Akhil Kumar, who brought home a gold from the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, was upbeat about his chances in the event and said the competition will serve as a good practice ground for the Indian pugilists' chances in the October Games.

''All our boxers have been doing really well for quite some time now and we are hopeful that we will be able to make this event count before the Commonwealth Games in October,'' Akhil said.

''Competing at home does give us some advantage and we will have a similar environment during the Commonwealth Games, so the boxing Championships will certainly be a good help for us,'' he added.

On expectations from himself, Akhil said he had been preparaing hard for of late and was very confident that he will not settle for anything less than a gold in front of his home crowd.

Today's India is truly incredible: Malayalee Americans

They left India years ago seeking greener pastures in the West. But, looking at the growth logged by their country of origin and development all around, members of the Malayalee diaspora in the US think today's India is truly incredible.

"All the preparations for Commonwealth Games and development I see all around -- Delhi
Metro, the airport, the malls, residential complexes -- it is all very impressive," said Paul Mathai, who represents the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas (FOMAA).

"Even in Mumbai, where I worked 30 years ago, the shanties have moved out of the airport premises. It is unbelievable that the government is building homes
for slum dwellers," Mathai, here for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, told IANS.

The overseas Malayalees are impressed by the high priority being given to the people of Indian origin duing the two tenures of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government -- which set up the first exclusive ministry on overseas Indian affairs.

"Previously, nobody was concerned about non-resident Indians or people of Indian origin. Now after the formation of new ministry, there is considerable change," said Sasidharan Nair, founder president of the federation.

"Today's India is truly incredible."

Joseph Ouso, another prominent member of the association and a senior executive with the Boeing Company, said many Indians left for the US to seek employment. But today the same set of people are impressed by India's growth and opportunities.

"Many Indians in the US lost their jobs because of the slowdown. Many lost their homes. And many were forced to leave. But in India still there is growth and still there are opportunities," Ouso said.

Speaking about the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, that kicked off Thursday, the members of the association said as many as 100 delegates are participating. "This is the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas our members are attending," said Ouso.

Founded in 2008, the federation is an umbrella organisation of 42 Malayalee associations in the US, Mexico and Canada.

"We are second largest association of Indians in the Americas after Gujaratis. We have 500,000 members," said Nair. The US is home to nearly three million Indian Americans, considered the best educated and the most affluent among all ethnic groups.

Among the Malayalees, he said, noteworthy contribution was being made by nurses in the US who were much sought after in hospitals. "Nurses are the best visible face of Malayalees in the US," said Ouso, who is treasurer of the federation.