Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell today called on all to concentrate on delivering a good Games. In a statement in New Delhi, Fennell said his colleague Mike Hooper, never blamed the Indian government for Delhi's under-preparedness. The participating countries have also expressed confidence that the Games in Delhi from October 3rd to 14th will be a grand success. The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, said the games will be a celebration of the diversity and opportunity on which the Commonwealth is founded. The first batch of Australian athletes including lawn bowls team for the Games arrived in New Delhi early Monday morning. Later in the day, Australia's netball and gymnastics teams will arrive. Over, 1100 athletes and delegates have already checked in games village. A release from the Organising Committee said the largest contingent to arrive was a 112-member delegation from Kenya, followed by Nigeria with 69, and 60 members from Scotland. Canada, Tanzania, Lesotho, Norfolk Island, Rwanda, Wales, England, Isle of Man, Jersey, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and British Virgin Islands were among other arrivals. Over 200 Indian athletes and delegates including hockey, weightlifting, boxing and shooting teams have also checked in the village. More players and athletes will be joining them in the next few days. According to officials, the village can presently accommodate over 7,000 athletes and delegates. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and top brasses of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee reviewed the progress of the clean up operation at the Village. Sheila Dikshit said everything will be ready in the village by Wednesday. Nearly 1,600 Blueline buses have been taken off the roads near the Commonwealth Games venues and the Games Village to improve the image of the city. These buses will be replaced with equal number of Delhi Transport Corporation low floor buses. Over 750 low floor air conditioned DTC buses are being deployed to pick and drop athletes and officials at 17 competition venues. A world class facility for treatment of sports injuries has also become operational at Safadarjung hospital in New Delhi. This is the first ever dedicated sports injury center in the country equipped with state of art operation theaters with facility of video conferencing and modern diagnostic facilities. The exclusive lanes for the Games are now operational from 8 am to 8 pm on certain stretches. This caused inconvenience to commuters particularly office-goers.
News On AIR | September 27, 2010 12:18 PM
Fennell calls on all to concentrate on delivering good Games