The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from

the Commonwealth of Nations. As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include
some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby
sevens and netball. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games
Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities.
The host city is selected from across the Commonwealth, with eighteen cities in seven
countries having hosted it.

There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate
in the Games.

History
A sporting competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was first
proposed by the Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891 when he wrote an article in The
Times suggesting a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest
and Festival every four years as a means of increasing
the goodwill and good understanding of the British
Empire". In 1928, Melville Marks Robinson of Canada
was asked to organise the first ever British Empire
Games. These were held in Hamilton, Canada two years
later. The first Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada.

Flag of the Commonwealth Games

The name changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, to British
Commonwealth Games in 1970 and assumed the current name of the Commonwealth
Games in 1978. At the 1930 games, women competed in the swimming events only. From
1934, women also competed in some athletics events . The Empire Games flag was donated
in 1931 by the British Empire Games Association of Canada. The year and location of

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subsequent games were added until the 1950 games. The name of the event was changed
to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the flag was retired as a result.

The first edition of the event was the 1930 British Empire Games and eleven nations took
part. The game were continued in 1950 and underwent a name change our years later with
the first British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954. Over 1000 athletes participated
in the 1958 Games as over thirty teams took part for the first time.

Participation at the 1986 Games was affected by a boycott by some African and Caribbean
nations in protest to the participation of New Zealand, following the All Blacks Rugby tour of
Apartheid era South Africa in 1985, but the Games rebounded and continued to grow
thereafter. The three nations to have hosted the games the most number of times are
Australia (4), Canada (4) and New Zealand (3). Furthermore, five editions have taken place in
the countries within the United Kingdom. Two cities have held the games on multiple
occasions: Auckland (1950 and 1990), and Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).

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2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Brief Overview

XIX Commonwealth Games

२०१०

Logo of 2010 Commonwealth Games

Host city New Delhi, India

Motto Come out and play

Nations 71 Commonwealth Teams

participating

Athletes 6081

3
 participating

Events 260 events in 17 disciplines

Opening 3 October
ceremony

Closing 14 October
ceremony

Officially opened Prince Charles, Prince of Wales

by and Pratibha Patil, President of
India

Queen's Baton Sushil Kumar

Final Runner

The 2010 Commonwealth Games is the 19th Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be
held under that name. The Games are being held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010,
the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India, which hosted the Asian
Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony took place on 3 October at the Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event. This marks the first time the Commonwealth
Games have been held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after
the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

Initially, several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these
included heavy rains and possibility of floods in Delhi, infrastructural compromise, poor
living conditions at the Commonwealth Games Village, delays in construction of the main
Games' venues, the withdrawal of prominent athletes, and widespread corruption by
officials of the Games' Organising Committee. Despite these concerns, all members of the

4
Commonwealth of Nations participated in the Games. A widely-praised opening ceremony
helped improve the image of the games. After the progress of the first few days of
competition in various disciplines, the focus has returned to sport. However, the ticket sales
for some of the sporting events have been exceptionally low.

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. The
bid was Canada's attempt to hold the games for the fifth time. India's bid motto was New
Frontiers and Friendships.

India shifted the balance in its favor in the second round of voting with a promise that it
would provide US$100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding,
lodging and transport. 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. India also thanked Latif Butt, former vice president of the
Olympic Council of Asia, for his support in the winning bid, by saying, "You played a vital role
in the Commonwealth Games 2010 being allotted to India. Such actions are worthy of
emulation by all concerned in Pakistan and India. I have no doubt that if both sides continue
to live by such ideals, one day, sooner than later our generations to come will reap the
benefits of and be grateful to those making such contributions.

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Organizing Committee

The organization was beset by delays: in January 2010, the Indian Olympic Association vice-
chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming
and organizing 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' organizing 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 and the corruption cases levied on the
organisors, commentators stated that they were confident that India will successfully host
the games and do so on time

At the launch of the Queen’s Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI)
was formed through the partnership of the organizing committee, the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI). The BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business
interests internationally.

