Rs.68 crore to develop tourists destinations in India

The Indian government has sanctioned over Rs.68 crore ($15.30 million) to develop tourist destinations in the national capital, Agra and Jaipur ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Lok Sabha was informed Friday.

In a written reply, Minister of State of Tourism Sultan Ahmed, said that in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games the ministry has provided financial assistance for tourism projects following requests from the states.

He said the ministry has sanctioned Rs.35.78 crore for Delhi, Rs.21.47 crore for Agra and Rs.11.44 crore for Jaipur.

The funds will be used to develop various infrastructure, including wayside amenities, signages, parking facilities and public utilities in view of the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Oct 3-14.

BBC to broadcast 2010 Commonwealth Games

The BBC on Friday announced it has won the broadcasting rights for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The Games will be available across TV, radio, online, iPlayer, mobile and new media outlets across the UK.

"We're delighted to have the exclusive rights for the UK," BBC Sport's head of major events Dave Gordon was quoted as saying on the BBC website.

"The Games mark another step for athletes across the world as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics."

"We have a rich history of covering the Commonwealth Games and are looking forward to bringing the best of the action to the UK public," he said.

With a total of 17 sports, the Commonwealth Games are considered the third largest multi-sport event in the world, behind the Olympics and the Asian Games.

A BBC spokesman insisted full precautions would be taken to protect the staff covering the event in Delhi, considering the security concerns in the subcontinent.

"We never discuss our security plans in advance, but we will naturally be taking all necessary steps, as we always do, to ensure the safety of all members of the BBC team," said the spokesman.

Care, classes for labourers' children at Games sites

Peering through a bioscope, drawing on slates, saying their mathematical tables- these aren't scenes from a classroom but from makeshift daycare centres for the children of labourers working at Commonwealth Games sites in the capital.

Seven-year-old Zainab, whose parents were away working at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is a venue for the mega event from Oct 3 to 14, says she loves coming to the creche.

"Mujhe yahaan bahut achha lagta hai. Main yahaan pahaade padti hun aur drawing karti hun (I like coming here. I learn mathematical tables and drawings)," said the little girl.

These centres are a joint initiative by the NGO Mobile Creches and Sesame Workshop India, the organisation behind the edutainment show "Galli Galli Sim Sim", which is the Indian version of the internationally popular "Sesame Street".

While the centres have been installed by Mobile Creches, the study material as well as training to teachers are being provided by "Galli Galli Sim Sim" free of cost.

"These are mobile centres that have been set up at one corner of the sites. The kids are taught with the user friendly material through trained teachers. We have a bioscope at the centre where kids are shown the 'Galli Galli Sim Sim' TV show and are educated through the same as well," Sashwati Banerjee, executive director, Sesame Workshop, told IANS.

According to Banerjee, these centres have been functioning since 2007, but the ones at the Games sites were set up only when the work began there.

Though many such centres are spread across the city and in other cities as well, for the Games sites, these are located near the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Shivaji Stadium and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

"It is very nice that these children get to study here or do something productive. Even the parents feel at ease as their children are safe here," Baladevi, a teacher incharge, told IANS.

A total of four teachers have been deputed at each centre to take care of nearly 40 children, who visit the creche between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day.

"At first, it was extremely difficult to convince the parents to let the children be here till the time they work at the construction site. But they realised that it's a safe option. The girls come here after doing their household work and everyone mingles very well," said the incharge.

Apart from books, study and entertainment material that touch upon subjects like literacy, maths
, science, health and nutrition, the creche also provides nutritious food for children as well as periodical check-ups by a doctor for free.

For toddlers, there are temporary cots made with cloth sheets.

The centres are a welcome change for Zainab and children like her, who would have otherwise been playing in the mud or forced to help in household chores.

Commonwelath Games, Delhi Metro suck half of urban development funds

Just two projects – the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Delhi Metro railway – both based in one city have sucked up over half of this year's Plan budget for the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

In its report on the Ministry's demands for grants submitted to the Lok Sabha, the Ministry's standing committee has expressed “disappointment” that of the total budgetary allocation (Plan) of Rs.5457.84 crore for this financial year, about 54 per cent of the funds were allocated to these two projects.

While accepting that some enhanced funding was necessary, the Committee asked “whether the Ministry would be in a position to do justice to the other equally significant issues with hardly any funds in hand”.

