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The remodeled, 60,000 capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
for October's Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games 2010
irregularities
The Opposition on
November 9, 2010 joined forces in Parliament to bring corruption back towards the centre of the country’s political
discourse on Commonwealth Games 2010 irregularities. They claimed that the CWG scam was worth than
`70,000, as was being claimed by many.
The Commonwealth Games
2010 ended successfully and the country has invested an estimated Rs.
70,000 crores into the Games.
But the exhaustive media coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) would convince one that all was (not) well.
On November 16, 2010 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested two sacked senior
officials of the CWG Organising Committee (OC). The agency arrested the former Joint
Director-General, T.S. Darbari, and the former Deputy Director-General of the OC, Sanjay
Mohindroo.
On November 30, 2010 the CBI filed a case against OC Secretary General Lalit
Bhanot and Director General V K Verma in connection with alleged irregularities
in a contract for the CWG result update system after conducting searches at 11
places including their residences. Official sources said the searches started
early this morning with regard to a Rs 107 crore deal struck with a firm for
results update system for the Commonwealth Games. |
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Latest Results
Commonwealth games website
Logo for the
Commonwealth Games 2010 being recognized as "Green Commonwealth Games"
Games opening video
Games
opening video
Commonwealth Games News
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Commonwealth Games 2010
On 14th October a magnificent closing ceremony
of IX Commonwealth Games 2010 was held at the Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium Delhi. On the last day India won 38 Gold medals,27
Silver medals and 36 Bronze medals.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prince Charles jointly inaugurated the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010
Delhi on Sunday the 3rd
October 2010 evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital.
The games commenced with President Patil's words: "Let the games begin".
The stadium was packed to capacity as India showcased its cultural
diversity and variety in launching the biggest ever Commonwealth Games.
The mega event, scheduled to run from October 3-14, and nearly 7000 athletes from 71 nations take part.
The opening ceremony sparkled as a range of fireworks went
off while thousands of folk dancers perform to culminate the cultural
shows. A total of four heads of state from outside India attended the opening ceremony; three from
Commonwealth nations and one from a non-Commonwealth nation. The four head of states are
Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru
and multiple Commonwealth gold medallist, Sir Anand Satyanand, Governor General of New Zealand and Prince Albert II of Monaco
Indian
athletes success first time in Games history
Women wrestlers who etched their names in the Games records are Alka Tomar and Anita and Geeta
Devi. In archery it was the trio of Dola Banerjee, Dipika Kumri, Bombayala Devi and Renu Bala Chanu in
weightlifing. |
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Over
all CWG Medal Tally on October 14
1. Australia:74, Gold, 55 Silver, 48 Bronze
2. India: 38 Gold, 27 Silver, 36
Bronze:
3. England 37 Gold, 59 Silver, 48 Bronze
4. Canada: 26 Gold, 17 Silver, 32 Bronze
5. South Africa:12 Gold, 11Silver,10 Bronze:
6. Nigeria: 11 Gold, 10 Silver, 14 Bronze:
7.Malesia:12 Gold, 10 Silver, 13 Bronze:
8 Kenya: 12 Gold, 11 Silver, 9 Bronze:
9. Singapore:11 Gold, 118 Silver, 9 Bronze:
9. Scotland: 9 Gold,10 Silver, 7 Bronze:
10 Samoa 3 Gold, 0 Silver, 1 Bronze:
11 New Zealand 6 Gold, 22 Silver, 6 Bronze
12.N.Ireland: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze
13. Pakistan: 2 Gold:, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze
14 Cyprus 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze
15.Welse: 2 Gold, 7 Silver,10 Bronze:
16 Uganda: 2 Gold, 0 Silver, 0 Bronze
17 Jamaica: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze
18 Bahamas 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze
19 Jamaica: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze
20 Shri Lanka: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze |
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First
golden women athlete Krishna Poonia sent India ecstatic with her gold winning discus throw. Harwant Kaur and
Seema Antil followed her with a silver and bronze for a stunning 1-2-3
finish for the first time by Indian women in the Games. A.C. Ashwini, Manjeet Kaur, Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose ran race of their
life to lift the gold in the 4x400 metre women's relay.
