highcourt give decission in favour of RAMLALA

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5 Days to Go: Athletes Happy with Games Village.....

They were undecided about the Games Village before they had seen it, but after watching the arrangements at the Games Village the athletes were all praise for the Village. Steve Moneghetti, the Australian Chef de Mission, described the Village “as good as” he has ever seen.

Even Suresh Kalmadi echoed the sentiments of athletes when he said that everyone is happy. He however added that 80 per cent venues are ready and reiterated his point that the Games Village in India is better than Beijing.

“People are now happy with whatever they have got. Over a 1,000 people have come now and they are very happy. Most of the athletes are happy. Eighty per cent of the flats are fine. The sun is out and everything will be fine,” he said.

Meanwhile, there were reports that Australian athletes were not allowed to interact with the media after they touched down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The report mentioned that it was done due to heightened security measures taken by the police.

HC verdict on Ayodhya on Thursday, SC dismisses deferment plea

New Delhi/Lucknow, Sep 28 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court will deliver its verdict in the 60-year-old Ramjanambhoomi- Babri Masjid title suit on Thursday after the Supreme Court today cleared the path by dismissing a petition for its deferment ending the uncertainty. A three-judge Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court will pronounce the verdict in the Ayodhya case on September 30 at 3.30 PM, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Hari Shankar Dubey said in Lucknow, shortly after the Apex Court lifted its week-long interim stay given last Thursday.

The Supreme Court''s three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia gave a brief unanimous order dimissing the petition by a retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi challenging the Lucknow Bench order rejecting his plea for postponing the keenly waited judgement to explore the possibility of mediation. The bench also comprising Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan however did not give any reasons for its order giving the green signal for the high court verdict after two hours of arguments.

"Having considered in detail the arguments of the parties, we are of the view that the SLP has to be dismissed. Accordingly, the SLP stands dismissed," it said.

During arguments on the Special Leave Petition, the Bench questioned the plea for deferment of the verdict. "You are running against time because you woke up late.

That is after 50 years," Justice Aftab Alam said. "The question is why you were quiet for all these days.

You had to strike a chord when the matter was in the High Court," Justice Alam said. The observations by the bench came when senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tripathi, was buttressing the argument that a settlement could be arrived at through negotiations.

Anwsering the bench for the delay in exploring an out-of-court settlement, Rohatgi said mediation was not a part of the statute. Justice Alam said lawyers of all the contesting parties are at least in agreement on the issue of delivery of judgement by the Allahabad High Court.

The September 30 date fixed by the Lucknow Bench assumes importance since one of the judges of the three-member bench, Justice D V Sharma, is to demit office on October one. The other judges in the bench are Justice S U Khan and Sudhir Agarwal.

Earlier, Attorney General G E Vahanvati, who was asked by the apex court to assist it in today''s hearing, said that uncertainty should not be allowed to continue. The Supreme Court decision was welcomed by the main contesting parties to the title suit as well as the Centre and all political parties including the Congress, BJP and the Left.

Appealing for calm, the Government and the political parties said the high court verdict should be respected. "We welcome the (SC)verdict" was the refrain of all sections.

Political parties also underscored that there was an option of approaching the apex court by any of the parties to the title suit after the HC verdict. The Supreme Court has taken the "right decision" since an overwhelming majority did not want the verdict to be further deferred, Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily said.

The verdict was to have been originally pronounced on September 24.

CWG: India's medal hopes.....

Saina Nehwal
India's ace shuttler and world no. 3 badminton player, Saina Nehwal, will be the flag-bearer of India's 'Golden' hopes. She has recently also been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. 











Abhinav Bindra
India's only individual Olympic Gold Medallist, Abhinav Bindra, carries the hopes of millions to bag the top honours in shooting.









Sushil Kumar
Sushil Kumar was recently crowned the World Wrestling Champion in the 66-kg freestyle category in Moscow and is tipped to repeat the feat at the Commonwealth Games









Vijender Singh
Boxer Vijender Singh came into the limelight during the Beijing Olympics, where he won bronze, and has since done the country proud at various international events.







Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi
Old-guards of Indian tennis Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will once again team-up for the country and will hope to recreate the magic that brought them Grand Slam glory









Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman broke into tennis top-100 for a small period earlier this year but remains a force to reckon with as the most promising Indian tennis star on the circuit.









wala Gutta and V Diju
The pairing of Jwala Gutta and V Diju has made waves on the badminton circuit and hopes of a podium finish in the mixed doubles event will rest on their shoulders.

Chetan Anand
Chetan Anand's name pops up whenever India features in an international badminton event and he would look to take a cue from Saina Nehwal and finish among the medals

Monica Devi
Weightlifter Monica Devi would like to put the doping fiasco behind and regain the form that makes her India's strong medal prospect in the Commonwealth Games.

Dola Banerjee
The archery event in the Games will witness Dola Banerjee represent India and hit the bull's eye to add to India's medals' tally.

Seema Antil
The Melbourne silver-medallist Seema Antil will look to throw the discus further and bag Gold in this edition of the Games.

Achanta Sharath Kamal
India would be represented in table tennis mainly by Achanta Sharath Kamal who will hope to turn his strong performances into a medal on his chest.

Samresh Jung
Along with Abhinav Bindra, Indian shooting contingent will have among its ranks Samaresh Jung who led India's gold hunt in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and will look to carry on from there in New Delhi.

CWG 2010 PHOTO GALLERY

    Army reconstructs collapsed foot overbridge near JN Stadium


The Indian Army has been called in to reconstruct a temporary bridge near the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium where a foot overbridge The Indian Army has been called in to reconstruct a temporary bridge near the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium where a foot overbridge collapsed earlier in the week, injuring 27 workers. Army personnel carrying iron structures as they reconstruct a collapsed foot overbridge near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main vcollapsed earlier in the week, injuring 27 workers. Army personnel carrying iron structures as they reconstruct a collapsed foot overbridge near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Sunday, September 26, 2010.


   A view of Commonwealth Games Village








     CWG Express promotes Games and IT in Jaipur




     Amid apprehensions about the quality of the venues and preparedness of sporting facilities, the Commonwealth Games organisers declared that all venues for the mega-event are ready and the Games would be a huge success. Take a look at the venues.

The authorities showed off new venues in the face of a storm of media criticism amid worries the Games, a showcase for this emerging global giant, could be a disaster.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but the stadium is 100 percent ready. Everything is on time," Suresh Kalmadi, Organising Committee chairman, told reporters on a tour of the main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium as labourers put down their tools to wave from the rafters above.

"All the venues are ready. I would like to tell you, there were grave apprehensions, but we told you that all the venues would be ready. There was rainfall, there were problems, but we are ready to host the games," he added.

    The Organising Committee (OC) took a large group of mediapersons for a guided tour to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium along with the other venues on Monday.

The venue will host the opening and closing ceremonies and also the main athletic events.

"It has been raining continuously since evening but we have covered the field areas and there is no damage to the infrastructure here. This proves that we are absolutely ready for the games," OC secretary-general Lalit Bhanot said.

The stadium boasts of a seating capacity of 60,000. It has a 10-lane synthetic athletic track, one hold-up area and two warm-up areas which is capable of holding up to 1,000 athletes.

Image: The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

  The main attraction point in the stadium is the aerostat balloon, which was bought from for Rs 40 crore.

The balloon, which will be positioned at a height of 30 metres, will have light reflectors helping to give special effects during the opening and closing ceremonies. It will also projected video content, including animation and graphics and will be be synchronised with the events that will be taking place during the opening and closing ceremonies.

OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi called the aerostat as: "no ordinary balloon but a piece of technology and art."

Bhanot tried to defend the huge cost of the aerostat, saying whe it comes to a mega event like the Commonwealth Games one should not worry about money.

