Delhi CM involved in decisions leading to excessive spend

The Delhi cabinet may be defending chief minister Sheila Dikshit by claiming she took only policy decisions while they were implemented by bureaucrats, but the CAG report clearly nails their lie.

The audit report has pointed out that Dikshit took certain important decisions which cost the government exchequer dear.

Whether it was to buy potted plants or use imported lights, the report claims these projects got through only after Dikshit's approval. This led to considerable avoidable expenditure, the report states.

For example, agencies under the Delhi government spent Rs 24 crore on potted plants. The objective was to decorate and turn green the venues with these plants. But it had to be abandoned after the Delhi Police raised security concerns.

In August 2008, when the Delhi chief secretary had sought the immediate approval of the CM to create a large pool of potted plants, Dikshit had approved it.

"We could not find any venue- wise break- up of the plants required or any other yardstick in support of the assessment of the requirement of the plants," the report said.

The Delhi government had sanctioned Rs 28 crore for this project.

It was found that most of the potted plants were procured instead of being created in the departmental nurseries as was originally envisaged.

The city police commissioner, meanwhile, intimated the government that the plants were kept away from the venues and the routes because of security concerns. But the report found that the plants were procured even after this intimation.

The PWD said after the Games, about 79,000 of the 3.82 lakh potted plants procured by them, perished because they were seasonal ones. The rest were distributed among various government offices. Surprisingly, when the audit team visited two of those sites at random, they could not find any of the over three lakh potted plants said to have been issued by the PWD. Similar is the case of the imported luminaries. Sample luminaries of some of the leading manufacturers - both imported and indigenous ones - were shown to the CM. Based on the inspection and approval of Dikshit, the PWD decided to use the imported ones, and the MCD and the NDMC also followed suit. The PWD, incidentally, comes under Dikshit's supervision.

All three executed the street lighting project on about an 800 km-stretch at a tendered cost of Rs 286 crore.

Claiming that Dikshit's decision led to wasteful expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore, the report said: "The technical specifications did not distinguish between indigenous and imported luminaries.

The imported ones were procured at a far higher cost, leading to avoidable extra expenditure of Rs 31.07 crore." Their technical specifications were, in fact, identical, the report added.

Dikshit had said in February 2006 that the Capital should have state-of-the-art road signages for the Games. The project was then taken up by the state's PWD. The CAG report said the design modifications were of little utility and the manner of implementation uneconomical, leading to a higher cost of execution. These extra and substituted items led to an additional avoidable expenditure of Rs 14.88 crore.

The CAG report also highlights how private firm IL& FS was paid an exorbitant amount to remove debris from some CWG sites. Satya Prakash and Brothers Private Ltd was awarded the contract for removing the debris at Rs 73.42 per metric ton, but didn't clear it from some sites. IL& FS was roped in to clear the debris and paid Rs 280.32 per metric ton. The government also was unable to recover the cost from the defaulting contractor.

This gains significance as the BJP has accused Dikshit of favouring IL& FS as she reportedly had a relative holding a senior post in the firm.

Chinese hacked CWG data for months

Among the spate of cyber attacks on Indian targets ahead of the October 2010 Commonwealth Games was one that was much more purposeful than others intended to deface sites related to the event.

A possibly state-authored attack on an Indian government agency successfully breached defences and the intrusion lasted one month in September and was repeated in November.

The attack was discovered when a foreign firm specialising in cyber security found a command and control centre used by the intruders and traced logs going back to 2006. The intrusion into the unnamed Indian agency was detected from the centre and was seen to be part of a well-targeted effort to access confidential data.

After the CWG, Indian authorities said hundreds of cyber attacks from Chinese and Pakistani hackers were repulsed. These were largely aimed at sites like the one carrying events and news of the sporting event while some of the attacks were aimed at the scoring and timing programmes. The one detected by the cyber solutions firm McAfee was part of an operation called 'Shady RAT' by investigators and was seen to be Chinese controlled.

There were cyber intrusions into several official sites including PMO and cabinet secretariat earlier in 2010 which were also tracked to Chinese hackers. Aimed at official sites ending with .nic.in addresses, the hacking was not as systematic and was largely random. Officials said the hacking did not touch the secure office intranet that is used within PMO and other sensitive offices.

What is surprising is that the September 2010 intrusion lasted two months with an interval in between. Depending on the sensitivity of the agency involved, the slip might have been costly as the study showed that more than 70 victims of the covert programme led to loss of a massive amount of data. Most of the victims were American government offices and businesses while the interest of the hackers in certain western and Asian Olympic associations just before the Beijing Olympics and in Taiwan suggested a Chinese origin, although the study did not name any entity.

Oludamola tested positive for banned substance

Nigeria's Oludamola Osayomi, who got the gold medal in the women's 100 metres at the Commonwealth Games here on October 7, has tested positive for a banned stimulant.

The Nigerian sprinter, who initially finished second in the 100 but was awarded the gold when Australia's Sally Pearson was disqualified for a false start, tested positive for the banned stimulant Methylexanemine, Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell said Monday.

"Any positive test, whether it is in a high-profile event or not, is something that is very much regretted for a clean games, clean sport and a clean competition," Fennell said, adding that no decision had been made on the medals. "One doesn't know what kind of damage will occur as the result of this test but we just want to let everyone know that we are very vigilant and the testing and laboratory analysis is of the highest standards."