More historic firsts by Indian women came in badminton -Saina
Nehwal getting the gold in singles and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in doubles.
Shooters Anisa Sayyed, Rahi Sarnobat, Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj are the new stars from the 19th edition of the Games that began 80 years ago as
British Empire Games, became British Empire and Commonwealth Games in
1954, British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and just Commonwealth Games in 1978.
The Indian men winning gold included the familiar marksmen Gagan Narang
and Abhinav Bindra , Somdev Devvarman in tennis singles, Manoj Kumar, Paramajeet Samota and Suranjoy Mayengbam Singh in boxing. *Anisa
Sayeed and Rahi Sarnobat* started with a Gold in 25m Pistol(Pairs) followed by Tejaswini Sawant and
Lajjakumari’s Silver in 50m Rifle 3 Positions( Pairs) on the very first day of shooting event.
Commonwealth Games 2010 committee
Commonwealth Games Federation
president is Mike Fennell. Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India,
was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Indian Olympic Association
president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as head of the Commonwealth Games 2010 committee.
Commonwealth Games 2010
Infrastructure
The total budget estimated for hosting the Games is US$ 1.6 billion and
this amount excludes non-sports-related infrastructure development in the city like airports, roads and other structures. This will likely
make the 2010 Commonwealth Games the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever, being larger than the previous games in Melbourne 2006.
India would also provide US$ 100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. .
Delhi proposed a four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch from Lodhi Road
to trans- Yamuna, linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines
are in progress. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges have been
planned to improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects have begun with an emphasis being placed on expanding national highways.
The Delhi Metro expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games. At
420 km long, it will be one of the world's longest networks and it will
extend to Gurgaon and the Noida area.
Indira Gandhi International Airport was modernized, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly US$ 1.94 billion, Terminal 3
will improve airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by
2010. A new runway is being constructed, allowing for over 75 flights an hour and – at over 4400 metres long – it will be one of Asia's longest.
The airport will be connected to the city via a six-lane expressway and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express
Commonwealth Games 2010 Preparation
The unprecedented security arrangement put in place for the Commonwealth Games ceremoney included 100,000 security personnel
including 3,000 commandos, and 15 bomb disposal squads. In addition to that 3,000 close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) have been
installed to monitor every activity during the ceremony.
Games Village
The Games Village will house over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games.
Indian states will train state police forces to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games.
The Games Village was officially opened on 16th
September 2010 by performing rituals through all faiths.
On October 6, 2010 Commonwealth Games Federation chief, Michael Fennel, who earlier claimed
that athletes' village was "filthy," now described the village as the
best, he has ever seen. His statement also added, "the best facilities I have seen anywhere at
any Games I have been to so far." There were complaints about unhygienic living conditions and water
logging in the basements of apartment blocks.
On September 28, 2010, The sprawling athletes’ village, on the banks of the surging Yamuna
river, is coming alive, with the arrival of international athletes. There are athletes of many races and all ages.
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CWG athletics :Kiran Poonia
of India breaks 52-year gold jinx on October 11, 2010 |
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Controversies
A number of environmental controversies
arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games
have been protested by city residents. The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the
River Yamuna (यमुना), has also been the subject of controversies flouting of
ecological norms.
A massive construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the
demolition of hundreds of homes and the displacement of city dwellers –at least 100,000 of New Delhi’s 160,000 homeless people have removed
from shelters, some of which have been demolished. Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the
slums a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.
Critisism
On July 27, 2010 Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Mani Shankar Aiyar, said
he would be unhappy if the Commonwealth Games were a success and that only evil will patronise
them. He also critizised the money being spent for the Oct mega-event. "Thousands of crores are being spent on circuses like these while the
common children are being deprived of basic facilities to play," he said.
