BREAKING NEWS: There is No Indian Cricket Team, and there Never Was

Alas! But true. There is only one team, BCCI ki team, and not India ki team. BCCI has time and again proved that the only thing that matters to them is money, and not the national pride, or India, for that matter. You may have also noticed several times when their members have given preference to monetary contracts instead of options which may have been a pride for India.

First, there was the IPL. One may argue that it was the best option at that time but simply postponing the IPL after the Indian democratic elections could have been an option also. It would have been a nice thing to do, giving the largest democracy in the world respect for the democratic functions it performs, instead it became a matter of one person's ego and he was even praised for that. But that is understandable. Millions were at stake due to contractual obligations, and why does it matter to BCCI if the INDIAN Premier League actually happens in India or not, when the democracy of India was given second preference after the "billion dollar baby".

Second, India is not playing in the Asian Games. IOA president, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, has openly said that BCCI is not participating in the Asian games because there is no money in that. "It has become commercial...cricket has become very commercial. (In Olympic and Asian Games) There are only medals, no money. So, I don't think anybody from cricket world will be interested in taking part," he said. BCCI cited international commitments for not taking part in Asian games, where cricket is debuting in T20 format. "They (BCCI) had done it in Malaysia Commonwealth Games also. They sent a second string team there. So I was never keen and I did not put cricket into Commonwealth Games. I knew they won't make it, they will back out at the last minute. They said they would come to Asian Games, but they backed out. I knew this," he said.

Kalmadi was referring to the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur where India sent a second-string squad, while most of the frontline cricketers played against Pakistan in Canada. I need not add further.

Third, BCCI not agreeing to pre/postpone the India-Australia 2 tests to be played between Oct 2-14 in India, clearly clashing with CWG. Three ODIs are also to be played after the tests. CWG schedule was decided four years ago and BCCI was clearly informed about the time table of the event. But, hey, BCCI has control over 75% of the money in the world cricket. How can anybody tell them to adjust to the CWG, even when it is a matter of national pride for Indian citizens. Instead, we should thank them for giving us the option of either watching the world athletes fighting to get a medal for their country or the BCCI squad fighting it out on a cricket pitch, winning thousands as prize money, lakhs as salaries but zero medals. Mr. Kalmadi has clarified that a year ago, he had requested the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar not to schedule any cricket series on Indian soil during the Games. But, its highly unlikely that without any serious order or threat of disbanding them, BCCI will change their schedule to adjust India in it.

So, we were mistaken for a long time that the team for which we were cheering was an Indian team. But it was a team of a billion dollar enterprise called BCCI(Billionaires Control Cricket in India), run by billionaires to make more money. So never again say its India ki team, its BCCI ki team. R.I.P. Indian Cricket Team.

By- Rahul Bansal

Passing over the baton-all about the CWG 2010 baton..

CWG 2010

As we all know this time common wealth games are scheduled to be held in Delhi in month of October between 3rd and 14th October. So I thought of sharing with you some interesting facts about this year’s games baton.

The Queen's Baton relay began when the baton containing Queen Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. Our President Pratibha Patil herself joined the ceremony in London and received the baton from the Queen.

The baton, packed with high-tech cameras, sound-recorders and LED lights all made in India, contains a message to the athletes from the queen that will be opened and read out loud at the launch of the Games in New Delhi on Oct 3 at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at the opening ceremony. And you know what is the most interesting part, even we can send a message to the baton.

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf – representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres high, 34 millimetres wide at the base, and 86 millimetres wide at the top and weighs 1,900 grams.

The baton has already travelled 70 nations and has entered India on Friday through wagah- Attari border in Amritsar. The baton’s entry is marked by hope and message of Peace for all. This unique and soothing moment saw school children exchanging peace messageswritten on hundreds of handkerchiefs.

The baton will travel across 100 cities of India before reaching Delhi on September 30, 2010. And the Baton’s journey will end on 3rd October at the opening ceremony in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

So like me I know u all must also be waiting eagerly for common wealth games to start. And also for our lovely shera, the official mascot of 19th commonwealth games.So lets take a pledge to make this games a success and the best ever commonwealth games. After all its nation’s call and nation‘s honour is at stake.

