Special report: 2008 Olympic Games
MADRID, June 8 (Xinhua) — Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos Sunday reaffirmed the support of the Spanish government for the Olympic Games in Beijing and said he believed the event will be “a great success.”
Boycotting the Olympic Games goes against the spirit of concord of the games, Moratinos told a joint press conference with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi after their talks.
Moratinos said an official Spanish delegation will attend the opening ceremony of the games on Aug. 8.
Yang thanked Spain’s support for the Olympic Games and said he is against politicizing the event.
Yang also thanked Spain for the aid and sympathy it offered following the earthquake in southwest China, saying it showed the “deep feeling of friendship” between the two governments and peoples.
Yang is on a European tour and will also visit Slovenia, which holds the current rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), Italy and EU headquarters in Brussels.
During his stay in Spain, Yang will also meet with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/09/content_8329226.htm
Categories: Beijing Olympic
Special report: 2008 Olympic Games
BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) — Crackers and fireworks will be banned across Beijing from July 1 to Oct. 8 for safety considerations before and during the Olympics and the Paralympics, the city’s safety administration said Monday.
According to new regulations published on the administration’s website, Beijing’s cracker and fireworks ban, formerly applicable only in the city proper, will be extended to outer areas beyond the Fifth Ring Road.
Crackers and fireworks are banned in Beijing’s city proper except for the festive week of the Chinese Lunar New Year. But the festive explosives are almost always available in outer Beijing, where dealers have distribution and storage facilities. The new regulations will request them to suspend operation during the ban and put away all their stocks at warehouses designated by the safety authority.
To tighten up safety during the Games, Beijing Work Safety Administration has also requested round-the-clock safety watch at gasoline stations within 300 meters to all Olympic venues.
During the 14-week ban, the safety watchdog will stop approving new projects involving the production or distribution of highly toxic chemicals.
Businesses and individuals who buy existing toxic chemicals during this period will need to register their names, ID reference, names and quantity of the chemicals, as well as purposes of the purchase.
Meanwhile, hazardous chemical workshops, warehouses, distributors and mines have to report to the local safety watchdog on a weekly basis in July and daily in August.
The city will also ban the use of liquid chlorine as a disinfection agent because the chemical stings eyes and can be toxic.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/09/content_8329459.htm
Categories: Beijing Olympic
Press Trust of India / New Delhi June 05, 2008, 12:57 IST
The reconstituted Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) has approved proposals for construction of a weight-lifting venue at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and a cycling velodrome at the Indira Gandhi Stadium for Commonwealth Games 2010.
But it rejected a proposal for construction of a hostel and media accommodation at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Members said the designs were poor in quality and incomplete. The DUAC, however, has asked for fresh proposals within two weeks.
Proposals for weight-lifting venue and cycling track were approved in principle at the reconstituted DUAC’s first meeting here on Wednesday.
The Urban Development Ministry recently appointed a new panel with K T Ravindran as the new chairman with Mohammad Shaheer, Nayanjot Lahiri and Ratish Nanda as members.
The newly-constituted commission has a tough task ahead as clearance for many projects related to the games are pending. Proposals for construction of hotels at Shahdara, Anand Vihar, Mandawali, Hari Nagar, Jasola, Rohini and Wazirabad are awaiting mandatory clearance from the DUAC.
The commission approves projects keeping in view the aesthetic and environmental designs. The previous commission headed by renowned architect Charles Correa was mired in a controversy as the Delhi government alleged that the panel was putting a spanner in most projects related to Commonwealth Games.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com/
Categories: Commonwealth Games
June 7th, 2008 – 7:18 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) The long-standing demand of Delhi’s basketball fans for an indoor stadium at the Ajmal Khan Park been finally been met, thanks to the Commonwealth Games. An air-conditioned stadium is coming up at the Ajmal Khan Park in West Delhi For years there has been a clamour for a basketball stadium at Ajmal Khan Park, the venue of the popular Pandit Prithvi Nath Sharma memorial all-India basketball tournament, but successive local-self-government agencies stonewalled it for different reasons.
Basketball Federation of India (BIFA) secretary-general Harish Sharma told IANS the new stadium would be world-class with a 3,000-seat capacity. It will also have ten rooms for players’ stay and an ultra-modern multi-gym.
The BFI is also planning to house the National Basketball Academy at the stadium.
The foundation-laying ceremony was to be held this month, but it has been deferred to the first week of July to coincide with the visit of the National Basketball Association (NBA)stars for the Basketball Without Borders Asia event at the American School in Delhi from July 3-6 and also that of International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Secretary-General and IOC member Patrick Baumann.
“The blue print for the stadium is ready and the work order has been given. The construction will begin by the July first week,” Sharma said.
The NDMC indoor stadium at the Talkatora Garden was the venue for the basketball competition in the 1982 Asian Games, but thereafter the stadium was used more for table tennis events or political conventions.
Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/
Categories: Commonwealth Games
