Team India for 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Championships

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced the Indian teams for the Commonwealth shooting championship to be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, from February 17 to 28.

Though it will be a dress rehearsal for the Commonwealth Games (CWG 2010) to be staged in October, the shooting event may not reflect the true strength of India, as some of the leading shooters do not figure in the team

The release from NRAI also confirmed the participation, of a 17-member team from England, in the championship that will feature rifle, pistol and shotgun events for men and women.

The teams:

Men Rifle: Sanjeev Rajput, Gagan Narang, Imran Hasan Khan, Joydeep Karmakar, Sushil Ghaley and P. T. Raghunath.

Men Pistol: Viraj Singh, Bapu Vanzare, Amanpreet Singh, Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang, Gurpreet Singh, Mahender Singh, Samaresh Jung, Zakir Khan and Omkar Singh.

Men Shotgun: Men: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Birnedeep Sodhi, Anirudh Singh, Vikram Bhatnagar, Mohammed Asab, Ajay Mittal, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, Arozepal Singh and P. P. Singh.

Women Rifle: Tejaswini Sawant, Lajja Gauswami, Meena Kumar, Birmati, Priya Aggarwal, Neha Sapte and Ayonika Paul.

Women Pistol: Anisa Sayeed, Annuraj Singh, Rahi Sarnobat, Shweta Chaudhary and Pushpanjali Rana.

Women Shotgun: Shagun Chowdhary, Seema Tomar, Shreyasi Singh, Arti Singh and Rashmee Rathore

Notable absentees: Abhinav Bindra, Shotgun marksmen Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi, Mansher Singh, Anwer Sultan, Zorawar Singh; Rifle shooters Suma Shirur, Avneet Kaur; and Pistol shooters Harveen Srao and Heena Sidhu.

Incomplete hotels to loose out of tax holiday...!!

Major hospitality chains planning to open properties in the national capital region (NCR) before the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in October could lose out on the five-year tax holiday benefit if they are not able to throw open the entire room inventory before the sporting extravaganza.

According to tourism secretary Sujit Banerjee, the ministry would oppose full tax holiday to companies not closing projects on time. “How can hotels open partially and yet get the tax-holiday. They will have to come to us for registration and classification, and we will not allow such a thing”.

A host of hospitality majors, domestic and foreign including the Taj Group, InterContinental, Hilton, Starwood Hotels and Resorts have projects in the pipeline, which are slated for launch before the Commonwealth Games. While InterContinental group plans to open its Crowne Plaza in New Delhi before the Games, its two other properties would be operational in 2010 but not necessarily before the CWG.

“By opening partially, hotels will not only gain the benefit of the five-year tax holiday (except for five-star properties which are outside the ambit of the scheme), but will also get their licences fast as the ministry is under immense pressure to get the required rooms ready,” said a hospitality consultant on the condition of anonymity. The tourism ministry is also pushing for an extension of the tax-holiday till July 2010 from the earlier March deadline (Click here to read previous report).

According to market estimates, only 50% of the total proposed room inventory will be ready before the Games. Though some hotel majors maintain they will launch full operations of their properties, sector analysts and experts are of the opinion that ground realities are different and as projects are met with delays, owners are planning to go for only partial openings.

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.

Click here to read articles on "Commonwealth Games' Republic Day tableau.

National Hockey stadium to be opened today

The Maj. Dhyan Chand National Stadium will be open on 24-Jan by sports Minster M.S Gill. The National hockey stadium named after India's hockey legend, has been remodeled and reconstructed to host 12th Hockey World Cup, and also to host 2010 Commonwealth Games later this year.

It will be the first stadium among the various Commonwealth Games 2010 venues in the capital to be opened. Delhi is slated to host the Games in October this year.

The new-look stadium spread over 37 acres, has been completely renovated and upgraded for the Commonwealth Games at a cost of Rs 262 crore and will the venue for hockey.

Before the Commonwealth Games, the stadium will be the venue of the XII World Cup Hockey from February 28 to March 13.

The stadium has three synthetic hockey pitches, two conforming to international match standards and one a practice facility. It has new poly grass turf, fitted with sprinkler systems.

Its main field has a seating capacity of 16,200. The second pitch outside the main arena has 900 permanent seats and with a provision of 1600 temporary seats.

The stadium has hinged mast lights to provide 2200 lux illumination and is equipped with a state-of-the-art acoustic system. It has two scoreboards.

The entire stadium is centrally air-conditioned and fitted with lifts and barrier-free provisions. It has facilities for players such as changing rooms, relaxing lounges and VVIP lounge. It is equipped with electronic surveillance through fixed and PTZ cameras connected to central control room, which will have integrated network for connecting various facilities, to meet the operational requirement of various tournaments. The stadium where Commonwealth Games will be held, also has a two-tier underground parking facility in addition to open area parking facilities.

According to an official press release, the stadium has got power supply from two grids with a back-up based on generator sets and battery uninterrupted power supply to ensure that power failure never disrupts the games.

Among other things, the stadium will have a walk-through museum displaying portraits of hockey legends, their dresses and other artefacts related to India's position in the world of hockey.

The release said care had been taken, during the renovation, not to cause any alteration or disturbance to the heritage portion of the stadium facing the India Gate, whereas the Yamuna side of the stadium has been completely renovated on three sides, as earlier it was based on earth mound. The entire new construction has been done in a manner to merge with the old heritage structure.

The stadium was originally built in 1933 as an amphitheatre and was named as Irwin amphitheatre. It was renovated for First Asian Games held in 1951 and also for the 1982 Asian Games.