Goverment exempts C'Wealth Games helium balloons from customs duty

Helium balloons, touted to be a star attraction at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games, will now be exempted from customs duty, the finance ministry said today.

The ministry has withdrawn customs duty on the balloons, technically known as Aerostats, along with equipment used for their deployment, sources said.

Aerostats will be deployed at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

However, these balloons will have to be imported by suppliers, contractors, vendors or sub-vendors of the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games, they said.

The exemption is a part of the government's move to remove customs duty on sports goods and equipment imported for the Commonwealth Games.

Earlier, in February this year, the government removed customs duty on various sports goods like arms and ammunition for shooting events, broadcasting equipment imported by Prasar Bharti for telecasting the spectacle and doping control equipment.

The Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held in New Delhi from October 3 to 14 this year.

There’s no light at end of this tunnel

It seems that the Organising Committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games has got its focus wrong. Rather than concentrating on successfully hosting the event, the OC appears to be more interested in the opening and closing ceremonies.

A tunnel, which has been constructed under the turf of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to facilitate the movements of participants during the opening and closing ceremonies, has resulted in continuous soil erosion during the past few days. The erosion is now threatening to damage the synthetic turf around the grassy area.

“There was no place for the tunnel when the stadium was redesigned,” said a senior stadium official, confirming that the tunnel was not a part of the original design and was only constructed after the OC insisted on it.

“It was decided to construct the tunnel because the OC said the participants of the opening and closing ceremonies should come out from under the ground to make it look more spectacular,” he added.

Remodelled and redesigned at a cost of Rs. 961 crores, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium would be the showpiece venue in the Commonwealth Games. Apart from the opening and closing ceremonies, the stadium will play host to the athletics events.

The heavy rain in Delhi for the past few weeks has further complicated the problem, the official pointed out. “Holes have been created at several places on the ground. The CPWD has been doing its best by regularly putting extra soil and sand but we are yet to find a permanent solution to the problem,” he said.

The ministry of sports, it is believed, was not too happy with the construction of the tunnel at the last moment. On July 27, when the stadium was inaugurated, the union minister of sports, MS Gill, told OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi that the project got delayed because of the construction of the tunnel.

CK Valson, the competition manager of the Nehru Stadium, admitted that the tunnel was creating problems but insisted that the turf would be set right after the opening ceremony, scheduled on October 3.

“We have plans to get the turf re-laid immediately after the opening ceremony is over. This is a procedure which has been used in many countries and could be done in less than 24 hours,” said Valson, who admitted the process would incur a considerable expenditure.

An official of the OC, however, defended the decision to create the tunnel saying such things are common at mega events. “Even at the Beijing Olympics, the participants came through the tunnel. It adds to the glamour of the event,” Valson said.

Queen's Baton arrives in State on September 1

The Queen's Baton for the Commonwealth Games, which journeyed through 70 Commonwealth countries and several States and Union Territories of India, will enter Karnataka from Tamil Nadu at 12.30 p.m. on September 1 and will be received by the President of the Karnataka Olympic Association K. Govindaraj at Chikkanahalli, a border village in Chamarajanagar district.
Minister for Textiles, Youth Services and Sports Gulihatti D. Shekar told presspersons that “the baton after passing through Bandipur, Gundlupet and Nanjangud will reach Mysore at 3 p.m. on September 1. A special cultural programme, depicting the cultural heritage of Mysore, will be held at Mysore Palace at 7 p.m”.

“The baton will enter Bangalore from Mysore on September 2 at 3 p.m. and it will be received by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa at the Kanteerava Stadium at 4 p.m.

The former world badminton champion Prakash Padukone, the champion sprinter of yesteryears Kenneth Powell, a host of Arjuna and Dhronacharya recipients, Ministers, the BBMP Mayor, leading personalities, film stars and schoolchildren will carry the baton through several parts of the city.

A commemorative postal stamp will be released to mark the occasion. A cultural programme will be held at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium at 6.30 p.m.,” the Minister said.

Other districts

“After leaving Bangalore on September 4, the relay will reach Hassan on the same day; Mangalore on September 5; Karwar on September 6, before reaching Goa border on September 7,” he added.

“To make the baton relay a success, the Government of Karnataka has taken the help of the Karnataka Olympic Association, Karnataka State Athletics Association and other sports associations,” the Minister said.

It may be recalled that the baton for the 2010 Games was launched by Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace in London on October 29 last year in the presence of President Pratibha Patil.

Relay route

The Queen's baton rally will start from Kanteerava Stadium at 4 p.m. on September 2 and pass through Kasturaba Road, Cubbon Park, Ambedkar Veedhi, K.R. Circle, Nrupathunga Road, Hudson Circle, J.C. Road, Mission Road, Subbaiah Circle, Lalbagh Main Road, Lalbagh Main Gate, Glass House, K.H. Road, Richmond Circle and Rajarammohan Roy Road before culminating at Sri Kanteerava Stadium.

Funds for welfare projects spent on CWG

The Centre on Thursday admitted that Rs.678.91 crore, meant for carrying out welfare projects for people belonging to the Scheduled Castes in the Capital, was spent on various Commonwealth Games-related infrastructure projects by the Delhi government.

“An amount of Rs.678.91 crore has been contributed from SCSP (SC Sub-Plan) funds to various Commonwealth Games-related infrastructure projects… these projects will benefit all communities including SCs under the individual category,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha.

This led to uproarious scenes with MPs from the BSP, the Left and the BJP alleging diversion of funds meant for the welfare of SC population. They also alleged that the figures given by the government was different from what was given in response to an RTI application. Agitated BSP MPs came into the well of the House shouting slogans against the Delhi government, forcing adjournment of the House.

Green cost of infrastructure projects: 40,000 trees

Delhi  will be gaining infrastructure and better transport facilities thanks to the Commonwealth Games but that is coming at a cost. The city lost about 40,000 trees to Metro  construction, flyovers and other Games-related projects in the past few years. Despite this, the green cover has been growing at an average annual rate of 1% which sources say is due to the high rate of compensatory plantation except that most of it is in city forests that are at the edge of the city.

According to government data, the Metro project alone accounted for 4,340 trees either being felled or transplanted while over 8,000 trees had to be felled for about 30 flyover projects. "However, it is interesting to note that between 2007 and 2008, 18 city forests came up only on the basis of compensatory plantation. Trees are an unavoidable loss if infrastructure is to be developed but the Delhi cabinet's decision to make plantation of 10 plants compulsory for each tree felled has had a really positive impact on the city's green cover,'' said officials.

The argument didn't go down too well with environmentalists. "There is no compensation for the loss of a fully grown, mature tree. While we cannot dispute the rise in green cover, the city seems to be turning into a concrete jungle while the forests are being created on the boundary. There is also no verification of how much compensatory plantation has been undertaken so far. A lot of trees can be saved if only project planning considers these aspects. Can the government really account for trees that were lost in projects like streetscaping where the contractors could not be bothered with preserving the greenery,'' said a tree expert.

Government sources, however, said that the forest department itself had undertaken compensatory plantation of about 3 lakh saplings and would be planting an additional 25,000 saplings under compensatory afforestation fund management and planning authority (CAMPA) funds. "The forest department is responsible for compensatory plantation of DMRC, BRT and NHAI. Other than that, a review of all other agencies will be carried out shortly to assess how their plantation drive is going. In case they are not able to meet their targets, the forest department will do it for them from the money that has been deposited with them. Again, not all the compensatory plantation has been done in city forests. Land was earmarked for trees even in and around the projects that came up or are underway and these will be greened once work is finished. Under CAMPA, an additional 25,000 saplings will be planted next year as well,'' said an official.

GoM reviews installation of overlays at CWG venues

The group of minister overseeing the preparations for the Commonwealth Games met on Thursday to discuss the opening and closing ceremonies and installation of the much-delayed overlays at the event's venues. The meeting of the GoM, headed by UDminister Jaipal Reddy was also attended by sports minister M S Gill, tourism minister Shailja, CM Shiela Dikshit and CWG OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi among others.

"The opening and closing ceremonies were discussed and the electrical connectivity at the venues and other overlays were also deliberated upon in the meeting. There was also a discussion on the broadcasting of the Games by Doordarshan," Kalmadi told reporters. Asked whether the August 31 deadline for the completion of the Games' venues would be met, Kalmadi said, "You will have to ask the sports minister. I can't comment on that."

The GoM meeting was also attended by cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekhar and Delhi LG Tejinder Khanna and other senior officials.

Keep off the grass at India gate till Games

Thanks to the Commonwealth Games you won't be able to walk barefoot on the dew-moist lawns of India Gate. Delhiite's favourite late night drive to India Gate to enjoy ice creams has hit the Games hurdle. A civic agency is planting new grass at the India Gate lawns — the biggest open space in the
heart of the city — so all the parking lots have been barricaded and made out-of-bounds.

You can only walk down till the War Memorial Arch, after parking your car elsewhere. The Rs 6 crore-project is being completed on a war footing with only 37 days to go for the Games.

Metal barricades have been put up at all the six-entry points: Shah Jahan Road, Tilak Marg, Pandara Road, Copernicus Marg, Sher Shah Road and Zakir Hussain Marg. The lawns have also been ringed with barbed wire. The plan also includes relaying the pavements with red sandstone.

Police said they got a request from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the agency carrying out the work, to close the parking points.

"It was never a parking area. It's good quality grass so needs time to grow," said Chandra Bhushan Upadhyay, spokesman, CPWD. The lawns will remain closed till the Games are over.