Rajasthan upgrading facilities in the purview of Commonwealth Games

Rajasthan has started upgrading its various facilities in the purview of Commonwealth Games. The state has started upgrading its Udaipur airport, while the Jaipur airport will start functioning as an international airport from the end of this year or early next year. Another airport has been planned for Kota.The state has 15 airstrips and plan to lease them to private players so that small aircraft could use them to ferry travelers.
Tourist inflow to the state has been rising. Rajasthan is hoping to get double the number of tourists in 2010. While about 1.60 crores domestic tourists visited the state in 2004, the figure for foreigners was around 9.71lakhs. In 2007, these had gone up to 2.6 crores Indian visitors and 14 lakhs foreign visitors.

A Warm Welcome from Rajasthan for Commonwealth Games Tourists

With its rich history, culture and desert landscape, Rajasthan sees a golden opportunity in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games to up its tourist inflow and is sprucing up its roads, hotels and monuments to lure foreigners who come visiting the Indian capital.
Rajasthan has some of the best hotels globally. As Rajasthan is the closest neighbor of Delhi's and expects many tourists. As places like Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer , boast of ancient monuments, art, royal heritage and handicrafts and are a must-see for tourists in India are being given a facelift.
Considering Commonwealth games and for attracting tourists festivals and fairs are being planned, uncharted areas being explored to design them as new destinations and old ones beautified.
Summer and monsoon festivals, cruises on the Chambal river and planned fairs during Dussehra that will continue till Diwali,
To bring alive the ancient monuments, the government is conserving and restoring them and planning sound-and-light shows. Crafts bazaars, camel and horse rides and cuisine shows are all being organised.

Etiquette and English training for service personnels ahead of Commonwealth Games

Cab drivers, waiters and security staff are among those being trained in the English language and international etiquette as Delhi gets ready to host a rush of foreign visitors during the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
There are around 20,000 cab drivers in the city, out of whom around 1,500 drive radio cabs. Most of them have not studied beyond Class 10. So an English language and etiquette training is very necessary for them, so that they can easily interact with the tourist and serve them better.
A capacity building programme (CBP) has been implemented by the Ministry of Tourism with the help of Delhi government for those people who have to frequently interact with tourists.
For the past two years, the city cab drivers have been undergoing training to learn to speak English. Under the CBP over 2,000 cab drivers in the city have been trained in basic spoken English so far besides waiters, security staff and gatemen been told about hygiene and politeness.
From April onwards, an estimated 1,000 people every month has been undergoing basic training under CBP in the city. By March 2009, probably all the people associated with hotels, tour operators, and travel agents will be covered under this program.
All the registered tour and travel operators and every major hotel in the city is advised to make their drivers and service staffs available for training, Tour and travel operators are also happy over the government's move, but recommend a proactive approach ahead of the Games starting October 2010.
Many cab operators are, however, making their own arrangements to help the drivers learn spoken English. They feel they should not be dependent on government efforts alone.
While the initiative is mainly focused on Delhi,those cities will also be covered which are most probable touring spots for the visitors and tourists who come to attend the Games. These cities and regions are Agra and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar and Puri in Orissa.

Hitting Hard on time for Commonwealth Games projects

Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is working on the most important project, the state-of-the-art Games Village that is being built on the east bank of the river Yamuna, supposed to be handed over to the games organizing committee in June 2010.

All the venues of the Games will be handed over to the organizing committee well before time by June 2010 so that they can carry out their trials.

The largest games project in the history of India ,the Games Village is being developed on the bank of the river Yamuna with an estimated input cost of $300 million ,land area being developed is spread over 63.5 hectares.

Major renovation work is going on in full swing at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Indira Gandhi indoor stadium and Major Dhyan Chand national stadium and all projects are expected to be completed by early 2009.

Since various agencies are engaged in preparing the city for the 2010 event, the government has set up different committees at various levels to assess the progress of all projects. the government is working towards completing all its projects, including the Games village and the various venues, by June 2010 - three months before the actual date.

The renovation and upgradation of the Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Dhyan Chand stadiums are on full swing where the events scheduled to be held include athletics, lawn bowls and weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics, cycling, archery and hockey.

