CWG: No security issues for champions

Britain's world diving champion Tom Daley says he has no security fears ahead of Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi next month.

The 16-year-old Daley will be one of England's most high-profile participants and believes the England team's security plans will ensure his safety and that the necessary arrangements have been made.

“I’m not really too worried about security, to be honest, because I know that I’m going to be able to trust Team England. I also know that I’m going to be able to trust the organisers of the Games to provide adequate Village security,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

Similarly, in Sydney, Australia's triple Olympic Leisel Jones said on Friday she has no security or health concerns she has no security or health concerns about competing at Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi next month.

“India's going to be a great country, it's going to be full of colour, people go there on holiday all the time and really enjoy it and I think we're going to have a really great time,” Australian media reported Jones as saying at the unveiling of the team's formal uniform in Melbourne. “I think it is going to put on a great show, with great colours and awesome food.”

She further added that was satisfied with the security information provided by Australian government and team officials.

'Go India, Go for gold' campaign launched

With 29 days to go for the Commonwealth Games, the organising committee on Saturday launched a campaign to spread awareness about the mega event and muster support for the Indian sportspersons. Under the campaign titled -- 'Go India! Go for Gold' the OC in collaboration with HT Media and Muthoot Pappachan group will collect about one lakh hand imprints from citizens as a gesture of 'high five' in support of the Indian teams.

In the three-week campaign, canvases will be put up at various colleges, schools, markets, malls, and offices and it will culminate in a march on an undecided venue.

During that march, the canvases will put up on both sides of the road to form a wall, stretching up to 4-6 kms.

"Ultimately people after the games will ask how many medals India won. They will probably not talk how beautiful the stadium is. So this (campaign) is to encourage the sports persons," OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot said.

Bhanot was also the first person to put his hand imprint in green colour on a large canvas at the OC headquarter.

Anand Bhardwaj, Business Head (New Media Initiatives), HT Media said, "It's time that we celebrate and move forward. The objective of this campaign is to encourage the sportspersons."

Manomohanan, CEO of the Muthoot Capital Services, said this campaign will help the Indian athletes know the kind of expectations countrymen have from them.

"We believe it's time that awareness is spread. The athletes will know the burden of expectation they will be carrying during the Games," he said.

CWG to become part of school curriculum

The Commonwealth Games are set to become a part of the school curriculum in Delhi to get city's children involved in the event, the build-up to which has been been marred by corruption allegations and construction delays.

With less than a month to go for the Games, a programme was launched by Department of Art, Culture and Languages of the Delhi government to familiarise the children with the Games.

The initiative, 'Shera Mera Dost', is aimed at raising awareness about the Games online and get school students involved in the build-up to the event.

The site introduces a 45-day series of fun contests and activities in schools.

"Shera Mera Dost' the campaign was conceptualised by team of school principals, teachers," says Reena Ray, Principal secretary for Education, Art, Culture and Languages in the Delhi government.

She encouraged the students to log on to the microsite on Delhi Tourism website and mention one good deed of any generosity that they would have done to make a difference to Delhi.

Online facility for writing to a favourite sport star along with voicing opinions for issues in Delhi will also be among the other features available.

"Let us be good hosts and dress up your home," Ray added.

"We will be taking up one country and each one of them will be given to a class so they can research on it and know about the country, its culture, landscape and sports-persons," said principal of Sanskriti School, Abha Sahgal.

"This initiative will create a sense pride for the country among the children," she added.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who was present on the occasion, urged the students to come forward and participate in the campaign.

"If children are not involved, the work is not even quarter done," said Dikshit.

"We want children of Delhi to participate in the event. I want to tell you come out and watch, come out and play, come out and smile, come out and enjoy and above all come out and welcome everybody who comes here so that everybody goes back with a lifetime memory," she said.

Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, hoped that with this, the Games would finally generate some positivity after weeks of critical reporting in the media.

"For the first time, the Commonwealth Games are coming to India. You are aware that India is a land of cricket and more cricket. You have to learn about Olympic sports also. I want you to change your mindset. We need your support," said Kalmadi.

"We want to make the Commonwealth Games a success.

Everyone should participate," said Vaibhav, a class ninth student from R.P.V sector 10 Dwarka.

Palash Sen and his band Euphoria revved up the atmosphere with their song 'Delhi Meri Jaan' to which Dikshit gave her voice and Shera the Mascot swayed with the children. 

Delhi's games preparations still face problems

With just 30 days to go before the official opening of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, organizers continue to struggle with basic preparations like safety certificates for structures and the wherewithal to fight a potential epidemic.

A fourth missed deadline for construction work and a spurt in cases of dengue fever _ a mosquito-borne virus _ are the latest setbacks to the threaten an event already plagued by allegations official of poor building practices and bogus building approvals .

The venues, which were scheduled to be ready by August 31, are now unlikely to completed until September 15, just a day before athletes and officials start arriving for the games Oct. 3-14 games.

Despite the setbacks, chief organizer Suresh Kalmadi is confident the infrastructure will be ready for the games.

"We are getting all the required certificates pertaining to completion, safety and fire and sending them to the Commonwealth Games Federation," Kalmadi said at a media conference Thursday.

But Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has expressed less confidence of late.

"The rains have spoilt our plans. Let us hope we do not get more showers, or else we will be in big trouble," she said this week.

The prolonged monsoon has not just delayed the completion of venues, but has also brought the threat of dengue as mosquitoes have been spotted at water logged areas near venues and the games village.

There have been over a thousand reported cases of dengue at government hospitals in New Delhi and many more in private medical centers.

Health secretary Sujata Rao fears the virus has the potential to become an epidemic.