"To organise an event of this stature, there will be expenses incurred. But it is important to understand that the Delhi Games will be watched by more than 3 million.  

Image: The giant aerostat inside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium













    The Siri Fort Sports Complex, which would host the squash and badminton events, has been turned into a world-class facility at a cost of around Rs. 2.5 billion.

The race to be ready for the games has now come down to the wire, but finally India seems to be inching close to hosting a successful Commonwealth Games.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games, which kicks off on October 3, is India's biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games.

India is expecting about two million tourists in New Delhi for the Games, as well as about 10,000 athletes from 71 teams representing 54 Commonwealth member states.

Image: The badminton courts inside the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

   The field hockey competition will be held at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium, which also hosted the Hockey World Cup earlier this year.

Former Indian hockey captain Zafar Iqbal, who is the administrator for the Dhyanchand Stadium, said the stadium will impress both the players and fans.

"It has a capacity of about 19,000 people. We are privileged to have three-tier parking below this ground for 400 cars. Also, there are floodlights," Iqbal said.

Image: A policeman at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium

'Each stadium is better than the other'

   The Squash stadium boasts of state-of-the-art four sided glass court that can be expanded into a doubles court automatically.

"At this venue, we can hold the event in only a couple of hours' notice. At some others, even a day's notice is enough to make it Games' ready. I can't say which stadium is better. Each one is better than the other," claimed Kalmadi.

Image: The Squash stadium inside the Siri Fort Sports Complex

'Our Indian boxers will do very well'

  The boxing facility at the state-of-the-art Talkatora Stadium, built at Rs 1.5 billion, is all set for the event.

India has high hopes of medals from its boxers and the facility at the boxing venue would sure give a boost to those aspirations.

"We have got 241 entries from 48 countries. Very good entries in all 10 weight categories, we have got very stiff competition, but our Indian team will do very well," said an official at the venue.

Image: The Talkatora Boxing Stadium

The only fully green stadium in the world

  The Thyagaraj Sports Complex, purpose-built in two and a half years at a cost of $64.5 million will host the netball competition. The impressive facility has been fully tested and is prepared.

Organisers said environmental conservation was one of the driving forces behind their planning and execution of the games infrastructure and Thyagaraj stadium.

"The stadium is a fully green stadium. It is the only fully green stadium in the world. In that respect, it has a rain-harvesting roof, it has a gas turbine that controls the electricity and air-conditioning," said Carmel Wright, competition manager of netball.

Image: The Thyagaraj Sports Complex

Work still going on at Aquatic Centre

  The aquatics events will be hosted at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium which has been refurbished at a cost of Rs. 3.77 billion.

Though the swimming pools at the well-lit facility looked ready to take a dive but the work at this venue is still a few days away from completion, with nearly 15 days to go.

The pools had also come under a lot of criticism during the test event in July because of some basic technical flaws in the structure. There is no lift for the divers to reach the board, the staircases leading to the top are cramped, while the ceiling at the warm-up area is too low.

Image: The Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex

'The best Games villages that anyone has seen'

   OC chairman Kalmadi claimed the standard of training facilities available at the Delhi Games village, built over 63.5 hectares across the Yamuna river from the city, is best in the world.

"The standard of training facilities that are available here are not available anywhere else in the world. This is one of the best Games villages that anyone has seen," Kalmadi said.

"All the facilities in the Village are top class and I am sure the athletes are going to love it.

"The training areas comprising of the swimming pool, athletic track, gymnasium, weightlifting and wrestling areas are simply wonderful. In a Games Village, generally, all these facilities are not available at such a large scale," he added.

Putting to rest all rumours about the readiness of the Games Village, Kalmadi, himself led the media contingent to the various parts of the Games Village.

"The whole village is ready. The international, the training centres and the accommodations are all in place. The Games Village will open from September 23 and we will have a lot of athletes coming in on September 23, 24 and 25 and they will continue to come till October 2," said Kalmadi.