Multipurpose Thyagaraj Sports Complex (TSC) and the Talkatora stadium has got Rs.3.50 billion for upgrading the existing facilities and creating the new ones. A new air-conditioned stadium is also being developed at Yamuna sports complex, which will accommodate 5,000 people.

Demand of 50,000 hotel rooms for Commonwealth Games

According to the assessment of the tourism ministry of government of India ,around 40,000 - 50000 hotel rooms are needed during the Commonwealth Games in 2010,which is nearly impossible task as there is already a shortage of hotel rooms in the country.

As the construction of hotels is primarily a private sector and investment intensive activity and the government cannot invest huge amounts for the purpose .So the ministry is planning to encourage the private sector by the way of different rebates and tax concessions

The governments of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh has been advised to follow investor friendly land policies and single window clearances for hotel projects

Ministry of Tourism would offers subsidy for budget hotels of one, two and three star categories in the country.

The ministry keeps in regular touch with state governments, various land owning agencies like the Indian Railways and the civil aviation ministry for creating land banks for hotels.

The tourism ministry has requested that they allot land on a joint venture and revenue sharing basis.

Preparations and Plans for Power Acquirements and Arrangements

National Thermal Power Corporation, Damodar Valley Corporation, Dadri power plant of NTPC, Jhajhar, Haryana plant and the Pragati power plant will start supplying around 4,240 MW of power to the city in the next couple of years.

The government is initiating certain corrective measures to maintain streamline power supply.

The government has plans to get 1,800 MW from local sources in addition to the existing installed power generation capacity of 932 MW.

The transmission and distribution loss is also a most important factor that has to be effectively addressed ,as it is the main cause of power loss. It was whopping high of around 49 percent in 2007-2008 whereas the National figure was of 30-31 percent. So this factor must be taken into account seriously otherwise all other measures will become less effective.

The government is also planning to add couple of projects for capacity addition in the coming 11th Five Year Plan period (2007-12) . At the moment, the city stands to get 750 MW from the upcoming power plant at Jhajhar in Haryana,which is expected to become operational in couple of years..

Power Arrangements for Delhi Commonwealth Games

Capacity building on the electricity front is a priority concern for Delhi government. The government intends to spend over Rs.45 billion on energy during 2007-2012, while over Rs.6.15 billion would be spent in the new financial year.
Present demand for power is around 4,000 MW which will be go around an estimated amount of 5,200 MW in the next two years .
The process of capacity building is under way at full throttle and we hope that the city will have surplus power supply in two years.
Before the beginning of the Commonwealth Games in 2010 energy hungry Delhi will see the availability of power enhanced to 7,000 MW.
The city's peak hour demand is unlikely to cross the 6,000 MW mark in the near future. So around 7,000 MW power capacity puts us in a very comfortable zone.

Commonwealth Games Medals

To win medals for own country is a highly satisfying job for any athlete and the governments of these countries ,pour tons of money for their training and preparations with a hope that they will bring pride to their country .The one and only aim of every participant in these highly competitive games is to stood first and earn a reputable medal , to bring smiles and pride to the countrymen back home . Here are the pics of medals used in the previous games , which provide a glimpse of the grandeur of these games.

Around 36 new hospitals in Delhi before 2010

The Delhi government has decided to construct 36 hospitals in New Delhi,in the run-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Some of the hospitals will offer cancer treatment facilities.
Some of these hi-tech hospitals will be built in the Trans-yamuna area of Delhi
Initially a fund of Rs.150 million has been planned for the construction of the hospitals, but more funds will be made available as and when needed.

Infrastructure Development : Investment of Rs.100 billion in suburb Ghaziabad

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has big plans to invest Rs.100 billion for building city's infrastructure before the Commonwealth Games in 2010 going to be held in New Delhi.
The Vice Chairman of GDA, Mr. S.K. Dwivedi, said out of Rs.100 billion, Rs.44 billion is to improve the surface transport infrastructure including Metro rail service and better roads in Sahibabad, Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara and Vijay Nagar area.
For Metro rail service, a demand project report (DPR) is being prepared to connect the new bus terminus of Ghaziabad to Shahdara Metro station.
He said the authority would invest Rs.66 billion to strengthen basic infrastructure including city lanes, sewerage system, water supply, power supply and construction of drainage system.
Multi-level parking facilities would be constructed in the commercial hubs of the city that include the areas in Indirapuram, Vaishali and Raj Nagar.