Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Medal Events Programme Released

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has officially released the Para-Sports Medal Events Programme for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games following consultation with the International Paralympic Committee. The Commonwealth Games will take place from 3-14 October 2010 in Delhi, India, and will showcase world-class sporting opportunities for elite athletes with a disability.

The 15 Para-Sports medal events to be included on the Delhi 2010 programme are as follows:

Athletics Events

• Men’s Shot Put - F32/34/52
• Men’s 100m - T46
• Men’s 1500m - T54
• Women’s Shot Put - F32-34/52/53
• Women’s 100m - T37
• Women’s 1500m - T54

Swimming Events

• Men’s 50m Freestyle - S9
• Men’s 100m Freestyle - S8
• Men’s 100m Freestyle - S10
• Women’s 50m Freestyle - S9
• Women’s 100m Freestyle - S9
• Women’s 100m Butterfly - S9

Power lifting Events

• Men’s Bench Press - Open
• Women’s Bench Press - Open

Table Tennis Events

• Women’s Wheelchair - Open (Classes TT1-5)

Delhi 2010 Organizing Committee Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi said that the inclusion of the Para-Sport Medal Events Programme in the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games will provide the city of Delhi and the country of India an outstanding opportunity to build greater social awareness of Paralympic sports, as well as the elite performances that athletes with a disability are capable of achieving.

"These events will challenge us to develop a more "barrier-free" environment in Delhi, ensuring that all Commonwealth Games athletes fully enjoy their experience, and that the Games will leave a meaningful legacy in this regard," Kalmadi said.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the IPC, said the commitment of the CGF will prove successful in 2010, providing elite sporting opportunities for athletes with a disability from all over the Commonwealth.

“As the world was able to see in China, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games brought the Paralympic Movement to new heights,” Sir Philip said. “And I look forward to seeing a positive impact in India during the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games with the global attention that is certain to accompany the event.”

Mike Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said that the relationship shared with the IPC and the Paralympic Movement is a priority for the CGF.

“The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Para-Sport Medal events programme will undoubtedly continue to be a valued added and distinct component to our Games, providing great opportunities, for elite athletes with a disability, while further promoting the positive impact of the Paralympic Movement and the relationship shared between the CGF and the IPC” Fennell said.

The Co-operative Agreement between the IPC and CGF, which was signed in November 2007, under the banner of "Partners Uniting the Commonwealth Through Sport”, is the foundation for the institutional and Games related relationship the two organizations share.

The Commonwealth Games are held every four years and involve the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. The multi-national and multi-sport event has been previously held in Melbourne in 2006 and Manchester in 2002.

International Paralympic Committee

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the organization that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games. Underlying every decision made by the CGF are three core values: humanity, equality and destiny. These values help to inspire and unite millions of people and symbolize the broad mandate of the CGF within the Commonwealth.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to developing sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

Founded on 22 September 1989, the IPC is an international non-profit organization formed and run by 161 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports federations (IOSDs). The IPC Headquarters and its management team are located in Bonn, Germany.

For further information, visit the official website of IPC at www.paralympic.org

Commonwealth Games to showcase our youth power

The 2010 Commonwealth Games will see a major show of youth power. The gen next will be seen managing flow of traffic, information kiosks and guiding tourists at heritage sites during the mega event.

For the purpose, a 20,000-strong force of volunteers is being roped in from colleges and universities. The Organising committee for the Games has already started a recruitment drive for students, who would be linked to a major ‘Sports Management System’ with data on games, venues and other operations.

The tourism and culture ministry is chalking out a ‘learn and earn’ scheme for the youth. As per the plan, about 3,000 students will be imparted a special training in tourism promotion and monument conservation. The students will be deployed at strategic spots during the 15-day long event in the capital.

“The youth brigade will be deputed at all the tourist and heritage sites. About 5,000 information kiosks will be set up at the sports stadia, games village and parts of central Delhi manned by these guides. The same facility will be provided at airports, railway stations and the Inter State Bus Terminals,” a state tourism official told FE.

The selected youth will be deployed with service teams as per their educational qualifications and interests. To make the organization foolproof, over 1,000 professionals are being roped in as well.

Sports ministry official points out that youth were engaged on a large-scale in the Asiad Games of 1982 but there was no modern technology at that time to co-ordinate their tasks.

The forthcoming Commonwealth Games will see modern technology enhancing the use of India‘s youth power. Nearly 8,000 players from 71 countries will participate in the event to be hosted here in October 2010.

