India to host green Commonwealth Games

October 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hundreds of sports enthusiasts took part in a run organised here on Sunday to sensitise people about the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who flagged off the run, said more similar events would be organised in the coming days.

October 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Secretary general of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Lalit Bhanot said Thursday that India will support Fiji's membership to be retained for the 2010 Games here. "India is supporting Fiji's membership.

October 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid mounting concern over New Delhi's slow preparation for the Commonwealth Games next year, a team of the games' committee on Thursday visited the Thyagraj Stadium, which is expected to open at the end of December. Led by Mike Fennell, the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the team also visited the games village to assess the progress there.

October 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Officials of member countries of the Commonwealth Games Federation (GGF) here for the General Assembly sounded optimistic about India successfully hosting the 2010 Games. A section of the CGF feels the apprehensions raised by chairman Mike Fennel are valid while others are of the view that some concerns are unfounded since the event is still 12 months away.

October 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Air India on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commonwealth Organising Committee for being the official carrier of the Commonwealth Games 2010. The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be held between 3 and 14 of October in New Delhi, and will be India's first major international sports event after the 1982 Asian Games.

October 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The countdown for the Commonwealth Games, to be hosted by India in 2010, is marked by the unveiling of a Commonwealth clock. The 12-day event, which starts from October 3, 2010, at the 75,000-capacity Jawaharal Nehru Stadium in the heart of New Delhi, will be India's first major international sports event after the 1982 Asian Games.

September 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Premier of the Australian state of Victoria John Brumby Saturday said that he was very impressed with the architecture of the infrastructure coming up for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), scheduled to take place in the Indian capital next year. During a visit to the headquarters of the Organising Committee of the 2010 CWG here, he said he had not forgotten the cultural show Delhi had put up at the closing ceremony of the Melbourne Games in 2006.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The organising committee of Commonwealth Games 2010 on Tuesday joined hands with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as partner to effectively use Commonwealth Games' platform to facilitate deeper economic and trade relationships amongst the Commonwealth fraternity. This coming together of a national sports body and a national business chamber is expected to galvanize the sports and the business communities into spearheading and spreading the culture of sports.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Calling it a matter of pride for the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said his government would spare no effort to ensure that the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be hosted here are successfully conducted. "The government is fully aware that national prestige is at stake, and it would provide complete support to the Organising Committee," Manmohan Singh said during a meeting with Commonwealth Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, according to a statement issued by the committee.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The global financial crisis and its impact on India may be the reason for the delay in getting the infrastructure in place for the Commonwealth Games scheduled here next October, says the research arm of global rating agency Moody's. "India hosts the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but its preparation has been slower than desired.

September 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) chief Michael Fennell aired scepticism over India's ability to host the 2010 Games, Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi said he is confident of a successful hosting. Fennell, concerned about the slow progress of the projects for the 2010 Games scheduled to be held Oct 3-14, has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the situation.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A major chunk of the Rs.2,264 crore ($453 million) allotted for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in this year's union budget will be spent to renovate stadiums. About Rs.1,385 crore will be spent for renovation of Sports Authority of India (SAI) stadiums while Rs.180 crore will be utilised in preparing athletes for the games that will be held here Oct 3-14 next year.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Colourful and fragrant flowers will make Delhi bloom during the Commonwealth Games next year. Scientists at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun are busy developing new species of over 300,000 flowering plants for the games.

June 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With 486 days left for the Commonwealth Games, India Thursday named three hotels that will play host to top VIPs who would be in the national capital. The three hotels - Hotel Ashok, Samrat and Janpath, all under the India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, a government of India undertaking - would also fill the need for hotel rooms in the capital.

May 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Chairman of the organising Committee of Commonwealth Games, Suresh Kalmadi has said that India is ahead of the deadline in the completion of the all facilities to host the Commonwealth Games at New Delhi in 2010. Addressing a press conference after visiting a couple of sites here on Friday, Kalmadi said, "As the Chairman of the managing committee of the Commonwealth Games, I'm telling you that the things are on track and everything is on schedule and some things are ahead of schedule." As far as the security is concerned, he mentioned that India is well prepared and none of the participating nations need to worry on this aspect.