Fennell said Oludamola has been notified of the adverse finding and has requested the testing of her "B" sample.

"This is something we just have to work with and make sure that we do our part in monitoring and eliminating doping in sport," Fennell said.

Elias Gora, the Nigerian team's chef de mission, said he had not yet been informed of the positive test.

"But if the allegations are true it's most unfortunate for us," Gora told The Associated Press. "I'm disappointed and I'm sure people back home will also be disappointed, too."

Gora also said that all Nigerian athletes were given tests prior to the games except those that were in the United States or Europe.

"Since Oludamola was in the U.S. she didn't go through the process," Gora said.

The World Anti-Doping Agency recently loosened the classification of Methylexanemine for next year to the "specified stimulant" list, which covers drugs that are more susceptible to inadvertent use and can carry reduced penalties. Sanctions for use of the drug can be reduced if athletes can prove they did not intend to enhance performance. Penalties can range from a warning to a two-year ban.

WADA said Methylexanemine was sold as a medicine until the early 1970s and has now reappeared in some nutritional supplements and cooking oils.

About a dozen Indian athletes who were to compete at the Commonwealth Games tested positive for the drug in recent months.

They were suspended by the national anti-doping agency, but that was revoked after WADA reclassified the drug. However, not all the athletes have been cleared for participation. The next date for their hearing is Oct. 21.

Fennell said Oludamola's result was the first positive test of the games.

"We have conducted over 900 tests to date and we've had results from just over 700," Fennell said. "But unfortunately I have to record and report to you that we've had a positive result."

Pearson originally crossed first in the 100 final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in 11.28 seconds. But hours after celebrating her victory, the Australian sprinter — an Olympic hurdles silver medalist — was disqualified for the false start.

Oludamola was then given the gold medal, and Natasha Mayers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was moved up to silver.

If Oludamola is stripped of the medal, then Mayers would stand to claim the gold. Katherine Endacott of England, who crossed fourth in the race but received the bronze medal after the disqualification, would then be moved up to silver and Bertille Delphine Atangana of Cameroon would get bronze.

Oludamola also ran in the semifinals of the 200 on Sunday, but failed to advance after finishing fourth in her heat with a time of 23.95 seconds.

India wins 5 Golds, gets back to second position

With 29 Gold, 22 Silver, and 22 Bronze medals till late Sunday evening, India held on to its second position on the seventh day of the ongoing XIX Commonwealth Games here.

The last Gold medal of the total five won today, came through Tennis, as India's Somdev Devvarman defeated Australia's Greg John in straight sets in the final match of Men's singles with the scoreboard reading 6-4,6-2.

In another crucial match, Indian hockey team cruised into the second Semi Final on Sunday evening, as it registered a convincing win over arch rival Pakistan beating it with 7-4 score in the Quarter Final match.

India will play against England in the second semi-final match of Men's hockey competition on Monday.

In a do or die pool match against Pakistan, India defeated them this evening decisively in every sphere of the game. eanwhile, earlier in the day, it was the turn of the Indian Archers, wrestlers and shooters to make a splash.

Archers won two gold medals helping the hosts to maintain the second position in the overall Medals tally.

In free style wrestling, world champion Sushil kumar grabbed the gold in 66 kilogram category outwitting his opponent Heinrich Barnes of South Africa.

With 29 gold medals in kitty, India are just 1 short of their best-ever performance in the Commonwealth games, which happened in Manchester 8 years ago.

The sterling performance of the athletes in the current 19th edition of the games has seen India bettering their 2006 Melbourne games record which had a haul of 22 gold.

Australia continues to dominate the Games, with 60 gold and England are in the third position with 25 gold medals.

The first gold of the day for India came when Indian Woman archer Deepika Kumari won the recurve category. Deepika defeated England's Elison Williamson in the final.

A victorious Deepika said she had put in her best to grab the gold. Dola Banerjee won a bronze in the same event.

After Deepika's win, it was Rahul Banerjee's turn to win the gold in the men's recurve event. Rahul defeated Canada's Jason Lyson. The bronze in the event went to India's Jayanta Talukdar.

Harpreet Singh gave India another gold in the Men's 25 metres Centrefire pistol shooting. He said despite stiff competition, he managed to wrest the gold. Vijay Kumar added a silver in the same event.

In trapshooting, Manavjeet singh Sandhu bagged a bronze.

In freestyle wrestling, India's Anuj Kumar managed to get a silver medal after losing to Pakistan's Mohammed Inam in the 84 kilogram category. Anil kumar grabbed the bronze in the 55 kg wrestling. The gold went to Azhar Hussain of Pakistan and it was the first gold for them. Joginder Kumar has also won a silver in the super heavy weight category of wrestling.

In Boxing, Jai Bhagwan and Dilbagh Singh have entered the semifinals, while 2006 games gold medalist Akhil kumar suffered a shock defeat.

In women's 112 kilometres Cycling race, the gold and silver went to Australia while New Zealand bagged the bronze.

In the discus throw event, Vikas Gowda bagged a Silver medal.

Australia tops the medal tally with 132 medals; 61 Gold, 36 Silver and 35 Bronze, India is on second position with its 73 medals; 29 Gold, 22 Silver and 22 Bronze medals and England remains on third position with 100 medals; 25 gold 45 silver and 30 bronze medals.