New Hope For Job Hunters-Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games has raised hopes of young professionals who are jobless due to the current economic slowdown. Headhunters are targeting professionals across the board to meet the manpower needs of the games.

Besides good salary, government is offering job contract for two years. Headhunters, appointed by the government have started scouting for 1,000 professionals for 34 functional areas specified by the Games’ secretariat.

Organising committee has appointed three headhunters—ABC Consultants, Ma Foi Management Consultants and a consortium of TeamLease and PeopleStrong—for the job. Headhunters have begun recruiting process for about 1,000 jobs across all levels of senior, middle and junior management roles.

A senior official in the organising committee, who did not wish to be identified, said that the selected vendors have been appointed to suggest names and budgets for professionals that need to be recruited. “We have begun the recruiting process and interviews are being carried on for top posts,” he told ET.

Government has still not made the financial disclosure on salaries that are being offered but appointed headhunters suggest that there is a lot of excitement to work, for the much-feted 2010 Commonwealth Games, across all sectors.

ABC Consultants chief executive officer Shiv Agarwal said that even though the job will be offered for two-year contract, industry professionals consider this a fine opportunity to work for a truly global-level sporting event. “People are ready to leave their jobs, they consider this event as an opportunity which will add value to their profiles,” he told ET.

The Games organising committee has constituted a structure of 34 functional areas, including finance, logistics, construction, legal, technology and administration. In addition, there will be teams devoted to managing television and radio broadcasting, communications and press relations to project a positive image of the game in Indian and international media.

Besides looking for skilled professionals for conventional areas like catering, security, hospitality, the government is also identifying a team of experts who will work on showcasing opening and closing ceremonies that are “unparalleled and unmatched” and a group of professionals on medical care, who will strictly implement doping control measures.

Further, government will build a team, which will identify product range to be covered under merchandising and licensing programme in order to maximize the visibility of the ‘Commonwealth Games brand’ through the sale of products bearing marks owned by organising committee. The functional area officers will be responsible for delivering time-bound milestones to put up the global sporting event.

For all functional areas, the committee has drawn a structure for multiple positions in each area. In all, government is seeking talent for five level hierarchies: additional director general (ADG), deputy director general (DDG), director, project officer (PO) and assistant project officer (APO).

The scope of work requires 12 ADGs, typically with 12 to 15 years of experience, who will be responsible to lead the functional area and provide strategic direction. About 30 DDGs and directors with 5 to 12 years of industry experience in the concerned field will head and handle departments’ end-to-end functions.

Largest number of freshers and young professionals with less than four years of experience will be hired for the post of POs and APOs to handle various activities in the functional area. Up to 1,000 people will be hired in these two levels apart from volunteers who will work on the ground with them.

For more Government Jobs visit: Government Jobs in India

2010 CWG preparation is on schedule

Sport and Youth Affairs Minister MS Gill on Monday reiterated that preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is on schedule and will be complete by December next year.

"The preparation for the 2010 commonwealth games is going on in full swing and is very much on schedule. We are having meetings every month," he said.

"Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and everyone related, attend the meetings every month. I also pay regular visit to the stadium and I hope it would be complete by December 2009," Gill said on the sidelines of the Asia Golf Industry Show, which started in the capital today.

"There are, at times, some bottlenecks but I see that it is taken care of. I speak to the engineers if they have any issues and clear the hurdles for them," he added.

Asked if providing cash rewards would help the golfers to take the game, Gill said, "Golf is such a sport which has a lot of money. If you play well, money will just flow.

"My priority is not golf or cricket. As a policy, my focus is more on those sports which does not involve much expense - like football, volleyball, athletics etc.," he said.

Hiring Started for 2010 Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games has raised hopes of the young professionals, who are rendered jobless due to the current economic slowdown.

Headhunters are targeting professionals across the board to meet the manpower needs of the Games.

Besides a good salary, the government is also offering job contract for two years. Headhunters, appointed by the government have started scouting for 1,000 professionals for 34 functional areas specified by the Games secretariat.

The organizing committee has appointed three headhunters ABC Consultants, MaFoi Management Consultants and a consortium of TeamLease and PeopleStrong for these jobs.

Headhunters have begun the recruiting process for about 1,000 jobs across all levels of senior, middle and junior management roles. A senior official in the organising committee, who did not wish to be identified, said that selected vendors have been appointed to suggest names and budgets for professionals that need to be recruited. “We have begun recruiting and interviews are being conducted for top posts,” he told.

The government has still not made the financial disclosure on salaries that are being offered, but the selected headhunters suggest that there is a lot of excitement to work, for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, across all sectors.