Budget

The initial total budget estimated by Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the
Games was Rs 16.2 billion (US$364.5 million) but escalated official total budget estimation
in 2010 became Rs 115 bn ($2.6 M), which excludes non-sports-related infrastructure
development in the city such as airports, city beautification and roads. Business Today
magazine estimated that the Games cost Rs 300 bn ($6.8 bn). The 2010 Commonwealth
Games are the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

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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 to 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

had identified and constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems
(for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of
these corridors are expected operational in 2010. Additionally,
The Delhi Metro has been expanded to accommodate more
people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010
games. The metro has been extending to Gurgaon and the
Noida area.

Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernized,

expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly $1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has improved airport
passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway has
been constructed, allowing for more than 75 flights an hour. At more than 4400 meter long,
it will be one of Asia's longest.
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Environmental Issue

The organizers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations
Environment Programmer 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 has 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 Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court
appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticized 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".

Other Preparation

In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi
government had implement 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.

8
To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the Games and to end chronic power cuts in
Delhi, the government had undertaken 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 offering 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. A large-scale
construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of
homes and the displacement of city dwellers—at least 100,000 of New Delhi’s 160,000
homeless people have removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished.
Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of
the slums a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.

Mascot

Shera is the mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. His name comes from the Hindi
word Sher – meaning tiger. Shera is said to represent the modern Indian; he is an achiever
with a positive attitude, a global citizen but justifiably proud of his nation’s ancient heritage,
and a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty. Shera is also a ‘large-hearted
gentleman’ who loves making friends and enthusing people to ‘come out and play’. Shera is
depicted as a Royal Bengal Tiger, which is the national animal of India, making it a rightful
9
choice as the mascot of the majestic Commonwealth Games 2010. Shera embodies values
that the nation is
proud of: majesty,
power, charisma,
intelligence and
grace. His athletic
prowess, courage
and speed on the
field are legendary.
He is also a
reminder of the
fragile environment
he lives in and our
responsibility towards the protection of his ecosystem.

More-over in Hindu mythology the tiger (hindi 'Bagh') is associated with Goddess Durga, the
embodiment of Shakti (or female power) and the vanquisher of evil. She rides her powerful
vehicle – the tiger – into combat, especially in her epic and victorious battle against
Mahishasur, a dreaded demon.

Official Song

The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto was composed
and performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman. The song's title is based on the slogan
of the games, "Come out and play". The song is penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a
sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28 August 2010. The music video, directed by
Bharath Bala was released on 23 September and featured a shorter version of the song. A.
R. Rahman also gave a live concert for the theme song in Gurgaon , Haryana which was
previewed on various news channels . The official video of the song has been released on
youtube.

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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 arrived at
the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3
October 2010, after visiting the other 54
nations of the Commonwealth and
travelling throughout India, reaching
millions of people to join in the
celebrations for the Games. The baton
arrived in India on 25 June 2010 through
the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan.

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It
is a triangular section of aluminum twisted into a helix shape and then coated with colored
soils collected from all the regions of India. The colored 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 millimeters
(26.1 in) high, 34 millimeters (1.3 in) wide at the base, and 86 millimeters (3.4 in) 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 the relay

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Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2010

Commonwealth Games was held at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of
the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 7:00
PM on 3 October 2010 ending at 10:00 PM
displaying India's varied culture in a plethora of
cultural showcases. Prince Charles, Prince of
Wales, (representing Queen Elizabeth II as Head
of the Commonwealth) officially declared the
Games open in the presence of President of India Pratibha Patil. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh of the host nation, India, attended the opening ceremony as well.

The opening ceremony featured aspects of India's heritage and culture in seven segments. It
featured an aerostat costing U$8 million measuring 40×80x12 meters and manufactured in
Liverpool, England. The original plan was to have drummers on the aerostat, but the plan
was cancelled.

Sports

The list of sporting events at the CWG 2010 New Delhi.

1. Aquatics
2. Archery
3. Athletics
4. Badminton
5. Boxing
6. Cycling
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 7. Gymnastics
8. Hockey
9. Lawn Bowls
10. Net Ball
11. Rugby 7s
12. Shooting
13. Squash
14. Table Tennis
15. Tennis
16. Weightlifting
17. Wrestling

Kabaddi is a demonstration sport at the Games

Triathlon was excluded from the games as there was no suitable location for the swimming
stage. The organizers have also removed basketball, but included archery, tennis and
wrestling. Cricket, although in strong demand, did not make a come-back as the Board of
Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organizers
did not want a one day tournament.

