Airliners-India

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 861 Location: Singapore

Worried Commonwealth Games chief to visit India

Agence France-Presse, Friday October 2, 2009, New Delhi

Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennell will visit India next week to share concerns over the slow progress of New Delhi's preparations for next year's event, a statement said on Friday.

Fennell, who warned last month that the October 2010 Games in New Delhi were at "serious risk," will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a six-day visit, the Federation statement said.

"With only one year to go, Fennell is intensely aware of the tight time line that faces the Delhi organisers," it said.

"Fennell will preside over meetings of the CGF's Executive Board and all member nations, and will look to advise them of agreed strategies to address the Federation's issues about Delhi's preparedness," it added.

The Games, the biggest multi-sport event to be staged in India since the Asian Games in 1982, feature 71 nations and territories that mostly comprised the former British empire.

In a letter to the organising committee in September, Fennell had warned that construction delays had raised serious concerns over India's ability to host the Games.

But in Friday's statement, the CGF chief stressed that the situation could be salvaged.
"I know that Prime Minister Singh sees this as a matter of national pride and prestige for India. We still have a year to go, and it is possible to deliver a successful Games," he was quoted as saying.

Sri_Bom

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/worried_commonwealth_games_chief_to_visit_india.php

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 763

If even 20% of this colossal expenditure was used for the development of Mumbai, there would have been a decent ROI (inspite of the poor governance in the state).

What a waste of money..And all this for what ?

Does GOI really think that spending all this will result in improvement of India's sporting talent?
Or is it just an excuse to pretty up the capital (once more) .

karatecatman · Guest

Melbourne is being readied as an alternate venue. according to Air India source.

Air India is the official carrier for the Delhi Games.

Kabir · Member Joined: 24 Oct 2008 Posts: 346 Location: DEL

Melbourne hosted it last time so that cant be true.

The alternate venue will either be Glasgow or Edinburgh.
_________________
Kabir
India Correspondent
Airliner World

iah87 · Member Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 720

It is clear that for this Govt (or for that matter previous governments) Delhi is the only city to be showcased. Rest of Indian cities do not matter to them. Delhi already has the infrastructure and the security apparatus.

It would be nice if Bangalore or other similar cities could host these games.

Either way it will be difficult for Mumbai or Kolkata to host as they are very congested and due to local politics of real estate it will be very difficult to build anything on time.

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 763

karatecatman · Guest

MID-DAY
Bamboo screens to hide Delhi slums during Commonwealth Games

IANS
2009-08-17

What cannot be removed must be hidden, the city fathers believe. As Delhi readies to host the Commonwealth Games next year, it is looking to show its painted face to the world while hiding slums behind bamboo screens.

Realising that uprooting slum clusters from all over the capital and rehabilitating its inhabitants is not a pragmatic solution - especially as the deadline for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is drawing to a close - the Delhi government has decided to literally screen the not-so-welcoming sights from the many visitors expected for the event.

Similar moves were made in Beijing during last year's Olympics when screens were put up before not so pretty sections of the city which the authorities did not want the millions of visitors to China to see. Giant screens are also seen in several cities in Latin America to block out ugly sights from visitors.

Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta told IANS: "We have spoken to the agriculture department of Mizoram to help us in planting bamboo trees which can be used to screen the shanties and slums on the roadside of all those routes through which the Commonwealth convoy is expected to go."

"We want to present a good face of Delhi during the Games next year, but it is not possible to remove all the slums. Therefore, we have decided to use bamboo screens instead to simply conceal the sights," Mehta said.

The agriculture department of Mizoram has been especially asked for a type of bamboo that can withstand Delhi's dry climate.

"In the northeast, the weather is humid, but for our purpose we need at least five-foot-tall bamboos which can survive the dry weather. We are also planning to take Assam's help in this regard since bamboo grows there as well," Mehta told IANS in an interview.