On July 29, 2010 after giving controversial remarks on Commonwealth Games,
former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said that, he will speak about Commonwealth Games only after Oct 15, when the event gets
over, as he has been asked to keep mum on the issue..
The budget for holding the Games was initially pegged at `345 crore, but has now swelled to some
`70,000 crore, forcing many people to question the decision to go for it.
Corruption
The Delhi Games were hit by a major scam after the British Government raised questions about a substantial sum of money which was transferred
to A M Films, a little known UK company from the Games Organising Committee
(OC). Reports claimed that over 4.50 lakh pounds were transferred through a
British bank to the company, which was also said to be receiving 25,000 pounds a month for costume designing.
Sports Minister M S Gill on July 31, 2010 promised to take "prompt and appropriate" against
corruption cases in the Commonwealth Games and said all deals related to the sporting extravaganza should be
be tabled in Parliament. Gill said that if any irregularities related to
October 3-14 mega event were brought to his Ministry's notice, it would
deal with it seriously and swiftly. "Anything that needs to be looked at must be looked at and it will
continue even after the Games. I believe that we must put forward everything before the Parliament and the people," he told reporters here.
Anil Khanna resigned as treasurer, the pivotal money controller, of the
Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CWGOC) August 5, 2010 in the wake of
allegations that his son's firm secured contract for laying synthetic courts at R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium, one of the venues for the Oct 3-14
Games.Khanna is the secretary-general of the All India Tennis Association, the owner of the stadium.
India bribed 72 Commonwealth countries $100,000 each to get the hosting rights for the scandal-hit 19th edition of the Games which
will start in Delhi from October 3-14, a media report claimed on September 24, 2010 (Published in Times of India on Sept. 24)..
Corruption charges
With the Commonwealth Games over and demands for probe for mounting, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on October 15, 2010 appointed a high-level committee headed by a former CAG
to go into allegations of corruption related to the mega sporting event. The committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V
K Shunglu, will submit its report to the Prime Minister within three
months, PMO spokesman said. The announcement came even as the CAG stepped into the picture to
conduct assessment of various projects related to the CWG with officials
set to visit all the stadia and go through records.
Previously Suresh Kalmadi's claim of innocence is largely based on the fact that
bulk of expenditure on the Commonwealth Games was made by Central or
Delhi govt agencies like MCD, DDA, PWD, CPWD. Rocked by allegations, CGOC suspended Suresh Kalmadi aide Darbari,
Mohindroo and Jeychandren and also terminated a contract with an Aussie company.
Income Tax (I-T) investigation has started probing vendors and
contractors involved in supply of goods and execution of works for Commonwealth Games stadiums.
The CGOC was thrown in a tizzy as treasurer Anil Khanna resigned in the wake of revelations that the contract for laying the artificial tennis
turf was given to a company whose Indian distribution is headed by his son.
With allegations of corruption plaguing the Commonwealth Games, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi on August 19, 2010 said those found guilty will be punished after the event. Terming the Commonwealth Games as a matter of
national pride, she said the Games were not related to any political party or individual. "It was a matter of national pride and efforts should be
made to hold them successfully." At the same time, she said that those found guilty of corruption in
works related to the Games should be punished after the event.
After CBI enquiry Suresh Kalmandi found guilty and sent to
Tihar jail |
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On
November 9, 2010: Suresh Kalmadi has been fired as CPP Secretary.
As Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee, he was forced to defend himself repeatedly against persistent allegations of
pervasive corruption in the Games. With the Prime Minister's blessing, a
huge investigation has been launched into every aspect of the Games by,
among others, the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate.