Medal Table

Medal tally of top 10 countries is shown below

Total
Country
G S B T

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AUS -
Australia 72 50 47 169

ENG -
England 37 56 45 138

IND - India 36 26 34 96

CAN -
Canada 26 17 32 75

RSA - South
Africa 12 11 10 33

NGR -
Nigeria 10 10 13 33

KEN - Kenya 10 10 8 28

SCO -
Scotland 9 10 7 26

SIN -
Singapore 9 8 9 26

MAS -
Malaysia 8 8 12 28

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 Participating Nations

2010 Commonwealth Games Countries List

Anguilla Guyana Saint Helena

Antigua and Barbuda India Saint Kitts and Nevis

Australia Isle of Man Saint Lucia

Bahamas Jamaica St.Vincent & Grenadines

Bangladesh Jersey Samoa

Barbados Kenya Scotland

Belize Kiribati Seychelles

Bermuda Lesotho Sierra Leone

Botswana Malawi Singapore

British Virgin Islands Malaysia Solomon Islands

Brunei Maldives South Africa

Cameroon Malta Sri Lanka

Canada Mauritius Swaziland

Cayman Islands Montserrat Tanzania

Cook Islands Mozambique Tokelau

Cyprus Namibia Tonga

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Dominica Nauru Trinidad and Tobago

England New Zealand Turks and Caicos Islands

Falkland Islands Nigeria Tuvalu

Gambia Niue Uganda

Ghana Norfolk Island Vanuatu

Gibraltar Northern Ireland Wales

Grenada Pakistan Zambia

Guernsey Papua New Guinea

Venues

Events are taking place at twelve competition venues. A total of 20 training venues are
being used in the Games. Of these 20, one is used for archery; three for aquatics; two for
lawn bowls; two for netball; eight for rugby sevens, including seven venues within Delhi
University; two for shooting; one for squash; two for table tennis; one for weightlifting,
three for wrestling and two for tennis.

The Commonwealth Games Village will provide accommodation and training for athletes of
the Games, and will be open from 23 September to 18 October 2010. It is located along the
east bank of the River Yamuna, in proximity to competition and training venues as well as
city landmarks, and is spread over an area of 63.5 hectares Comprising five main zones—the
Residential Zone, the International Zone, the Training Area, the Main Dining and the

16
Operational Zone—the Games Village, which is a non-smoking zone, is universally accessible
particularly to accommodate para-sport athletes.

The 17 sports disciplines to feature in the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi will be held
at six venue clusters and five stand-alone venues in Delhi.

Clusters:

1. Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex (Cluster 1):

o Opening & Closing Ceremonies,

o Athletics,

o Lawn Bowls

o Weightlifting

2. Indira Gandhi Sports Complex (Cluster 2):

o Cycling,

o Gymnastics

o Wrestling

3. Yamuna Sports Complex (Cluster 3):

o Archery (Qualification Rounds)

o Table Tennis

4. Siri Fort Sports Complex (Cluster 4):

o Badminton

o Squash

5. MDC National Stadium Complex (Cluster 5):

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 o Hockey

o Archery Finals (India Gate)

6. Talkatora Garden Complex (Cluster 6): Boxing

Stand-alone Venues:

1. Dhyan Chand National Stadium: Hockey

2. Delhi University Sports Complex: Rugby 7s

3. Thyagaraj Sports Complex: Netball

4. Karni Singh Shooting Range: Shooting & Full Bore

5. RK Khanna Tennis Complex: Tennis

6. SP Mukherjee Swimming Stadium: Swimming & Diving

Concerns and Controversies

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi was criticized by several prominent Indian
politicians and social activists. One of the outspoken critics of the Games is Mani Shankar
Aiyar, former Indian Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. In April 2007, Aiyar commented
that the Games are "irrelevant to the common man" and criticized the Indian government
for sanctioning billions of dollars for the Games even though India requires massive
investment in social development programs. In July 2010, he remarked that he would be
"unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are successful".