-Shared By: Aman Maggu

For facts about CWG: see

http://kaleidoscopeonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/contributed-by-vishal-suri-commonwealth.html

Sports Federations' Heads Strongly Oppose Centre's Order to limit their tenure: They are really shameless:)

First lets give you a glimpse:-
BJP leader VK Malhotra is heading the Archery Association of India for more than 30 years, while Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's term as the Cycling Federation of India head is into its 14th year. Congress leader Captain Satish K Sharma heads the Aero Club for more than two decades, while businessman B S Adityan has been at the top of the Volleyball Federation of India for 12 years. Suresh Kalmadi has been at IOA's helm since 1996. 
No doubt Kalmadi has done some serious work by getting CWG for India. But his is a rarest of rare deeds, not seen much in other federations.

Suresh Kalmadi needs to avoid limelight now and concentrate on the Commonwealth games.

In a breakthrough order by the Ministry of sport in India, the terms of the administrators of these associations have been limited to a maximum of 12 years. In response to the orders approved by the Minister of Sport M.S. Gill, IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi has called the orders ”unconstitutional” and “draconian”. Kalmadi has been continuously in controversy for quiet a time, whether its the bad functioning of Indian Olympic Association or the delay in getting ready the various projects for CWG.

His only saving grace has been that the order seems to be at the wrong time as the Commonwealth Games, for which Kalmadi and other Sports Federation Administrators are responsible, are only 150 days away. An all-out battle between the Sports Ministry and the IOA at this point of time will only prove to be disastrous for sport in India.

However, it is a fact that there is little transparency in the system and federations headed by these politicos. Apart from Praful Patel’s AIFF that, seemingly, has made advances in the realm of Indian Football; all others have failed to even make a mark. The National Rifle Association of India headed by Digvijay Singh – has been under constant attack under the light of Abhinav Bindra’s criticism of the Association. Suresh Kalmadi himself, supported Bindra’s criticism of the treatment that is doled out to the players by the association. The website of NRAI not unlike most other sports federations is a stub. It does not match the standards of transparency and otherwise, set by their colleagues at AIFF.

Federations like the TTFI (Table Tennis Federation of India), AAI (Archery Association of India) headed by Ajay Singh Chautala and V.K. Malhotra respectively, have little to show for. Their games and their associations are lying paralyzed in anonymity. They themselves have busy schedules in their political setup. Their efforts, if any, are reflected in the medals won by hard working sportsmen, who inspite of facing such seclusion have done well enough at the international stage.The AITA (All India Tennis Association) headed by Mr. Yashwant Sinha, since the year 2000, that is a decade now, is in tatters. On the name of development in the game, they could come up only with a structure inspired from the IPL, called the Indian Tennis League. This was supposed to go off in 2008 but is still in the cold bag. Now the AITA is planning to revive the idea. The website of the AITA incessantly shows the “page not found” sign when explored.

The big question to be asked is why should these administrators be retained even after twelve fruitless years? A time of twelve years is long enough to revolutionize the whole system and big enough to start from scratch and build a mega structure. These sports federations have failed at providing the most basic of needs to players and have done nothing to popularize their respective sports.

These Sports Federations have their jobs cut out for now. They have to put up a good show at the Commonwealth in Delhi, both as hosts and participants. Because they have a sword hanging above their heads. But for now, keep the focus on the CWG only, please.

Govt’s low-floor ride AN EXPENSIVE AFFAIR!

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report castigates govt for procuring low-floor buses at unjustified high rate and adding to cost by installing unnecessary features

Delhi government’s showpiece transport initiative — low-floor buses — has run into statistical hurdles in the report of the CAG released recently. The report seriously questions the thinking and rationale behind purchasing those swanky buses. Here's some of the findings of CAG-
1.) It pointed out that the buses were ‘‘purchased at rates over and above the justified rate prepared by the technical committee of the corporation which would burden the exchequer by Rs 244.30 crore and there would be an additional outgo of Rs 833.30 crore on account of the higher annual maintenance charges over a period of 12 years’’. 

2.) It also pointed out that even though the Central Road Research Institute of Pune had pronounced features such as automatic transmission system, retarder and antiskid lock braking system in the buses as “unnecessary”, an additional Rs 168.94 crore was spent on these. The report said that the 3,156 AC and non-AC buses procured by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) during 2008-09 were unsuitable for plying on ‘‘uneven and harsher terrains’’. Reason for fire in the engines and dents and damages to the lower chasis(body) of the buses.

 3.)At 90.5%, DTC’s average fleet utilization was found to be below the all-India average of 92% for peak hours. During the evening shift, the utilization level dropped sharply by 33%. The average kilometres run by each bus per day in a year decreased from 193 km in 2004-05 to 132 km in 2008-09.

