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.

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.

100% rise in CWG project cost

Commonwealth Games 2010 is costing the taxpayer a pretty penny, with the cost of major projects going up from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,460 crore. Authorities have been facing flak for some time now over delays in completion of projects but it now appears that cost escalation is a major cause for concern as well.

In response to an RTI query filed by activist S C Agrawal, CPWD has admitted that construction and upgradation work on Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium has cost nearly double the original estimate — from Rs 455 crore to Rs 961 crore.

Construction work at other stadia in the city has also seen a marked increase. The cost incurred on the Dr Karni Singh shooting range, for instance, has shot up from a mere Rs 16 crore to Rs 149 crore.

The revised cost for Indira Gandhi Stadium has gone up from Rs 271 crore to Rs 669 crore, while work at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee swimming pool complex finally cost Rs 377 crore compared to the estimated Rs 145 crore.

Major Dhyanchand National Stadium — inaugurated by the sports minister in March — has cost the exchequer Rs 262 crore compared to the estimated Rs 113 crore while an additional cost of Rs 42 crore was added for consultancy services, which was not budgeted for earlier.

Explaining the revised expenditure, CPWD said costs went up because of revised cost indices and escalation, change in scope of work, additions and deletions made to the venues and the addition of ancillaries like service tax, quality assurance and contingencies .

Incidentally, JLN Stadium has missed its deadline with work on venues for athletics, lawn bowls and weightlifting still going on. The deadline has been extended for the weightlifting venue from February 15 to May 31.

At Indira Gandhi Stadium, the cycling track was expected to be finished by March 31 but will only be ready by May 31 as is the case with the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee swimming pool complex.

Ahead of CWG, Northern Ireland to send recce team

A 10-member Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council delegation led by chairman Robert McVeigh and secretary general Terry Crothers, are in the Capital on a two-day familiarisation visit in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, beginning here on October 3.

McVeigh, a former shooter himself, expressed confidence that the Games will be a big success. "I see the commitment from the Government of India and Delhi and the Organising Committee for Delhi to produce infrastructure and a Games that will make the city a major player in the world of sport in the future," he said.

The delegation was taken on a tour of the Games Village, the OC headquarters and a number of venues on Wednesday and among other things met OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi and other members of the top management. The delegation includes coaches Maggie Squires (archery), Northern Ireland Athletics high performance manager Jackie McKernan, Stephen Friel (boxing), Tom Causer (badminton), three-time Commonwealth Games cyclist Cormac Macann (cycling) and Nelson Lindsay (swimming).

Talking about his country's chances at the 2010 Games, McVeigh said they want to do better than the 2006 Games, where they won two silver medals. “We will have around 80 athletes in a team of 120 and will look to return better off than we did from Melbourne. And one the reasons is that the timing of the Games suits us, coming as it does towards the end of our summer,” he added.

Baton relay huge success
McVeigh added that the Queen's Baton was a memorable event for Northern Ireland. "We were able to take the Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi to all areas of Northern Ireland. It was also an opportunity for us to promote sport at large and Commonwealth Games in particular," he said.

Cargo scanners to screen vehicles entering Games village

In another step towards strengthening the security for the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Police will install cargo scanners to scan the vehicles entering the Games Village.

“These huge scanning machines will ensure no explosives or ammunition can be sneaked into the Games village site by hiding them in a vehicle,” said a senior police officer.

The police say they will hire the machines soon and the related process has already begun.

“We had advertised for the expression of interest to hire cargo scanners,” said Rajan Bhagat, spokesman, Delhi Police. “The process has begun and we have got a few responses.”

The scanners were also used during the last Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne in Australia.

A Delhi Police team had visited Melbourne then and a proposal was initiated to include such scanners at the Games venue in Delhi also.

The scanners will be manned by Delhi Police officials.

“Though only authorised vehicles will be allowed to enter the Games venue, it is to ensure no untoward incident takes place,” the officer said.

“If a truck carrying food items for the players has to enter the venue, each and every box need not be checked by the policemen. The scanner will ensure the contents of the truck are visible on the computer screen at the click of a button.”

In India, such a scanner only exists at Jawaharlal Nehru port in Mumbai.

“These scanners will also eliminate the chances of human error,”the officer said. “They will act as a counter check on the security personnel deployed at the Games venue.”

But police sources claimed not many companies had come forward to provide the scanners.

“Companies argue they are not ready to shell out so much money to bring these scanners as no one would buy them once they have been used,” another officer said.

Commonwealth Games opportunity

THREE Orkney people will be offered the chance of a lifetime to travel to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India in October. They will be among over 400 people from Scotland taking part in the official Flag Handover Ceremony which will mark the Commonwealth Games coming to Scotland in 2014.

Successful applicants will perform as part of the mass cast at the Handover Ceremony in Delhi in front of a stadium of 65,000 people and a global TV audience of millions.

While the three places are fully funded for travel between Glasgow and Delhi as well as the stay in India, the participants may be expected to contribute towards the costs from Orkney to Glasgow by fundraising and/or grant support.

Orkney Islands Council's cultural co-ordinator manager, Tanya McGill said: "We are seeking nominations from community groups for individuals who they feel deserve this life changing opportunity."

Nominated applicants need to be aged 18 or over by 10 June 2010 and:
• would never normally be engaged in such a project
• have a good basic level of physical fitness
• be self-motivated and enthusiastic
• able to commit to the required rehearsals including Orientation (10 - 11 June in Glasgow) and Boot Camp (20 September - 8 October in Glasgow)
• able to commit to the performance schedule (12 - 17 October in Delhi)
• have no medical conditions preventing exercise, physical exertion, air and other travel, vaccinations and periods in hot
environments.

The closing date for nominations is Wednesday April 14 at 5pm. Interviews will take place on Wednesday April 21.

For a nomination form and further details contact Tanya McGill, Cultural Co-ordinator Manager, Orkney Islands Council, School Place, Kirkwall, KW15 1NY or telephone (01856) 873535 x 2406, or email tanya.mcgill@orkney.gov.uk.

Nomination forms can also be obtained from Customer Services at Orkney Islands Council, or from the council's website at www.orkney.gov.uk.

500 doctors, 200 paramedics to be trained for Commonwealth Games

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit today said that 500 doctors and 200 para medics are being given special training by the Delhi government for offering treatment to participants of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Dikshit said over 40 special clinics would be set up in various parts of the national capital during the Games to provide medical facilities to participants of the event.

The chief minister said this after giving away the state awards to 20 doctors working in Delhi government hospitals.

"The main objective of the state award is to give due recognition to honest and sincere doctors," she said.

Twenty two nurses, eight pharmacists, eight technicians and 12 Group-D staff were also awarded.

Each doctor was given a citation and a cash award of Rs50,000 while others got cash awards of Rs20,000 each and a citation.

Special clinics for Commonwealth Games: Sheila Dikshit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Wednesday said 40 special health clinics will be set up across the capital during the Commonwealth Games.

Addressing a function on World Health Day, Dikshit said 500 government doctors and 200 para-medical staff are being given special training for the Commonwealth Games.

‘Delhi will provide world class health facility during the mega sporting event,’ she said.

A health walk was also organised on the occasion by the Art of Living Foundation and hundreds of people turned up at India Gate lawns to participate in it.