Image: The Commonwealth Games Village

      Celebs at CWG

Shera, the Mascot of Commonwealth Games 2010 dances with singer Shibani Kashyup during the launch of a song for the Shera, in New Delhi.

   Celebs at CWG

Indian music composer A.R. Rahman presents the theme song for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Gurgaon, India.

A R Rahman shake hands with Shera, the mascot of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 during the annoucement of the theme song of the games in New Delhi.

CWG: Around 550 athletes, officials to arrive

  New Delhi: Around 550 athletes and officials from countries such as Australia, Canada and England are expected to arrive in Delhi on Monday to participate in the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The largest contingent is from South Africa with 113 athletes and officials, followed by Scotland with 77 athletes and officials those who arrive on Monday.

Among the other large contingents arriving are those of England (61), Australia (59) and Canada (30).

Apart from these, officials and athletes from New Zealand, Wales, Namibia, Jamaica, Botswana, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Kiribati and others are also arriving on Monday.

In addition, Chefs-de-Mission of Niue Island, Malawi and St. Vincent & The Grenadines, apart from a large international media contingent are arriving today to cover Delhi 2010.

The first batch of Australian athletes have already arrived early this morning hoping to remain unaffected by the troubled build-up to the event.

Dikshit slams DDA, builder for CWG Village mess

  New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday claimed that there was no deadline to clean up the Commonwealth Games Village even though a little more than half of the flats are ready to be occupied. Dikshit also blamed the Delhi Development Authority and DA and Emaar MGF for delay in handing over the Commonwealth Games Village.

"I won't give you a time lag as you stick to that time lag. It depends on how dry it has become, how quickly the water is removed from the basement and how quickly the lifts are working. As we are getting them minus these two, we are cleaning up the rooms, we are cleaning up the public areas. These will be very good Games. We are racing against time but we will perform," said Dikshit.

More than half of the 4,000 rooms are livable now and work on the remaining 1600 rooms will be completed by Wednesday, the deadline announced by Dikshit on Sunday morning.

But the big problem remains the lifts. Lifts in 10 of the 34 towers are still not functioning because of waterlogged basement.

Dikshit also criticised Commonwealth Games CEO Mike Hooper's reported comments on the capital's population.

"It is really a very unkind and undiplomatic remark that has been made," Dikshit said.

She added that the work at the Games Village would be over very soon.

CWG: Australians happy with Games Village

  New Delhi: They were worried before leaving for India, but after watching the arrangements at Commonwealth Games Village here the foreign delegates were all praise for the sprawling campus where the teams are moving in.

"It is an excellent Village. Steve Moneghetti, former marathon gold medallist, who is chef de mission, told the Australian media today in 25 years of living in a Village, this is as good as he has ever seen," Australian Press Attache John Gatfield said.

The first batch of the Australian athletes for the Delhi Games arrived here in the wee hours on Monday and came to the Games Village.

Australia's lawn bowl squad have arrived and later on Monday, their netball and gymnastics teams will also join them.

Gatfield, after taking a round of the Village said, "The team was very happy and rooms were very spacious. Excellent food, excellent facilities, he (Moneghetti) is very happy. The team is very happy."

Asked about the fear of a dengue epidemic, he said, "All fears taken care of. No mosquitoes. If you are sensible, you will not get any fever."

Operation Clean-up is still on at Games Village

  New Delhi: The Operation Clean-up is still on at the Commonwealth Games Village. The administration is fighting waterlogging, malfunctioning lifts, plumbing and electrical repairs. 

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is shying away from another deadline and the next 48 hours could be make or break.

The Games Village was meant to be the residence of champions and over 3,000 athletes were supposed to be living here. Instead, this supposed luxurious complex has turned out to be the source of biggest embarrassment to the organisers.

Poisonous reptiles and dirty bathrooms are not the ideal advertisement for these flats. So who really is to be blamed?