4.) The percentage of cancellation of scheduled kilometres increased from 19.4% in 2004-05 to 27.9% in 2008-09. It was also found in checks across 17 depots of the corporation during the year 2008-09 that 1,189 out of 1,798 buses (66.13%) had been issued fitness certificates that clearly said they were not to ply on local routes. Yet the corporation is going against the suggestion — making the buses a hazard to public safety. 

5.) The report also confirmed what has always been the public perception. The fare structure, which is decided by the Delhi government, has no scientific basis and there is a risk of commuters paying the price for the corporation’s inefficiency. 
            
While DTC was inefficient, the transport department turned out to be profligate.  ‘‘An amount of Rs 7.81 crore was spent on feasibility studies of monorail and light rail transit projects without conducting preliminary deliberations with experts,’’ the CAG report states. The corridors were found unviable. 

The department, the audit found, is also plagued by acute shortage of staff — 56% gazetted and 60% non-gazetted posts. 
Bumpy Road-  In 2008-09, DTC suffered a loss of Rs 1,708.55 cr, spending Rs 119.27 cr for every kilometer while earning only Rs 25.90cr per Km.


The Commonwealth games have become an opportunity for the corrupt Delhi officials who, don't even know how to efficiently run their respective departments, but know how to churn out the funds and put it in their own pockets at the expense of tax payers' money.
Whats your views on the topic? Please share with us.

Delhi MLAs want CWG houses for almost FREE>>

They may already have plenty of perquisites but that doesn't stop Delhi's legislators belonging to the ruling Congress party from hankering for more. They have their eyes firmly set on the luxurious apartments being readied at the Commonwealth Games Village near Akshardham temple, and are demanding that they be allotted flats on a priority basis - that too at a special price.

Not surprisingly, the demand raised by Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal on the floor of the House was enthusiastically supported by all Congress MLAs. While public opinion may not be quite as supportive, chief minister Sheila Dikshit chose to pass the buck. "If you all want this then either bring a resolution or put out your demand and I will forward it to the concerned authorities. I have no role in the matter but your sentiments can be made known to those concerned with the allotments," she said.

Cutting across party lines, BJP MLAs are also supporting the move. It has been proved time and again by Indian politicians that they may be severely against each other on issues of national interest, many a times only to prove the literal meaning of opposition party, but on topics which benefit them all, they all are brothers and sisters(even sweeter than real ones).

On Thursday, Iqbal pointed out that luxurious flats were being created in the Games Village which will be left vacant once the players leave. "If private companies can buy these flats, then why can't the government buy these flats and give them to us. We don't have houses and the government must do something about it," he said.

There are 325 luxury and super luxury flats in the village to be used by the athletes and officials during games, costing around Rs.2 Crores each. If DDA auction these flats, it can easily get Rs. 1400-1600 Crores, which can be spent more wisely for the common masses. But the MLAs want these at the cost price. It is not that these wealthy politicians don't have houses to live in or something. They just want more luxury flats at throw away prices.

Its a shame that even before we have successfully or failingly hosted the games, the politicians are eyeing the structures which will be the legacy of the games. And for themselves. The Delhi Government is burdening us all with increasing prices saying that they need funds but it can openly throw away property at cheap prices to its MLAs.

Shameful but maybe it will happen. For more info about our greedy politicians in Delhi, check out HT.

Commonwealth Games Fact File

Contributed By- Vishal Suri

Commonwealth Games Are Being Organized In Our Own City, Delhi

So how many of us actually know about the Commonwealth Games?

Motto	Humanity-Equality-Destiny
Headquarters	London, England
Commonwealth Secretariat	Hon. Michael Fennell, OJ, CD

History:

The first such event, then known as the British Empire Games, was held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The name changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, to British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and assumed the current name of the Commonwealth Games in 1978

Participants:

• There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate in the Games.
• At the 1930 games, women competed in the Swimming events only. From 1934, women also competed in some Athletics events
• Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest scoring team for ten games, England for seven and Canada for one.

What's Unique About The CWG?

• The four constituent countries of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games (unlike at the Olympic Games, where the United Kingdom sends a single team), and individual teams are also sent from the British Crown dependencies – Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man – and many of the British overseas territories.
• The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island also sends its own team, as do the Cook Islands and Niue, two states in free association with New Zealand

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In 2014 the Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland