Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 119.42.157.151 (talk) at 08:32, 5 July 2010 (→Non-competition venues). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India generally, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. It will also be the first time the Commonwealth Games will be held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

Bidding

The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from Delhi, India and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A ballot of members was held in November 2003 at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Delhi bid won by a margin of 46 votes to 22, confirming India's first successful bid for the Games, while marking Canada's to host its fifth games.

India shifted the balance in its favour with its rapid economic growth and Infrastructure development. The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having showed India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. The Indian government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the Games.

India's bid motto was New Frontiers and New Friendships.

Organisation

Organising committee

The organisation was beset by delays: in January 2005, the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two thirds of venues were behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event. Singh called for a revamp of the games' organising committees: 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 committee. In spite of delays, commentators stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.

Costs

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 (approx. US$ 1.1 billion).

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 and reducing travelling time between the Village and the Stadium by six minutes.

In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines has been started. 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. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans are underway to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free.

To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and are being constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of these corridors are expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi Metro will be 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. For this exponential increase of the network, Delhi Metro will deploy 14 tunnel boring machines, an unprecedented number in an Asian country.

Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly US$ 2.75 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 (Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.

Venues

Competition venues

Existing and new stadiums in Delhi will be used to house the sports during the Games:

• Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi – Athletics, lawn bowls, weightlifting
• Dhyan Chand National Stadium – Hockey
• Indira Gandhi Arena – Archery, cycling, gymnastics, wrestling
• Delhi University sports complex – Rugby sevens
• Thyagaraj Stadium – Netball
• Siri Fort Sports Complex – Badminton, Squash
• Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range – Shooting
• Talkatora Stadium – Boxing
• SPM Swimming Pool Complex – Aquatics
• RK Khanna Tennis Complex – Tennis
• Yamuna Sports Complex – Table tennis

The opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, lawn bowls, and weightlifting will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi, which will have a capacity of 75,000 spectators after renovation for the games.

Archery, cycling, gymnastics, and wrestling will take place at the Indira Gandhi Arena, the largest indoor sports arena in India and the second-largest in Asia, which seats 25,000 people. Located at the Indraprastha Estate in the eastern region of New Delhi, the arena will be connected to other venues via dedicated bus lanes and mass transportation. The arena will be renovated for the Games.

There are 26 new stadiums which will be utilised for the Commonwealth Games. Some older ones will be upgraded and some new will be constructed.

Nan-competition venues

• OC CWG Delhi 2010 Headquarters
• Main Media Centre

Green Games

The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is intended to be a key example of environmentally-considered construction.

In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents. City residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the Siri Forest area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological grounds. In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone".

The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms. After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).

Marketing

The games mascot is an anthropomorphic tiger called Shera; a name derived from the Hindi word Sher – meaning tiger. The logo and the look for the games were designed by Idiom Design and Consulting.

Medical Tourism

Commonwealth Games is expected to bring a boom to the medical tourism industry. With already millions of patients traveling thousand miles to receive affordable medical care and treatment, the games are going to drive millions of fans in the National Capital. Medical areas, especially dental and cosmetic treatments, which are mostly day care procedures and are quite expensive in countries outside India, can expect a significant increase. With such an anticipation both the healthcare providers, including BLK Hospital, Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Batra Hospital & Fortis Healthcare, as well as the leading medical tourism facilitators, such as AADI MediTour, Sahara Medical Tourism, MedicoGlobal, etc., are making extra efforts to gain from this opportunity.

Other preparation

In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government is implementing a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key workers – such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two years prior to the Games 2,000 drivers were taught English. The program aims to teach 1,000 people English per month in the hope of reaching all key workers by March 2010. In addition to Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist destinations in other parts of India.

To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the Games and to end chronic power cuts in Delhi, the government is undertaking a large power-production initiative to increase power production to 7,000 MW (from the current 4,500 MW). To achieve this goal, the government plans to streamline the power distribution process, direct additional energy to Delhi, and construct new power plants. In fact, the government has promised that by the end of 2010, Delhi will have a surplus of power.

