Ankush Claims First Gold For India In Shooting :: CommonWealth Youth Games

Pune Oct 13 : Hosts India opened their medals tally with Ankush Bharadwaj capturing the first gold of the Games by winning the 50 meters Pistol event for men aggregating a tally of 509 points, on the second day today of the third edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in progress at the Shiv Chhatarapati Sports City, Balewadi here.

It was indeed an irony that only two competitors figured in the event with Middleton Murray of Falkland Island despite scoring 26 points being declared as ‘did not finish’.

Later talking to mediapersons, 18-year-old Haryana lad Ankush said he was far from satisfied with his performance today. “I should have done much better despite having no pressure at all.” Ankush mustered a tally of 536 points in the Guwahati national shooting championship. The lad, however did not hide his unsatisfactory performace but said it gives him the pleasure of winning the first gold for India to open the medal tally.

Ankush trains under coach Subash Chandra who said,”he could have brought a much better tally as he faced no competition.” On the other hand, 15 year old Murray Middleton said he was never in contention for any medal but has come to India to gain much needed competition experience.

“I treat the Pune visit merely for experience having set my sights for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi,” the shy teenager said.

With only two competitors in the fray, only one medal was at stake as per the rules.

Aquilah Sudhir gave Singapore its first gold, finishing top in the women’s 10 meters Air Rifle event posting a tally of 102.0 points.

In a keen competition, the silver was bagged by Monica Fyfe of Canada recording 102.1 points to her credit and Nur Ayuni of Malaysia had to rest content with the bronze with a tally of 100.2.

“Since it is my first international, I am happy with my performance,” said Aquilah.

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Michael Fennel presented the medals to the winners at the ultra-modern shooting range.

Following are the results : Finals Men: 50M Pistol: Ankush Bharadwaj (India) 509 pts (Gold) Muray Middleton (Falklands Islands) 236 (DNF) Women: Aquilah Sudhir (Singaore) 103 pts (Gold) Monoca Fyfe (Canada) 102.1 pts (Silver) Nur Ayuni (Malaysia) 100.2 pts (Bronze) UNI IS/GS AB DS1507

Source: http://living.oneindia.in/

Are Commonwealth Youth Games green games!

None of the green projects for the Commonwealth Youth Games have actually seen the light of day. Instead of planting more trees, 7000 of the existing trees were cut to make way for road widening projects for the games..

TOUTED AS the ’green games’, the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) have now started. While there has been a lot of talk about the ’greenery’ of these games by the organising committee, all the projects related to the ’green’ aspect have just remained on paper. It has just been used to give the games hype with hardly any groundwork to make these games environment friendly.

Early this year, the CYG organising committee, which is also the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in 2010, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), projecting the Pune games as environment-friendly games. In the undertaking given to UNEP, the organising committee said that the games would focus on waste and water management, forestation, anti-litter campaign and sustainable transport, with the ride-and-return-cycle project.

“Rainwater harvesting, waste water treatment and recycling plant, insulated roofs, heat reflecting surfaces, low floor sanitary fittings, solar water heaters and cross ventilation are some features of the under construction buildings in Balewadi,” the presentation said. However, none of these projects have actually seen the light of day. According to details from PMC’s garden department, instead of planting more trees, 7000 of the existing trees were cut to make way for road widening projects for CYG.

While no provisions are in place for rainwater harvesting at the Balewadi facilities, there are hardly any arrangements to even drain out the wastewater from the rains. The tennis stadium is open air, and rainwater flowing down the roof over the spectator area falls into the playing area and remains accumulated there in absence of a requisite slope. The world-class standard open-air 50-mtr shooting range is also plagued by a similar fault. The range is entirely done up in wood, but without any arrangements to protect it from rains. We found that the rainwater has literally drenched the wood.

The other projects like solar water heaters, cross ventilation, waste management, anti-litter campaign, sustainable transport, no plastic at Balewadi, extensive tree plantation etc, have failed to take off. In fact, amid protests from residents at Uruli Devachi village, which houses the city’s dumping ground, the garbage bins around the city have started overflowing.

The much publicised ’Ride and Return Cycle Project’, which was touted as being the legacy for the city, as a sustainable transport system, has also fallen apart. The project involved a 200-kilometre cycle track on the main roads, with cycle stations at intervals of 20 kilometres, where people can rent a cycle at a nominal cost and deposit it at any other station.

Ranjit Gadgil, a Lead India finalist, who was to head the ride-and-return-cycle project, confirmed that the project had fallen apart. “The organising committee had called me to implement the pilot of the project as a part of the games. The pilot needed an investment of Rs 50 lakh and later the organising committee told me that they were waiting for the money to come from the municipal corporation, which never came and I came out of the project. The project was being implemented haphazardly, with no planning. They had not even prepared a DPR of the project and now the project has fallen apart.”

Source: http://www.merinews.com

2010 Commonwealth championship in India

NEW DELHI: The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has assigned India to host the inaugural Commonwealth basketball championship in 2010.

At a function organised here on Saturday night, FIBA President Bob Elphinston announced that India had agreed to host the event for men in late July, months before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

“Basketball was a part of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But it is not there in the 2010 Games. So this is the next best possible thing from which young boys and girls in India can know about the game. It is going to be a wonderful opportunity for Indian basketball to grow further,” Elphinston told reporters.

Eight top teams will participate in the event and Australia, New Zealand, England, Nigeria and host India have confirmed participation.