"We are also consulting the National Bamboo Mission and the National Mission of Bamboo Application in this regard," he added.

However, not all 'jhuggis' or slums will be 'screened'.

"Slum dwellers near the Commonwealth Games village have been rehabilitated at Bawana. About 9,000 houses have been made for them there," Mehta said.

The Commonwealth Games Oct 3-14 next year is expected to see a huge turnout of players and tourists. Seventy-one member countries are scheduled to participate in the Games that has 17 sports disciplines.

While numerous other preparations are under way to make the event a success -- giving all flyovers an aesthetic look, improving connectivity and ensuring that there are enough rooms to accommodate the players and tourists -- the slums have continued to be a matter of concern.

***

http://timesofindia.hotklix.com/link/news/India/Commonwealth-sex-marathon

iflytb20 · Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:19 pm Post subject:

star*gold · Member Joined: 29 Jan 2009 Posts: 103

Bangkok did something similar-screen their slums-when they hosted some global meet a couple of years back.

Reminds me of my time with a company that used to shine the place, place tissues/paper towels in the rest rooms, room fresheners, when clients were on site. All extra amenities for the visitors, which were promptly removed once the visitors left. What a sham it was, and made us feel less than valued!

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 763

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2451

According to some reports, the new T3 at IGIA is also months behind schedule. Thus, it will only be used by visiting athletes and offiicials in Delhi for the CW games. The terminal will be opened to the public only in October 2010.

What a sham, not to mention a national shame.

Once again, the country shows that its an international joke in comparison to China which hosted, perhaps, the most spectacular Olympics in recent memory, and which had all its infrastructure from airports to highways to stadiums and hotels ready for the rest of the world to admire.

rutvij · Member Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 923 Location: Mumbai

flightgearpilot · Member Joined: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 587 Location: BLR

karatecatman · Guest

Commonwealth Games, Delhi
http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org/home.aspx

ssbmat · Member Joined: 20 Dec 2006 Posts: 763

I hope they never get the Commonwealth Games ready on schedule and the organizers should shift the venue to some other country because of lack of preparedness.

Only then will our govt realize the importance of good infrastructure- and not just because of the games.

karatecatman · Guest

Commonwealth Games officials fined for letting mosquitoes breed
IANS
10 November 2009

NEW DELHI: Officials supervising the construction of the Commonwealth Games village have been fined for letting water stagnate at its building site and making them breeding grounds for dengue-causing mosquitoes, Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said Tuesday.

"The Commonwealth Games village (in east Delhi) has become a breeding ground for dengue-carrying mosquitoes. We had gone there for an inspection last week and fined the officials for allowing water stagnation," Sain said.

Dismissing Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia's critical remarks about the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) failing to check the rising number of dengue cases in the capital, Sain said the civic agency was doing its best to do its best to check the spread of the disease that has already claimed two lives in and around the capital. An estimated 550 people are said to be afflicted with dengue.

"This year, due to late rains in the capital, there was a rise in the number of dengue patients. Next year, we will have the situation under control. There will be no such problem during the Commonwealth Games," he said.

In a familiar blame game, the Delhi health minister said the civic body was not taking proper care to stop breeding of mosquitoes in Delhi. "Despite several reminders, the MCD health officer is not informing the Delhi government about total dengue cases in various hospitals," she said.

Sain, however, said the MCD was taking all precautions to check the spread of the vector-borne disease and keeping a tab on the number of confirmed cases.

"Under the guidelines of the Indian government, the IgM Capture ELISA test is the standard test for dengue. Any patient who is confirmed with dengue under this test is notified to us by all leading hospitals of Delhi, including Apollo, Fortis and Ganga Ram," he said.

"We include the confirmed cases in the final count that we release every day," Sain added.

Preparation for the Commonwealth Games, to be held next year from Oct 3-14, has seen a rash of building and renovation activity all over the city and consequent accumulation of rubble that become breeding grounds of mosquitoes.