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The Games and the Commonwealth: Delhi 2010
Presented by The
Times of India & South Asia Research Foundation. Important
issues that emerged from the three days summit- March 28-30, 2010
Madam Sheila Dikshit,
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi graced the inaugural session
along with other dignitaries like Mr.S.Jaipal Reddy, Hon’ble Minister
of Urban Development, Govt. of India, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman
CWGOC 2010, and Prof.Brian Stoddart. Mr.ArnabGoswami, Editor in
chief Times Now, chaired the session.
Mr.Manoj Joshi,
Royal Mail Representative, South Asia & Director, George Group of
Colleges, Kolkata presented the Common Wealth Games Stamp Sheet
to the dignitaries. Mr.Kalamadi sounded quiet confident that the
opening and closing ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth games will
the best in the history of the games. He also mentioned that over
6oo crores have been sanctioned for the preparation of the Indian
athlete. Madam Sheila Dikshit also assured that the entire infrastructure
for the games would be ready by end of July. Raja Randhir Singh
highlighted the concept of Olympic Value Education Programme (OVEP).
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Eminent sports
commentator Mr.Charu Sharma chaired the session on “Pressure
in High Performance sports”. Olympic bronze medallist boxer
Mr.Vijender Singh, ace shooter Mr.Samresh Jung, Director,
Go Sports Mr. H.S.Habbibulla, and Mr.Dave Collins, coach British
Olympic team were the notable panelist. Mr.Jung emphasized
the need for qualified shooting coaches while Mr.Habbibulla
expressed his concern about the political influence in apex
sports bodies.
Mr.Vijender
Singh said that sports person deserve more respect and support
from their respective apex body. Prof. Dharma Kovvuri, Dean
Business School, UCLAN, chaired the session on Sport, CSR
and Public Sector. Mr.
Harshvardhan Neotia, MD, Ambuja Realty highlighted how they
are adding sports facilities in housing complexes and trying
to change the mindset of the people. Mr.Shailendra Singh,
joint MD of Percept Ltd. expressed his concern on the issue
“Do we really want to project ourselves as a sporting nation”.
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The session on
“Media and the Commonwealth Games” chaired by Prof. Ujjwal K.Chowdhury
was highly thought provoking with expert comments from the media
fraternity represented by Mr.Soumitra Bose of ESPN Star Sports emphasizing
the role of new and emerging media like the mobile phone. Shamya
Dasgupta of News X said that if you perform the media would be there
to cover you. Mr.V.Krishnaswamy had a word of caution regarding
the act of “Dumping down information” by media. The keynote Address
delivered by Mr. Bruce Kidd, Chairman, Commonwealth Advisory Body
on Sport highlighted on two aspects namely “High Performance” and
“Sports For Development”.
Prof. Hilary Beckles,
Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of West Indies talked about
the role of sports in developing a nation. Michael Linley, Chairman
Brand Capital, Melbourne, Louise Martin and Han Westerbeek were
the eminent panelist for the session “Mega events: Jackpot or Burden”.
Mr. Linley focused on Brand building in 2010 and beyond and Louise
Martin talked about the preparation of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth
Games. She said the 2014 games would be athlete Centre games. It
was unanimously agreed that organizing the CWG is not at all a burden.
None other than Prof. Boria Majumdar chaired the concluding session.
There was a Galaxy of stars in the panel. Mr.Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble
Minister of HRD, Govt. of India, Kumari Selja, Hon’ble Minister
of Tourism, Mr. Arun Jaitley, Mr.Jean Loup and Raja Randhir Singh
among others. All stakeholders present on the podium agreed to join
hands to make the Delhi Common Wealth games a great success and
assured one and all that the games will leave a legacy and transform
the image of Delhi. The deliberation that took place for three days
saw a very encouraging participation from around the globe.
Contributing
Author: Supriyo Patra Head
Of the Department Sports Management Programme & Lecturer Dept. of
Business Administration George College 136, B.B.Ganguly Street Kolkata
700012 supriyo_patra@rediffmail.com
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