As an example, the Committee pointed out that the funding for the ‘Water supply and sanitation' head has dropped from Rs.191.25 crore in 2004-05 to nil this year, as last year's unused funds of Rs.12.56 crore have just been carried forward. Several urban infrastructure funds have also dropped or seen only a marginal increase, prompting the Committee to observe that such issues were not being given requisite priority.

With regard to the Delhi Metro projects, the Committee recommended that the government speed up the process to start production of Metro Rail coaches within the country itself. The Committee also pulled up the government for poor implementation of the scheme to develop infrastructure in satellite towns around seven mega-cities.

Delhi Government nod for new transport projects -ISBT Kashmere Gate to get a facelift ahead of Games

ISBT Kashmere Gate to get a facelift ahead of Games

The Delhi Government's Expenditure Finance Committee on Thursday gave its nod for two projects of the Transport Department worth Rs.86.83 crore at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and attended by Finance Minister A.K. Walia and Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely among others.

While one of the projects involves giving a facelift to ISBT Kashmere Gate, the other pertains to constructing a semi-permanent building at a DTC parking lot for Commonwealth Games that is coming up near Indraprastha Power Station on Ring Road. Following the meeting, Ms. Dikshit said in view of the Commonwealth Games it has been decided to give a facelift to Kashmere Gate ISBT. The first phase of the project would be taken up immediately and would be completed by September 2010 at a cost of Rs.74.16 crore.

As a large number of passengers would be using ISBT Kashmere Gate during the Commonwealth Games, the need was felt to upgrade the existing facilities there. As part of the first phase of the facelift, the funds would be utilised towards civil work, sanitation, modern water supply system, fire-fighting, solar lighting and power management.

The Committee also sanctioned Rs.12.67 crore for construction of a semi-permanent building at the DTC parking lot for the Commonwealth Games that is coming up on the fly-ash pond near the IP Power Station on Ring Road.

The meeting was informed that the construction of the parking project is under way and the new semi-permanent structure would be used for providing other facilities. Since this parking site is located between the Commonwealth Games Village on the banks of the Yamuna and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue for the Games, it would be used for parking buses that would be used for ferrying the players and officials to and from these two Games venues.

Rehabilitate slum dwellers

The issue of displacement of poor and downtrodden and demolition of slums in Delhi to facilitate construction activity for the Commonwealth Games was raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Independent Member from West Bengal Tarun Mandal, raising the issue during the zero hour, quoted media reports to state that 358 families had been evicted after the slums near the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station were demolished and said there was no plan to rehabilitate or compensate them. He alleged that human rights of these people were being violated and wanted the government to provide benefits to the affected families.

Delhi gets some additional power

The Capital on Thursday managed to get 100 MW of power from the unallocated quota of the Centre. It also got an assurance that there would be no shortage of power during the Commonwealth Games in October.

The Capital had earlier been left out of the Centre's unallocated quota for April. However, the unexpected surge in power demand caused by a sudden rise in temperature helped the city change the Centre's earlier decision. On Wednesday Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and apprised him of the city's power demand. She sought more power for the city in view of the rise in temperature and peak demand.

“Mr. Shinde instructed his Ministry to immediately release an additional 100 MW power to Delhi,” said a Delhi Government official.

The Chief Minister also made a reference to the non-availability of power from the Damodar Valley Corporation and the efforts the city discoms have to make to fill that gap. She pointed out that had power from the DVC arrived as per schedule, Delhi would have received more than 837 MW as against the current 40 MW. She expressed concern over delay in the commissioning of the Bawana and Jhajjar plants.

While Delhi is already getting 750 MW from Dadri-I and 425 MW from Dadri-II, it is hoping to get another 440 MW from Dadri-III from July 2010 onward.

Ms. Dikshit also insisted that the Union Power Ministry ensures proper discipline as far as overdrawal of power from the Northern Grid by various States is concerned. She pointed out that because of overdrawal by the States, under-frequency relay operations were frequent and caused power disruption in the city.

She also put forth the details of the procurement by the discoms, which have had to arrange power up to 1,000 MW from different sources. Mr. Shinde was informed that while Delhi's own generation was 1,100 MW, about 2,000 MW is being received from allocated quota. “Ms. Dikshit informed the Minister that the arrangements are inadequate to meet the city's demand that has shot up by over 20 per cent. She also requested that Delhi consumers should not be put to any inconvenience,” he said.

Mr. Shinde asked the State Government to strengthen its capacitor system to handle additional sanctioned power from the Central quota and asked the discoms to make arrangements for booking inter-regional corridor capacity to ensure transmission of power to Delhi.

On Thursday the city's peak demand for power rose up to 4,110 MW.