Mike Hooper said venues were not handed over in time, while Suresh Kalmadi said: "If we were given this in time, this wouldn’t have happened." CM Diskhit said: "I can’t give you any deadline, else you will hold me to that. Wish Emar MGF had given these flats to me earlier."

Everyone is now gunning for the private firm EMAR MGF, which was responsible for building these flats, for this delay. Just last year, EMAR MGF asked DDA to bail the company out as it was facing funds shortage.

Now, though, the company has taken DDA to court for serving a notice of demolishing some apartments that it had allegedly built illegally.

The Games Village was meant to be the showpiece of CWG 2010 in New Delhi. The challenge before the authorities now is to get in fully ready. The Organising Committee (OC) feels it will manage to achieve its target. Past lessons though tell a different story.

Till Sunday, the OC wasn’t sure whether all the 34 towers would be ready. Now, CNN IBN learns that around 40 flats may not be ready at all.

But the organisers say that’s no cause for alarm. Out of all the teams only the South African contingent is being put up in a hotel on Monday night. They too will be shifted to the Village on Tuesday. From Tuesday afternoon, all countries’ delegations will be put up at the Village site.

What happens within the next 48 hours will be crucial in determining just how the world will look at CWG 2010.

CWG: Kalmadi fights back, hints at conspiracy

   New Delhi: Commonwealth Games Organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi on Monday hit back at his detractors saying that the "conspiracy against the CWG is a conspiracy against India" and that a "few pictures of dirty toilets does not mean that the Games Village is not world class".

Speaking to IBN 18 editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Kalmadi said he had never considered resigning at any stage. "I take responsibility for mess but must be given credit if Games are a success," he said before training his guns at Mani Shankar Aiyer, who he blamed for not having worked for two years while he was the Union Sports Minister. Kalmadi, who is also the president of the Indian Olympic Association, also did not spare Commonwealth Games Federation CEO and asked "Mike Hooper has been in India for four years, what was he doing?"

"I am ready to face judicial inquiry after games on corruption charges, hang me if I am proved guilty," he told CNN-IBN while clearly indicating that he was not prepared to go down without a fight.

"Some countries did not want India to get the games," Kalmadi said. He also accused the builder and the contractor for delaying the CWG village because of a fight between the two.

"Work in flats are still going on, it's a good sign that the sun has come out and the stagnant water has dried up. We should have got the village clean from DDA and the builders. Cleaning up the village is not the work of the Organising Committtee." 

"There are small issues, small complaints of accommodation and transport. We are coming to terms with full-mode operations, but there is no need of any more complaints. All the people have enjoyed the games village," he asserted.

Most New Yorkers still opposed to proposed 'Ground Zero' mosque: Poll

New York, Sept 25 (ANI): About 57 percent of New Yorkers still believe that it is wrong to build the proposed Islamic community center and mosque two blocks away from the former World Trade Center site, while only 32 percent feel it's acceptable, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

According to The New York Daily News, 80 percent of those questioned believe developers have the right to build there, although 67 percent hope they will voluntarily move it elsewhere.

As in previous polls, a stark division exists between Democrats and Republicans with just 34 percent of Democrats opposing the plan, compared to 90 percent of Republicans.

Earlier polls have also shown similar results with majority of the New Yorkers opposing the mosque.

Earlier this month, a Fox News poll had shown that a majority of New Yorkers, about six in ten (61 percent) considered it bad idea to build the proposed mosque and Islamic Cultural Center near the World Trade Center site in New York City, down slightly from the 64 percent who felt that way in August.

A new Marist poll had shown that nine years after the 9/11 terror attacks, a majority, 56 percent of New Yorkers fear another such attack, while 70 percent were of the opinion that the government had not made enough progress in redeveloping the 16-acre site in Lower Manhattan since 2001.

Another new Quinnipiac University poll in the beginning of September, had shown 52 percent of New York City voters opposed the building of the proposed 13-floor center two blocks north of GroundZero.