New Delhi, October 11
Nothing can be said about the success of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, at least for now. Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennel said this today as there are three days still remain for the event to end.

"Till now, the Games have been smooth. Operational matters are being monitored," he said.

Though the organisers feel that nothing has gone wrong in the execution of the event, Fennell said an evaluation would be conducted after the Games are over. He reiterated organising committee chairperson Suresh Kalmadi's statement that the Games would leave a lasting legacy for Delhi.

"No major Games have been held in Delhi since 1982. The city has seized the opportunity. As it is a city of 17 million people, the Games will create a legacy. The city's infrastructure has also improved tremendously," said Fennell.

On the sparse spectatorship of the road events like -- cycling, he assured that more video screens will be placed on the routes. "Connaught Place was blocked and that has affected the viewership. But there were crowds at the starting and finishing points. Video screens will be positioned on the routes," said Fennell.

He assured that TV screens would be set up at public places in the city to facilitate easy viewing of the upcoming marathon. People complained about missing the cycling event and watched it on their TV sets due to tight security.

"People preferred to watch Sunday's exciting cycling event on TV. So, we plan to get more spectators involved in the men's and women's marathon on October 14," he said.

"We are installing video screens at public places for the marathon on Thursday," Kalmadi added.

The comments came shortly after Fennel pointed out at the customary morning press conference on Monday that the only shortcoming of Sunday's excellent cycling race was the presence of a few spectators. 

New Delhi, October 11
The Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisers have announced to put up large screens across the Capital on October 14 when the city would host the marathon. The decision came after tight security in parts of Delhi during the cycling event yesterday kept spectators away.

Organising committee president Suresh Kalmadi today announced this after CWG Federation president Mike Fennel expressed disappointment over the lack of spectators for an excellent event.

People complained that security was so tight that it was an arduous task to get through all security checks to reach close to the track hosting the cycling event. Security personnel were restrictive in their exercise to ensure that the event went on peacefully.

Kalmadi said the screens would be installed at public places across the Capital. He added that the OC was working out the modalities in this regard. Strict security measures were the need of the hour and it could not be compromised.

The marathon would be the last Games event on a day when it would be formally over in evening with a grand closing ceremony. 

New Delhi, October 11
Learning its lessons from the opening ceremony function where restrictions and diversions caused needless harassment to visitors going to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Delhi traffic police has come out with an advisory today.

The advisory specifies the route to take for reaching a particular entry gate of the stadium on the closing ceremony day i.e. October 14. It not only specifies the blockades and restrictions on roads, but also directs on which Metro station one has to alight, depending on the gate from which one has to enter the stadium.

Addressing a press conference today, joint commissioner (traffic) Satyender Garg blamed the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee for the problems that spectators faced on the opening ceremony day. People had to walk kilometers to reach the stadium gates that day.

"We have learnt our lessons from the difficulties faced by people on opening ceremony day. Now, we have come out with specific instructions for them, which include the points from where people can enter the stadium. However, it is supposed to be specified in the tickets," said Garg.

There are three Metro stations - Jor Bagh, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Jangpura - in the vicinity of the stadium. If someone has to enter the stadium from gate no 6, he has to get down at Jor Bagh station.

"We never saw the tickets. We got to see them on the October 3. We admit that there was some communication gap, as we thought that the tickets would have information on how to reach a particular gate," he said.

Garg said those having tickets can enter the stadium through gate numbers 6, 9 and 14. For entry through gate number 6, one should alight at Jor Bagh Metro station. From there, one can take the DTC shuttle service. For entry via gate number 9, one should get down at Jangpura Metro station; while for entering the stadium from gate number 14, one must alight at JN Stadium Metro station.

"One is likely to face difficulty in entering the stadium, if he gets down at the wrong station," Garg said, adding that it is important to keep the gate number and Metro station in mind.

Meanwhile, the police has also come out with an advisory for the marathon scheduled for October 14 morning.

