Prince Charles Opens The Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010

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….why do the media?…

Notice the openness of Indian society and how the country clearly guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. This country is a great democracy. Of course it is not perfect. Which country is? While the Australian media headlined the problems in the lead up to the Games, the Opening was ignored or given minimal exposure.

Was this because it went without a serious hitch? Don’t worry; once Australians start winning medals the media will find the games irresistible.  

This video and the text below are from www.indradhanus.com. "

The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium, in Delhi. It will also be the first time the Commonwealth Games is held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

…criticism..

The preparations for the games received criticism in news media due to issues including bad weather, infrastructural compromise, preparation delays (in particular, that of the Games Village), the withdrawal of prominent athletes, and allegations of widespread corruption.However no nations have withdrawn and the games have not been postponed.

The initial total budget estimated by Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games was Indian rupee 1,620 crore (US$358 million) but escalated official total budget estimation in 2010 became Indian rupee 11,494 crore (US$2.5 billion), 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 exceeded original expectations Indian rupee 70,000 crore (US$15.47 billion).The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

…sustainable…

The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme 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 have 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 criticised 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".

The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms.

After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).

…mascot…

[The video and text are from www.indradhanus.com]