Concerns raised by Aiyar were echoed by several others in India. Initial concerns about the
2010 Commonwealth Games included delays in completion of projects, poor construction
standards, corruption by Games' Organizing Committee officials and possibility of a terrorist
attack. The Indian media also alleged that Games' Organizing Committee officials were

18
involved in serious corruption and these allegations included acceptance of bribe during the
process of awarding construction contracts for the Games' venues. The Commonwealth
Games Organizing Committee on 5 August 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the
organising committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising
committee) following the report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial
irregularities related to the Queen's Baton Relay. Organizing Committee treasurer Anil
Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of allegations that his son's firm had secured a
contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis stadium. On September 23, The Daily
Telegraph UK showed photographs taken of child labor working on the Games sites. There
was also multiple cases of items being rented for the 45 days for more money than it would
cost to actually buy the item. e.g., 72 golf carts were hired for 4.23 lakh (US$9,517.5)
each, when they could have been purchased for 1.84 lakh (US$4,140) each.

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), an apex Government of India investigative agency,

released a report highlighting financial irregularities in up to fourteen Games projects. As
per CVC report, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected. The preliminary
findings include — complete lack of involvement of the city and the community at large,
award of work contracts at higher prices, poor quality assurance and management, and
award of work contracts to ineligible agencies.

Weeks before the start of the Games, Indian media outlets highlighted the poor
construction standards at several of the main Games venues. In late September 2010, the
president of the Commonwealth Games Federation remarked that the Games Village were
far from completion and needed a "deep clean" and New Zealand's chef de mission even
claimed that the Games might not take place given the amount of work to be done. The
concerns came to media attention in late September 2010 after media outlets began
reporting on "filthy and unlivable conditions" and taking photos of paan stains and
excrement in living quarters at the games village. Just a day after these remarks, a
footbridge near the Nehru Stadium collapsed injuring 27 and seriously injuring five. On 22
September 2010, the wrestling stadium's false ceiling caved in; however, there were no
reported injuries. After the start of the games, a large scoreboard at the rugby stadium
toppled over. Security concerns were highlighted by an Australian TV crew from the Seven

19
Network who claimed to have walked past security with a suitcase containing a dummy
bomb and its detonator on 15 September, although the veracity of the claim has since been
challenged. Concerns of a terrorist attack were also raised following a gun attack that took
place outside the Jama Masjid on 19th September 2010. However, the Indian authorities
stated that the shooting was a "one-off incident".

In the opening ceremony, the chairman of Organizing Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, faced
further embarrassment when he was booed by the Indian spectators at the start of his
welcome speech. The crowd atmosphere otherwise was fine, especially when they offered a
warm applause to the neighboring Pakistan squad despite the tense relations between India
and Pakistan.

More than dozens of athletes from Australia and England, mainly swimmers, have
reportedly fallen ill. Initially, concerns were raised over the quality of water in the swimming
pools of the SPM Complex, but other competing teams, including South Africa, reported no
such illness. Additionally, the Australian team's chief doctor, Peter Harcourt, ruled that the
"chances of the [Delhi] pool being the cause of the problem is very remote" and praised the
hygiene and food quality in the Delhi Games Village. He suggested that the Australians
swimmers could have contracted the stomach virus during their training camp in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. During the swimming, debris fell into the pool from the roof, and the
filtration system failed, leaving the water turbid.

In another incident, three Ugandan officials were injured when the car they were travelling
in hit a security wheel stopper at the Games village. The chairman of the Games' Organizing
Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, apologized to the Ugandan High Commissioner to India for the
freak car accident.

Economic Impact of CWG on India

Commonwealth Games 2010 is expected to result in an overall economic impact of USD

4,940 million on India\'s GDP during a period of four years ending 2012 and create an
employment opportunity close to 24.7 lakh. According to a Games Organising Committee

20
document, this figure is almost three times the economic impact the 2006 Melbourne
Games had on Australian GDP.

It said the 2002 Manchester Games created an impact of nearly USD 3,400 million in
Britain\'s, while the Melbourne Games created an impact of USD 1,600 million on
Australia\'s GDP.

The OC estimates said the Delhi Games are also expected to create an "enormous
employment opportunity" of close to 24.7 lakh jobs. However, an NGO Hazard Centre
claimed that Delhiites will have to pay a huge price for the "development work" carried out
for Commonwealth Games and "in the next 25 to 30 years, each one of them will have to
pay a debt in form of increased prices of land, basic commodities and petrol." The report
titled \'Heritage Games\' claimed that countries which hosted events like Olympics, World
Cup and Commonwealth Games have plunged into huge debts after suffering losses. It
attributed the economic crisis in Greece to its 16,600 million dollar "adventure" of Athens
Olympics four years ago. Mexico, Seoul, Barcelona, Sydney were cities that have followed
suit and have incurred losses of many millions of dollars, it claimed.