According to information, the race will be held on a 10.5-km route. It will pass through Rajpath, Janpath, Rajendra Prasad Road, Red Cross Road, Parliament Street, Outer and Inner Circus of Connaught Place, Minto Road and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg. Vehicles will be blocked at South Fountain, Rafi Marg, Janpath, Rajpath, Rajendra Prasad Road, Ashoka Road, Raisina Road, Tolstoy Marg, Outer and Inner Circus of Connaught Place, Barakhamba Road, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, Jehangir Road, Bhav Bhuti Marg, State Entry Road, Jai Singh Road, Imtiaz Khan Marg and Talkatora Road. 

New Delhi, October 11
A study of pollution level in and around the Games Village and other venues has revealed that the quality of air around these places, except three stadiums, is "moderate to poor". However, the scientist heading the research said things were much better than the fears expressed by the international media about Delhi's pollution level.

Dr Gufran Beig, programme director, air-quality monitoring at Games venues, told The Tribune that construction works continuing till almost the beginning of the Games had resulted in more than acceptable presence of particulate matters like dust and other fine particles in the air during the event, which is hosting close to 7,000 foreign athletes and officials.

"The quality of air is good in stadiums which are either old or were prepared long before the Games began," he said.

Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Talkatora Stadium and Thyagaraj Stadiums are the venues which were ready much earlier than others and have generally good quality of air. When the air quality does deteriorate in these places, it improves in shorter span of time than other venues.

Beig, who is a scientist with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, said the pollution level was an "issue of concern but not alarm".

The air quality is considered average if the particulate level is in the range of 100-200, poor between 200-300 and very poor if it goes beyond 300. The dangerous particulate matters are put into two categories, PM2.5 and PM10; the first for those particles smaller in size than 2.5 micron and the second for those bigger in size than 10 micron.

However, the good news is that gaseous pollutants, caused mostly by automobiles, are in good to moderate range, again underlining the fact that a switchover to CNG has been a boon for the Capital's environment.

The level of ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide is within the permissible limit.

"The result makes it obvious that if the authorities had finished all the construction a few months before, there would have been no reason for concern now," Beig said.

He said the level of particulate matter was much better during the rains as all the dust had settled and it has worsened now due to the dry period. He said the limited space on roads for the vehicles due to dedicate lanes for CWG traffic was also one of the factors for increase in particulate matters as many vehicles, especially two-wheelers, were driving on unpaved roads.

Beig said they had been studying the level of pollution at many places in Delhi round-the- clock and would release a comprehensive report after the Games. 

New Delhi, October 11
The Delhi cabinet has approved the proposal of the third phase of the Metro that will bring various far off areas of the Capital on the Metro network, sources said.

The decision was taken at a meeting held today.

However, the cabinet postponed the decisions on circle rates and status of Delhi Integrated Multi Model Transit System (DIMTS) for tomorrow.

The third phase of the Metro has been estimated to cost Rs 24,000 crore. Now, the proposal would be sent to the Union government for clearance and issue of finance.

The work would be started after the Commonwealth Games get over.

The sources said the third phase will connect Shastri Park to Yamuna Bank, Apollo Hospital to Kalindi Kunj, Jehangirpuri to Badli, Mukundpur to Rajouri Garden, Badarpur to Faridabad, Indraprastha to Jamia and several other places.

It is to be noticed that north-east Delhi, the most densely populated area in the Capital, has been ignored in the third phase. Only Shastri Park, which is one of the segments of education and transport minister Arvinder Singh Lovely's assembly constituency, has been included.

Interestingly, the north-east area is represented by DPCC president Jaiprakash Agarwal, who is not said to be sharing very good terms with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the sources added.

As far as the postponement of the cabinet meeting is concerned, it was done due to differences in the opinions of ministers over circle rates and the status of DIMTS.

Higher circle rates may affect the popularity of the ministers as these rates affect property prices in authorised colonies.

The Centre had asked the Delhi government about the status of DIMTS, an NGO, as it had been reportedly given the contract of BRT without inviting tenders, the sources said.

According to rules, no contract can be awarded without inviting tenders, the sources said.

Following the objection of the comptroller auditor general (CAG) of India, the government has also set up a six-member panel to look into the role of the DIMTS in carrying out the transport projects.

The CAG had asked the government whether the DIMTS was functioning in the capacity of a private consultant or as a government undertaking.

Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta is heading the panel that will decide whether the DIMTS can work as a consultancy. The panel will submit its report with one month, sources said. 