"This fever has a four-year cycle and unfortunately this is the year it is due to spread more," Rao said. "However, it has not been as life threatening as during previous years."

Some participating countries have issued health warnings for their athletes, while as many as 24 have written to the organizing committee enquiring about its status.

"The central, state and municipality is fighting dengue on a war-footing," said Kalmadi. "There are over 1,800 doctors on the job and the government is trying to ensure the threat comes down by mid-September."

Concerns over the potential success of the games are not limited to the organizational front.

Top sprinters Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell of Jamaica, Olympic swimming champion Stephanie Rice and cyclist Chris Hoy are among the top names to have withdrawn from the games.

But Kalmadi, whose organizing team has been mired in graft allegations, said: "There will be enough stars to make this an attractive event."

As for Indian athletes, there has been no home advantage as they have not been close to the venues except for some farcical test events that were devoid of good competition.

Kalmadi was confident Indians would do well as "the camps were going on well, even though at distant cities."

Commonwealth Games chief Mike Fennell said on a recent visit to New Delhi that he was satisfied with security assurances, but traffic snarls posed a threat.

"I hope something is done about the traffic. It needs to be systematized so that things run smoothly during the games," he said.

Among other challenges are the sale of tickets and merchandise, the launch of which also missed deadlines.

"The ticket sales will pick up in the coming days. As for the merchandise, we have just launched it on Thursday after a delay," Kalmadi said.

A month away, India seeks a Commonwealth Games miracle

The Commonwealth Games are often known as the “friendly games” but New Delhi has little to smile about one month before the opening ceremony.

The city has undertaken huge infrastructure improvements ahead of the October 3 opening, ranging from building new metro lines and flyovers to renovating whole urban districts.

But with time ticking away, many of the civic projects are far from finished, and fears are growing that the sports venues will not be up to international competition standards.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has repeatedly warned organisers that ongoing work at stadiums has delayed the installation of electronic equipment essential for the smooth running of events.

Barefoot migrant workers toil at new metro stations and at rubble-strewn venues across the city, struggling to make progress as unusually heavy monsoon rains have hit in recent weeks.

Poor ticket sales, a lack of sponsors, security fears, corruption scandals and a major outbreak of dengue fever have also filled India’s newspapers with tales of woe.

The organising committee and the government are putting on a brave face, but hopes have faded that Delhi would bathe in the same type of positive light that Beijing enjoyed during the Olympic Games in 2008.

On Wednesday, a Times of India poll reported that 76 percent of Delhi residents felt the estimated three-billion-dollar cost of the Games was unjustified, and 50 percent said preparations had severely disrupted their lives.

“It would be an understatement to describe the situation as alarming. It is calamitous,” the Telegraph newspaper quoted an unnamed senior official as saying.

Many of the delays have been blamed on crooked construction deals, while safety certificates for new buildings were also alleged to have been faked.

Best-selling author Chetan Bhagat, writing recently in the Times, urged the public to boycott the Games to protest against the “most blatant exercise in corruption in independent India’s history”.

Queen's Baton Relay on Sunday

The Queen's Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games is all set to pass through Mangalore on September 5.

Addressing a press conference here, Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj said that the relay team would arrive at Nellyadi, Puttur taluk, at 12.30 p.m. on September 5 from Hassan. District in-charge Minister J. Krishna Palemar, zilla panchayat president K. Santhosh Kumar Bhandary and former international sportspersons Sanjeeva Puttur and Pushparaj Hegde would welcome the team at Nellyadi, he said.

Later, the relay team would be escorted to Kadri Park here from where the relay would begin at 5.30 p.m. Mayor of Mangalore Rajani Dugganna would hand over the baton to recipients of the Arjuna Award Vandana Rao, Vandana Shanbagh and Shobha Narayana, he said.

Mr. Ponnuraj appealed to the people to participate in the event in large numbers and offer a warm welcome to the team at Kadri. “Since it will be a Sunday, a large number of people can participate in the programme. It is a matter of prestige for the district,” he said.

Commissioner of Police Seemanth Kumar Singh said that the police would cordon off from the morning the area through which the relay team would pass.

The relay team would proceed towards the Town Hall via Bejai Church Road, Lalbagh, PVS Circle, Ambedkar Circle, and Hampankatta. On the way, the baton would change hands at 20 points identified by the district administration. The district administration will be organising five cultural programmes and hosting a dinner for the team at the Town Hall, Mr. Ponnuraj said.

Games venues likely to be handed over to police by September 7

The government cannot commit whether all Commonwealth Games venues will be handed over to the Delhi Police by September 7, so that security facilities can be put in place.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who conducted a security review on Wednesday, said the police will have one week to put all security overlays — metal barriers, tyre busters, CCTVs and metal detectors — and conduct anti-sabotage drills before another review is done on September 15.

However, asked if all venues would be ready in time for the handover, Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy could only say: “They will be more or less ready for takeover by security.”

He was speaking to journalists after a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Games late on Wednesday evening.

Rain worry

This points to yet more delay and extended deadlines, for which the GoM is largely pinning the blame on the weather. “We are worried about the rains,” said Sports Minister M.S. Gill.

Despite this worry, the GoM could not reveal any contingency plan in case the downpours continue during the Games itself. “If it rains one or two days before October 3, we could have a plan-B,” said Mr. Reddy. “Some items could be reviewed.”

The opening and closing ceremonies were discussed in detail at the GoM meeting, but the Ministers studiously avoided comment on the reports that some sections have been disappointed by A.R. Rahman's theme song. “I have nothing to say on that. It has been approved by the GoM,” said Mr. Gill. “The theme song was entrusted to Rahman. His word is the last word,” added Mr. Reddy