Conclusion

The Oct 3-14 Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) were in the eye of a storm before they
began, but the splendid opening ceremony came as a turning point. Media takes a look at
the good, the bad and the ugly of the mega event, which is still making news for the right
and wrong reasons.

First, what's good about it.

The opening ceremony: Around 7,000 artists put up a spectacular display of Indian art and
culture, making for a grand welcome for the 6,000 Games athletes and delegates. The three-
hour-long show saw a giant airostat float above the crowds in the night air, reflecting iconic
images of Mahatma Gandhi, the Taj Mahal and the Buddha. As the crowds at Jawaharlal

21
Nehru Stadium went wild with enthusiasm, millions felt proud just watching it on television.

Volunteers: They have made up one of the strongest pillars of the Games. Assisting on
almost every front, the 15,000-odd volunteers, trained for over three months, are earning a
good name for the event. From guiding and controlling guests to extending small courtesies,
they are doing it all.

Food: Paranthas, pastas, Punjabi dishes and vegetable biryani at the Games Village are
giving everyone a high. CWG Federation chief Mike Fennell has been all praise as have the
participants been. A mini 'Chandni Chowk' dishing out the snacky street flavours of old Delhi
gave an upset belly to some, but overall the elaborate menu has enthused.

Games Village: Arrangements have made the thousands of athletes and delegates putting
up here happy. The teams, fed on negative stories, have been left wide-eyed at the world
class treatment, complete with luxurious rooms, salons, a bar and even a disco.

Next, the bad

Delays: The delay in completion of Games work, last-minute glitches and shortcomings that
dogged the event right until they began were a major embarrassment. The collapse of a
bridge outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium attracted the worst criticism. Last-minute
hygiene issues at the CWG Village, complete with loitering dogs and snakes, prompted the
international media to dub India as unprepared. Traffic: Clogged roads were the worst part
for Delhiites. With a whole lane dedicated to vehicles for CWG athletes and delegates,
traffic moved at a snail's pace. While the fear of high fines kept many out, some took the
opportunity to slip into dedicated lates when no one was watching - or so they thought.
There were over 1,600 'challans' or fines by Sunday.

Public transport: With the Delhi government encouraging the use of public transport but at
the same time taking 1,500 private blueline ones off the road, the masses had to bear the
brunt of overcrowded DTC buses. The Metro train remained the fastest and best option, but

22
again was choked. A separate coach for women came up but couldn't make much difference
to the overcrowding in other compartments.

Tickets: For most events, while ticket counters showed 'full' signs, the stadiums remained
empty. Of the 1.7 million Commonwealth Games (CWG) tickets, the bulk reached counters
here a day after the opening ceremony -- some so late they ended up with the scrap dealer,
unused. With irregularities in ticket sale, the organising committee even had to replace the
ticketing head.

Now for the ugly

Bad press: Continuous criticism from the Western media has dogged India, which is now
putting up a good show at the Games. Australia is where many negative stories erupted
from. Swimmers even complained of a stomach bug here even as Village authorities issued
denials.

Racism: Racist comments have made their way into the Games. South African swimmer
Roland Schoeman described the crowds as "monkeys" for shouting continuously. An English
official used an expletive against Indian archery head coach Limba Ram in two different
incidents. Then again a New Zealand TV anchor made fun of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit's name.

India too has been accused on this front. First, Malawi objected to being called 'one of the
least developed countries' during the opening ceremony, while Uganda complained against
the unapologetic attitude of the Indian administration after its players met with an accident
at the Village. While Doordarshan apologised for the comment on Malawi during the
opening ceremony, the organising committee said sorry to the Ugandan team as well.

Corruption: Treadmills on hire at Rs.9 lakh, air conditioners at Rs.4 lakh, toilet paper at
Rs.3,757, umbrellas at Rs.6,000 per piece! From the exorbitant rates to Scheduled Caste
funds being diverted for construction work, these Games have certainly been sullied by
allegations of massive corruption. (IANS)

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