The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee
chairman Suresh Kalmadi, now in Tihar Jail
Abhinav Bindra
Saina Nehwal
Archar Deepika Kumar
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Estimated Revenue through CWG-2010
The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has agreed to reimburse
Government from revenues generated by ticket sales, sponsorship, advertising
etc, for the moneys made available to the Organising Committee. This was stated by Dr. M.S. Gill, Union Minister of Youth
Affairs & Sports in the Rajya Sabha on July 29, 2010, in a written reply to a question by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar.
The Minister of Sports further stated that the expected revenue
generation as estimated by the Organizing Committee (OC) is Rs. 1,708
crore. The total estimated expenditure to be incurred by the Organizing
Committee (OC) on the Conduct of the Commonwealth Games 2010 including
Overlays, Timing, Scoring, Result System and Games Time Sports Equipment
is Rs.2394 crore. The net expenditure to be incurred by the Government
will be clear, only after actual figure of revenue generation are known and final settlement of accounts takes place.
Mosquito breeding in many of the stadiums
On August 23, 2010: Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said mosquitoes
breeding at unfinished Commonwealth Games venues was one of the reasons behind the spread of
Dengu and Malaria
in Delhi. "Dengue and water is strongly related. Delhi is already dug up because
of the Games and it is also raining heavily. Since water remains accumulated in many places, it becomes a breeding ground for
mosquitoes," he said.
The Yamuna levels might be receding as on September 2, 2010, but they have created
new pools of concern. Stagnant water has accumulated near the Commonwealth Games village which unless drained quickly, could end up spawning mosquitoes even as some 24 countries have written seeking information on
the dengue situation. The spread of dengue in Delhi is becoming an international concern ahead of the Games and the Organizing Committee
is being asked by participating nations about measures being adopted to
check dengue before athletes and delegates begin arriving for the mega sporting event.
Health Advisory issued for Commonwealth Games 2010
In order to defend dengue and swine flu during Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 in New Delhi, the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare on September 18, 2010 has issued the health advisory for participants and visitors of the game.
The health advisory has come with the recommendation for having A-H1N1
vaccination. The participants and visitors of the CWG are advised to
carry full-sleeved clothes and mosquito-repellent creams, mats and coil before leaving for India.
As country's capital continues to be gripped by dengue and swine flu,
all are asked not to shake hands or hug in greeting to avoid the spread
of H1N1. Also to prevent dengue, both the visitors and players have been
suggested to use commercially available mosquitoes repellent and not to leave the doors and windows open during day time.
The health advisory said that the visitors and participants can contact
the help desks for assistance on arrival at the Delhi International Airport, if having fever during the travel on flight. As A-H1N1 has been
proved as not very effective, other preventive measures would be helpful.
Also Contract eye- flu
On November 13, 2010 Five Indian wrestlers training for the
Commonwealth Games at the Sports Authority of India's Regional
Centre in Sonapat suspended after contracting eye flu.
Commonwealth
Games village sanitation
Reported on October 7, 2010 The Commonwealth Games Village is confronting a civic problem
again. It is not the dirty loos or spit-stained bathrooms, but choked drains, which are now causing problems.
And this time, the athletes themselves are to blame. When some toilets
used by the athletes were found clogged, plumbers were called in to clean them. They found that thousands of used condoms, which had been
flushed down, were clogging the system.
Condoms, being supplied free at the Games Village, are in huge demand. A large condom vending machine has been installed at the
Village which contains at least 4,000 contraceptive packs.Officials said
more than half the condoms in the machine have already been taken out. The condoms are available at the Games Village polyclinic.
Brand ambassadors for Commonwealth Games 2010
Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on July 27, 2010 announced the names of six brand ambassadors for the 2010 Delhi Games to be held
later this year in October. Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, Olympic Bronze medalist and wrestler
Sushil Kumar, lone Indian Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra, ace shooter Samresh Jung, Olympic bronze medalist pugilist Vijender Kumar
and the women boxer MC Mary Kom have been named as the brand ambassadors of the October 3-14
event.
Commonwealth Games 2010 Map |
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