In addition to physical preparation, India will offer free accommodation for all athletes at the Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed Taj Mahal and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways. 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 Delhi High Court is set to implement a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.

Queen's Baton relay

The Queen's Baton relay began when the baton, which contains Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton will arrive at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 70 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games.Baton Reached India date 25th June 2010 through Wagah Border from pakistan.

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf – representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres high, 34 millimetres wide at the base, and 86 millimetres wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams.

The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including:

• The ability to capture images and sound
• Global positioning system (GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked
• Embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) which will change into the colours of a country’s flag whilst in that country
• A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and encouragement to the Baton bearers throughout relay

Calendar

The official calendar for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is as follows:

Sports

There are 17 disciplines planned for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Kabaddi will also be a demonstration sport at the 2010 Games.

The triathlon appears likely to be excluded from these games as there is no suitable location for the swimming stage. The organisers have also proposed removing basketball, but want to include archery, tennis, and billiards and snooker for men. Cricket, although in strong demand, may not make a come-back as the Board of Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organisers did not want a one day tournament.

Participating nations

There are currently 72 nations planning to field teams at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As Fiji is suspended from the Commonwealth, it has been banned from participating in the Games. Rwanda may field a team for the games since becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.

Criticism and controversies

Delays

In September 2009, Commonwealth Games federation chief Mike Fennell reported that the games were at risk of falling behind schedule and that it was "reasonable to conclude that the current situation poses a serious risk to the Commonwealth Games in 2010". A report by the Indian Government released several months prior found that construction work on 13 out of the 19 sports venues was behind schedule. The Chief of the Indian Olympic Association Randhir Singh has also called expressed his concerns regarding the current state of affairs. Singh has called for the revamp of the games' organizing committees commenting that India now has to "retrieve the games". Other Indian officials have also expressed dismay at the ongoing delays but they have stated that they are confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.

Labour violations

Campaigners in India have accused the organisers of enormous and systematic violations of labour laws at construction sites. Human Rights Law Network reports that independent investigations have discovered more than 70 cases where workers have died in accidents at construction sites since work began. Although official numbers have not been released, it is estimated that over 415,000 contract daily wage workers are working on Games projects. Unskilled workers are paid 85 to 100 Indian rupees (INR) per day while skilled workers are paid 120 to 130 INR per day for eight hours of work. Workers also state that they are paid 134 to 150 INR for 12 hours of work (eight hours plus four hours of overtime). Both these wages contravene the stipulated Delhi state minimum wage of INR 152 (approx. US$3) for eight hours of work.

These represent violations of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services) Act 1979, and the constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights per the 1982 Supreme Court of India judgement on Asiad workers.

There have been documented instances of the presence of young children at hazardous construction sites, due to a lack of child care facilities for women workers living and working in the labour camp style work sites. Furthermore, workers on the site of the main Commonwealth stadium have reportedly been issued with hard hats, yet most work in open-toed sandals and live in cramped tin tenements in which illnesses are rife. The High Court of Delhi is presently hearing a public interest petition relating to employers not paying employees for overtime and it has appointed a four-member committee to submit a report on the alleged violations of workers rights.

During the construction of the Games Village, there was controversy over financial mismanagement, profiteering by the Delhi Development Authority and private Real Estate Companies, and inhumane working conditions.

Terror threats

Following the attacks on Mumbai in 2008 some athletes and their representative bodies expressed security fears during the games. In April 2010, during the Indian Premier League, two low intensity bombs went off outside the stadium in Bangalore. Although there were no casualties, this postponed the start of the game by an hour. Following this attack, foreign cricketers like Kevin Pietersen expressed fears for their safety and questions were raised regarding the safety of atheles during the Commonwealth Games. The UK and Canada also warned about potential attacks on commercial targets in Delhi ahead of the games.