New Delhi, October 11
His 12 years of hard work has made him achieve both name and fame in a world which is usually not so kind to people with physical disabilities.

Rajinder Singh Rahelu (36), an Arjuna awardee and power lifter from Mehsampur, a village in Punjab, has come a long way.

"Life was not the same, a few years ago. I have gone through hell. I had to toil hard to reach here," says the power lifter who won a bronze for India in 2004 para-Olympics in Athens.

His turn in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) would come in a day when the competition in his category starts.

Rahelu says, "Life has not been kind to me. Apart from being disabled, I belonged to a family that often struggled to make both ends meet. My father played in a wedding band to feed the seven-member family, including three sons and two daughters. For me, life was even tougher as I used to go to school. Till class IX, I had not heard of something called wheelchair, but was lucky to get one soon through some donation."

Rahelu further says that he knew he wanted to do something different, but was unable to figure out what. "One day, my friend Surinder Singh, a power lifter and who lives in Sweden, asked me to try my hands in power lifting. He was convinced that a little training could get me a state medal. I agreed, and, there has been no looking back," says Rahelu who has won 19 medals in national and international events.

In 2006, Rahelu was honoured with the Arjuna Award for his extraordinary achievements. "In a year, I became the national champion and started winning international competitions. But it was my para-Olympics bronze in 2004 that changed my life. Now, the sports ministry has also devised a programme to recognise para sports," said Rahelu, who won a gold medal at the 2009 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Championship in Bengaluru.

The power lifter says that winning a medal in the Games is his top priority. Talking about his well-built upper body, Rahelu says it is due to his hard work. "I could never have the kind of diet as required for a power lifter because of our economic conditions. It might be because I used to travel 25 km to the neighbouring Phagwara at least twice a week for training on a hand-powered tricycle," said Rahelu.

New Delhi, October 11
The postmortem report of Devender Jha (40), who died in the Lal Bahadur Bal Chikitsyalaya on September 15 due to the alleged negligence on the part of doctors, states that he died of heart attack, thus, strengthening doubts that the doctors on duty did not pay adequate attention to his medical condition.

In stead, they allegedly gave him a painkiller and asked his wife to bring him to the OPD later.

As Jha was complaining of severe chest pain, his wife Ranjana Devi had brought him to the hospital where the doctors gave him painkillers, which experts say, might have worsened the matters for him.

Ranjana has filed a police complaint against the doctors, accusing them of negligence and wrong diagnosis.

The Tribune had reported the apathy and insensitiveness of the hospital in treating Jha on October 2.

The hospital's medical superintendent Dr R.A. Gautam admitted to The Tribune that the doctors might have committed an error in examining Jha, but defended it, saying that the hospital did not have specialised care.

"There could have been some miscommunication. Hundreds of patients come and errors do take place in one or two per cent of the cases," Dr Gautam said.

The postmortem report states that the patient died due to "myocardial infarction", commonly known as heart attack.

"The patient was unconscious and our doctors from anaesthesia and medicine departments tried to revive him, but failed. We are carrying out an internal enquiry into the matter and would discuss it in the monthly death review meeting, after the Games," said Dr Gautam.

In such a situation, a cardiologist in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr A.K. Bisoi, says an ECG should have been conducted on the patient. He said voveran, a painkiller injection administered to Jha, might have been more harmful.

The hospital, however, doesn't have specialists for cardiac treatment.

The woes of Ranjana Devi were deepened with the hospital's callousness as it sent Jha's body to the morgue as that of an unidentified person, while his wife was away to fetch the prescribed medicines.

Meanwhile, officials of the Kalyanpuri police station said that an enquiry is on and based onthe result of the probe an FIR would be decided. 

New Delhi, October 11
A 75-year-old watchman was allegedly found dead in the factory where he worked in the Samaypur Badli area of outer district this morning.

According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Inder Dev Mandal, originally from Bihar.

Mandal's body was found this morning when the other workers reached there.

They found Mandal lying dead on the factory compound. "Although there are no marks on Mandal's body, we suspect some foul play and are investigating the matter.

The body has been sent to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for postmortem," said a police official.

According to information, Mandal lived with his family in Samaypur Badli village. The police has also informed about the incident to the factory's owner, who is out of the country.