Shera was star of Republic Day parade

’Shera’, the mascot of Common wealth Games 2010 was star attraction at Republic day parade. Shera appeared twice during the Republic Day parade. Around 180 students from Delhi schools presented aerobics and one of them was attired as Shera.

First the Sports Ministry came up with the mascot in its tableau ‘Commonwealth Games’ followed by school children during their performance.

Legendary athletes Milkha Singh and P T Usha, former hockey captain player Zafar Iqbal, badminton player Gopichand Pullela and shooter Samresh Jung were the stars accompanying the Sport Ministry tableau.

Among other major attractions of the 61st Republic Day to be held today were the Main Battle Tank Arjun, the Smerch Multiple Launch Rocket System, the Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicle, the Sarvatra Bridge, the Electronic Warfare System, Samyukta, ICV BMP-II Sarath, Ambulance Tracked and ALH Dhruv.

Since New Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games in October this year, the Games mascot "Shera" was the cynosure of all eyes along the eight-kilometer-long parade route in Delhi. A bevy of sportspersons, including boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar, weightlifter K Malleshwari, athlete P T Usha, former hockey players Ajitpal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, shooter Samresh Jung, badminton player Gopichand Pullela, swimmer Khajan Singh and veteran Olympian Milkha Singh were the star attractions of the parade.

The parade commenced by President taking the salute and welcoming the chief guest. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was the chief guest of this year's parade.

The parade was commanded by Lt. General Kanwaljeet Singh Oberoi, General Officer Commanding General Officer Commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth (and some other) nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment.

The marching contingents of Army included the horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Brigade of the Guards The Brigade of the Guards is an Indian infantry regiment, the only regiment of Foot Guards in the Indian Army. It was formed in 1949 as the first mixed Indian regiment.

The marching contingents of paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces included contingents from the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Railway Protection Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme. The Camel-mounted band of the Border Security Force will be another attraction.

Tableau from 21 states and Central Ministries and Departments were present the varied historical, architectural and cultural heritage of the country. They also showcased country's progress in different fields.

Notably, Delhi's tableau was missing for fourth straight year.

Nineteen of the 21 children selected for the National Bravery Award - 2009 also participated in the parade. Two children have got the award posthumously.

In the children's pageant section, 750 boys and girls boys and girls drawn from various schools presented dances and other programs.

The grand finale was a spectacular fly-past by the IAF, with the AWACS participating in the Parade for the first time. One IL-78, flanked by two AN-32 and two Dornier, flying in Big Boy formation, led the fly-past.

The ceremony culminated with the National Anthem and release of balloons.

Common Wealth Games tableau not an original work of art..!!

A Delhi based Tableaux designer Pralay Kumar Mukherjee has alleged that the Common wealth Games (CWG) jhanki (tableau), set to be on Rajpath tomorrow, is a copy of his design. “I had submitted three models while pitching for the CWG tableau. They have now used a mixture of those designs on their own and turned it into a tableau costing Rs 1 crore,” says Mukherjee who has now approached the high court.

Lalit Bhanot, Games organising committee secretary-general, denied, “It is wrong to say that any designs were copied. Mukhejee submitted the designs but they were not selected by the defence ministry, which approves the tableaux designs.”

With the Delhi tableau missing altogether and now CWG tableau marred by controversies, the issue is not going down well with Delhiites, eagerly awaiting the Republic Day parade.

Aniniditi Sharma, a student of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies says, “It is sad that the Capital does not have its own jhanki at the Republic Day parade this year again. Delhi needs to buck up.”

Tarun Gupta, an IT Professional says, “First Delhi goes missing, and now the Commonwealth Games jhanki turns out to be a copycat. This is embarrasing for the city’


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Shera to be star attraction during Republic Day parade

2010 Commonwealth Games OC will get a chance to promote the games during Republic Day parade in Delhi. 2010 Commonwealth Games will have its own tableau taking part in the parade on 26-Jan.

Delhi Commonwealth Games tableau has been prepared at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

With background music by Javed Akhtar and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Shera is the star attraction. Top athletes of the country, led by Zafar Iqbal, captain of the World Cup hockey squad, and others like Sushil Kumar and PT Usha will take podium position atop the Shera tableau.

While Shera, adorning vibrant colour palette, will be one of the major attractions at the parade, Olympian grappler Sushil Kumar, weightlifter K Malleswari, former runners P T Usha and Milkha Singh, shooter Samresh Juang, ex-badminton player Pullela Gopichand and hockey player Ajit Pal Singh also would be present on the tableau.

The LED screens on either sides of the tableau will display the film combining major sporting events, their medal winners and the snapshots of various games.

The tableau has been made of all recycled eco-friendly material and will emphasises on the various aspects of Green Games.

Shera reminds us of the fragile environment he lives in and our responsibility towards protecting the delicate ecological balance. Then there is Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium's spectacular structure and a globe aptly positioned in the middle of the stadium, made up of recycled paper." Surrounded by LED screens on either sides as well as 25 volunteers of the Games, the tableau is being pitched as a representation of the Green Games.

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Tender norms flouted for games tableau

Senior BJP leader and former Sports Minister Vijay Goel has charged that the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee had flouted the norms for tender for the Republic Day Parade tableau.

He also sought a probe into the high cost of nearly Rs.1 crore of the tableau.

Addressing a press conference here over the weekend, Mr. Goel alleged that the norms were issued in June 2009 and four companies had submitted tenders and the work allotment was issued to an experienced Noida-based company which had tendered on July 29, 2009. “The company was asked to go ahead and contact the Ministry of Defence and Sports and it has 28 years experience of making tableaux,” he added.

When the company contacted the two Ministries, it got no response and was later told that the work had been allotted to some other company. This, Mr. Goel said, despite the Noida company being made to submit four models between July and November 2009 by the Organising Committee. Mr. Goel said the new company, which did not have the requisite experience, had been given the work arbitrarily by the Organising Committee and “in all likelihood, the new company has copied either of the three model plans submitted by the Noida-based company”.