Shiv Agarwal, chief executive officer of ABC Consultants said that even though the job will be offered for two-year contract, industry professionals consider this as a fine opportunity to work for a truly global level sporting event.

The Battle of Power Begins in Delhi

Congress will get you Delhi of Dreams: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

Claiming to completely change the face of Delhi and make it acceptable as a “world destination”, the Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit kick-started her election campaign on Monday, just a few days before the polling date.

The Congress in the capital has decided to make preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games their main agenda to fight the BJP in the capital for the upcoming assembly elections.

“None of us can even imagine how much Delhi will change when the 2010 Commonwealth Games would start in Delhi in a few years. The event is of national importance and pride,” said Sheila Dikshit while releasing the election manifesto on Monday afternoon.

Dikshit further said Delhi would be a completely different city in 2010 and the people should bring her government back in power to bring about the change. “We don’t say much because we believe in doing more work and let our work speak for itself,” said the present chief minister.

“The commonwealth games would bring a revolution in Delhi and we as the citizens and the government should be prepared for it. It is going to be the turning point in Delhi when the whole world would look up to us,” said Dikshit, adding that the capital has to be made into a world destination before the start of the games and the government needs time to complete the job.

The preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games have already been delayed and 13 out of the 27 projects, being handled by the city government, have been delayed for a long time now.

The international commonwealth games authority had recently pointed out that legal hurdles could delay the preparations for the games in Delhi.

The government has been sending its officials to Australia, England and China to understand their preparations and train themselves for the games and try and bring some changes in the preparations in Delhi.

SMSes to Guide People on Traffic Congestion

A slew of measures are also being taken to ensure smooth traffic before, during and after the 2010 Commonwealth Games

To ensure smooth traffic on roads, the Delhi Police has decided to launch a campaign guiding people about traffic congestion and educate them about road laws.

The campaigning will be launched through SMSes, television and radio, asking people to avoid certain routes where congestion is reported.

Traffic rules and regulations will be publicized through banners, hoardings, advertisements in newspapers and televisions, among other means.

“The exercise is an attempt to provide a hassle free journey to the people on city roads,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) S N Shrivastava said.

A slew of measures are also being taken to ensure smooth traffic before, during and after the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

“There will be a huge traffic during the Games. Lots of people will be coming here. A sudden increase in the number of vehicles can lead to serious problems. Considering which we are planning a road-map as to how we can minimize the usage of private vehicles,” he said.

Police is also encouraging people to use public transport than commuting through their own vehicle. This will also be conveyed by SMSes.

“Sending SMSes come easy as most of the people have mobile phones these days. They can read it as per their convenience. People should avoid the use of private vehicles and use Metro or chartered buses instead,” Shrivastava said.

Delhi Police has also installed state-of-the-art modern control room to regulate traffic and nab violators. “We already have intelligent traffic software system in place, which helps us maintain traffic,” he said.

It has also added extra lines to the traffic helpline. “People can actually report traffic jam by calling at our helpline and request for help. They can ask for traffic congestion related queries and report any incident. Soon we plan to extend it through SMSes also,” Shrivastava said.

Though, the traffic helpline is operational for long, the department has yet not received much response on it. “The SMS campaign is to aware people about our initiatives. We expect a better response out of our efforts,” he added.

Accommodation Facilities for Atheletes for Sale After Games

Athlete accommodation to become property investment units

The new apartments build for the purpose of housing the athletes for 2010 Commonwealth Games will become investment opportunities. Over 1,000 new Indian apartments will be ready for the possession of buyers after the Games.

The Games Village is being built by Emaar MGF in Delhi and features 1,168 two to five bedroom units in 34 towers.

They are already being marketed to buyers and will be handed over at the end of the games, with officials already reporting a good response from investors.

Emaar MGF is hoping the towers will become a “landmark address” and will appeal to professionals thanks to their proximity to Delhi’s central business district.

But questions have already been raised about India’s readiness for the event, with BBC News reporting stadium projects have hit delays.

Emaar MGF said: “Apart from catapulting Delhi into the top league as a world class city, the Games Village 2010 will help address the housing demand within the region. “With construction in full swing, the Games Village complex is making rapid progress towards the scheduled deadline of April 2010.”

BBC News also reported Austin Sealey, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said the country had enough manpower to up the speed of building at key venues.

Shravan Gupta, managing director of Emaar MGF, said the “showcase” Village development would involve the highest design standards.

A low-rise development, the project will be a gated community with a club, swimming pool, library and open landscaping.