Elphinston said the Indian Government and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will decide on the venue and dates of the event.

After conducting the men’s event, the FIBA will organise the Commonwealth championship for women in 2012 in some other country.

BFI Secretary General Harish Sharma said they would leave no stone unturned to make the event a success.

“This is a proud moment for us. I thank FIBA for this. They thought we were capable of hosting it. As the Indian government has put basketball in special category, we will have no problem in providing the best facilities,” he said. — Sports Reporter

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Advertisers gear up for the Games

Advertisers gear up for the Games

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated Rs 300 crore for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated Rs 300 crore for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years

New Delhi: As preparations for Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in the Capital gain momentum, the advertising world is also gearing to roll out a multimedia advertising campaign.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated a sum of Rs 300 crore — the biggest account ever awarded by the government — for advertising and promotion of the event over 3 years.

JWT, Mercantile Advertising and Quantum Communications have been assigned the creative and media duties for the event.

Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT, said: “We are looking to create a buzz around the games not only at the national level, but also at a global level. The theme ‘Come out and play’ is a multidimensional thought aimed at mass mobilisation and creating a movement around the games.”

The tagline ‘Come Out and Play’ was revealed along with logo for the ceremony in January this year, which marked the ‘1000 Days To Go’ timeline for the games.

“We are working on a campaign that will inspire India to come out from her homes on the sports turf or even on the streets and invite the world to come and be a part of this sporting movement,” Ohri added.

The agencies are working out creatives aimed at attracting youth and moving beyond cricket. The first 18 months will be devoted to on ground activation and various contact programs. A school contact program has been designed to get children involved in the process and help them understand the dynamics of the sporting event.

The 3rd Youth Games to be held in Pune from October 12-18 will act as a trial event for the Commonwealth Games. “The Youth Games will mark the kick off for the progressive campaign. The campaign will go on air in the second half of 2009 and will communicate not only to India, but other countries as well,” Ohri said.

The games will be staged in India for the first time and will be India’s first big international sports event since the 1982 Asian Games.With India expecting over 10,000 sportsmen during the Commonwealth Games 2010, the agencies are also trying to promote India as a destination for watching sports.

“The aim is also to promote India as destination for sports tourism,” Ohri explained. During the last edition of Commonwealth Games in 2006, India had won 22 gold medals — sixteen of them coming from shooting — to finish fourth.

Source: http://news.in.msn.com/

India woos travellers to the Commonwealth Games

India Tourism and Tiwari Tours & Travels Sydney were in Martin Place on June 18 to woo travellers to India and its rural areas leading up to the games. Dancers in colourful Indian attire will help to inspire travellers to India at lunch time in Martin Place.

India Growth Trend continues. The Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Ms.Kanti Singh said that the growth of tourists seen in the latest figures indicated five million tourists in 2007 who spent $11.62 billion in India is expected to continue in 2008.

According to the Minister, India has a healthy growth of inbound as well as outbound travel. She said that in 2006, 8.34 million Indian tourists travelled overseas. India is now working towards world-class airport infrastructure to cater to 10 million international and 60 million domestic tourists by 2010.

India is expecting 10,000 sportsmen and women during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.

The Minister said, “India has a large variety of tourist attractions. We are trying to develop new tourism products such adventure tourism, medical tourism, rural tourism, cruise tourism, conference and convention, wedding and honeymoon, monsoon, agriculture, spas, golf, eco-tourism, luxury trains, shopping and fairs and festivals,” the minister said.

E.K. Bharat Bhushan, joint secretary in the tourism ministry, said the government was trying to project India as “a 365-day tourism destination”.

He said that according to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) projections covering 174 countries, that in the next decade, India will be the fastest growing tourism destination with an annual growth rate of 88 percent.

He added that the target was to reach a figure of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2010.

Apart from medical tourism, the tourism ministry is also promoting rural tourism in a major way. “In our rural tourism initiative, 125 rural sites have been identified to showcase rural life, art, culture and heritage, nature and landscape in and around the villages,” the joint secretary said.

As for outbound tourism, he said the sector was growing at an annual rate of around 25 percent with the country’s growing middle class spending more and more on foreign travel.

“Outbound tourism from India is increasing steadily with 8.34 million Indian tourists travelling overseas in the year 2007. The figure is likely to reach 50 million by 2020,” he said.

Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/s

DUAC approves venues for Commonwealth Games

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/

An indoor basketball stadium for Delhi

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/

Delhi signs pact for Commonwealth Games

June 3rd, 2008 – 11:46 pm ICT by IANS

New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) Commonwealth Games 2010 hosts Delhi Tuesday entered into an agreement for strategic alliance with the past hosts of the event – Melbourne. Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So and Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit signed the Delhi-Melbourne Strategic City Alliance Programme, which will focus on sharing experiences in the preparations and management of the event.

“The two cities will also promote development of sports, exchange of sporting knowledge, business relating to sports and tourism and cultural activities,” a Delhi government official here said.

Speaking on this occasion, the chief minister described the agreement as the beginning of a friendship between two prominent cities.

“Melbourne is a beautifully managed city, which hosted the last edition of the Commonwealth Games meticulously in 2006.”

The agreement provides for the establishment of a joint working group. The group, having equal representation from both the cities, will develop an action plan for promotion of sports, economic activities, sports medicine, and tourism between the two cities.

Exchange of information and expertise for hosting the Commonwealth Games will be the prime focus for the first three years of the Delhi-Melbourne Strategic City Alliance Programme.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/