See also

• 2020 Summer Olympics

References

1. New Delhi to host 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Age (2003-11-14). Retrieved on 2010-04-02.
2. 2010 Commonwealth Games. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved on 2010-04-02.
3. The Report of the Commonwealth Games Evaluation Commission for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved on 2010-04-02.
4. India wins bid to host 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The Press Trust of India Ltd (2003-11-14). Retrieved on 2010-04-23.
5. Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi: Pakistan played important role. ] (2010-04-13). Retrieved on 2010-04-23.
6. ^ "India admits 2010 Games problems". BBC. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
7. ^ "Olympic official calls for revamp of Delhi Games committee". Reuters.
8. http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org/newscontent.aspx?newsid=N:190
9. ^ Dean Nelson (2009-09-15). "Delhi Commonwealth Games 'at grave risk of collapse'". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
10. ^ Jeremy Page (2009-09-15). "Only a year to run – and Delhi is losing race to host Commonwealth Games". London: Times Online. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
11. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
12. "Delhi Metro deploys 'record' 14 tunnel boring machines". Retrieved 2008-05-14.
13. Indira Gandhi International Airport
14. CWG Venues, 2010 Commonwealth Games, 13 May 2007.
15. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Information
16. "Indira Gandhi Arena". Retrieved 2008-08-27.
17. "New stadiums". Retrieved 2010-01-19.
19. "Students protest against felling of trees eating of footpath space/"..
22. "Supreme Court Clears Siri Fort Complex, Indian Express, 28 April 2009"..
24. "Court allows Indian Games village". BBC News. 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
25. "Shera — the friendly tiger will be the mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Financial Express, 9 March 2006". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
26. Idiom designs logo for Commonwealth Games. Television Point (2008-01-09). Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
27. Roy, Rajeev Ranjan (2008-03-30). "Lessons in English and etiquette ahead of Commonwealth Games". Retrieved 2008-05-13.
28. "Delhi will have surplus powe..." 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
29. Commonwealth Games, India
30. "Mobile courts suggested to make Delhi beggar-free". 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
31. CWG 2010 Queen's baton arrives in India CWG 2010 Queen's baton arrives in India
33. "Competition Schedule". Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
34. "India wants kabaddi at Olympics". 2006-12-23. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
35. "Cricket unlikely at 2010 Games". Cricinfo.
36. "Fiji to appeal Commonwealth Games ban", The Times of India, 1 December 2009
37. Biswas, Soutik (2010-03-22). A Commonwealth shame?. BBC. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
38. "Daily News and Analysis". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
39. "Peoples Union for Democratic Rights Report"". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
40. ^ "Guardian Photo essay Commonwealth Games construction under labour spotlight". The Guardian. London. 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
41. "The Dawn". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
42. "Asia News International". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
46. "Attack alerts in Delhi hit plans to stage Commonwealth Games". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
47. http://www.ndtv.com/news/sports/commonwealth-games-security-lagging-behind-20603.php

External links

• Official homepage of 2010 Commonwealth Games
• 2010 Commonwealth Games at the CGF website
• 2010 Commonwealth Games - What is it about the Commonwealth?

v t e Commonwealth Games
CGF Bids CGAs Participating nations Commonwealth Day Inter-Empire Championships Queen's Baton Relay Medal table Sports Records Mascots Results
Commonwealth Games	1930 Hamilton 1934 London 1938 Sydney 1950 Auckland 1954 Vancouver 1958 Cardiff 1962 Perth 1966 Kingston 1970 Edinburgh 1974 Christchurch 1978 Edmonton 1982 Brisbane 1986 Edinburgh 1990 Auckland 1994 Victoria 1998 Kuala Lumpur 2002 Manchester 2006 Melbourne 2010 Delhi 2014 Glasgow 2018 Gold Coast 2022 Birmingham 2026 Glasgow 2030 TBA
Commonwealth Youth Games	2000 Edinburgh 2004 Bendigo 2008 Pune 2011 Isle of Man 2015 Apia 2017 Nassau 2023 Trinidad and Tobago
Category Commons

Commonwealth Games News

• Commonwealth Games
• 2010 Commonwealth Games
• Sport in Delhi
• Sports festivals in India
• 2010 in sports
• 2010 in multi-sport events
• Future sporting events
• 2010 in Indian sports