MELBOURNE: India bribed 72 Commonwealth countries $100,000 each to get the hosting rights for the scandal-hit 19th edition of the Games which will start in Delhi from October 3-14, a media report claimed.

A report in the Daily Telegraph claimed that Delhi pipped Hamilton in the bid after offering huge sums of money to the 72 Commonwealth countries during the final presentation in Jamaica.

The report also said that Australia received a kickback of $125,000 from India.

“Delhi sealed the right to host the Games when their delegates emerged at the final presentation in Jamaica and offered all 72 nations $100,000 (then about $140,000) each for athlete training schemes if they were the successful bidders,” the newspaper reported.

“The money, subsequently paid to all nations, was not significant to Australia because it had already decided to vote for India and the payment was not an exceptionally large one.

“But for small nations who have minimal interest in the Games, it clinched their vote and India went on to beat Canadian city Hamilton 46-22 in the final poll. Hamilton had offered the nations about $70,000 each,” it said.

News Source : TOI

CWG Organizing Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi unveiled the Commonwealth Games 2010 theme song in the inaugural ‘Swagatham’ ceremony at Gurgaon on August 29.

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman released the 2010 Commonwealth Games theme song, Swagatham’. Rahman performed the song in front of a huge audience which included VIPs like Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda and CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi.

“I wrote the first line six months back and kept tweaking it till I finally finished it last night (August 27). It is definitely an honour to compose the official theme song which is in the spirit of the Commonwealth Games,” said Rahman, who released the song.

A.R. Rahman was told to tweak the song by the GoM which delayed the launch by a few days. Group of Ministers headed by Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, recently cleared the theme song.

Song’s lyrics “Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto” inspired and motivated the people who attended the hour-long ceremony. Video of the song is yet to be launched.

Artists from Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts which included ‘Sadya’ and another group ‘Gypsy’ also performed and made the ceremony more exciting. Visual effects and dramatization enthralled the audience.

The initial reaction of some social networking people regarding this song was not as good as expected, but the song showed Rahman’s magic by a massive download statistics. Apparently the song is a hit and CWG organizers have got a reason to be happy.

Theme song , ‘Swagatham’ will be put up on the Commonwealth Games 2010 website and is not available for free download but the song can be freely downloaded from Facebook page of CWG 2010.

Rahman has infused the flavour of India in the song and has managed to touch everyone’s heart. ‘Swagatham’ is written in Hindi with a few English words. He has dedicated this song to Mahatma Gandhi. Rahman vows to go beyond ‘Waka Waka’ with CWG song .

CDs of the song will be released and available publicly soon.

Commonwealth organizing committee has draft some etiquettes and travel tips for the tourist who plan to visit India during commonwealth games 2010. Its “Travelers Zone” section on the organizing committee website which has 18 topics ranging from visa guidelines to toilets and some import “ Do’s and Don’t’s ” during visit. The website also gives the tips on the dress code and what one should do if they visit a house in India.

Some of them as seen in website are given below:

(1) If somebody has invited you home for dinner, carry with you a bottle of wine accompanied by a bouquet of flowers or at least a box of sweets or chocolate bar for the children. People usually take their shoes off before entering a house and putting feet on the furniture is considered bad manners.

(2) Be aware that public displays of affection (hugging, kissing) are generally not appreciated. However, it is common to see men showing affection and camaraderie on the roads and in villages throughout the country.

(3) Never buy food from roadside stalls or mobile canteens. Not that they are necessarily bad, but one’s system may not be accustomed to such delicacies which may result in an upset stomach.

(4) If you are buying from roadside stalls or hawkers be prepared to bargain. Start by offering half the price and settle for 60 per cent. Don’t bargain in proper shops especially those that display “Fixed Price” signs: that will be seen as bad manners.

(5) In India, public toilet facilities are few and far between and outside of the hotels and restaurants can be of dubious cleanliness. We recommend taking every opportunity you can to use a clean toilet in hotels and restaurants and that you carry tissues/wet wipes with you.

(6) Be aware that public displays of affection (hugging, kissing) are generally not appreciated.

You can visit the website for complete list of travel tips to India during commonwealth games.

Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa will stage a 90-minute show on the day-long Qutub Festival, which is held annually at the Qutub Complex. The Qutub festival, which generally takes place in November or December, will be held in October this year to coincide with the Commonwealth Games. The event is organized by the Sahitya Kala Parishad in collaboration with the Delhi government.

On the news Kailash Kher says to HT reporter that, “I am excited and looking forward to it. Each time we perform in Delhi, we get a tremendous response. We have played all over the world, but this time, it’s going to be ‘wow’!”

Being a sport lover singer, Kailash earlier performed at IPL game with akshay kumar for Delhi DareDevils. He started his carrer with sport by doing a jingle for the 2002 cricket world cup.

Commonwealth games venue ticket will come with a free to and fro metro ride. The ticket with unique identification number has two counterfoils which can be used to reach the venue of a particular event for free.
Commonwealth games ticket for various sporting event has date, time and venue and will also have two counterfoils with unique serial number for up and down journey by Delhi metro.

By the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, the entire Phase II of Delhi Metro will be operational, linking 10 of the 11 Games venues in the city. These include the Commonwealth Games Village, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi University, Thyagaraj Complex, Siri Fort Sports Complex, National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Talkatora Indoor Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex and R K Tennis Complex.

Khanna told reporters that over 95 percent of the area had been cleared and it will take a fortnight to complete the landscaping work. Over 15,000 trees will be planted in the Games Village.

The Lt Governor instructed the officials to expedite the remaining work and said he would again inspect the place July 20.

An official said the India Tourism Development Corp (ITDC) had started arranging furniture in the village houses where work has been completed. Some furniture is to come from China.

The Games Village, constructed by Emaar-MGF, was earlier scheduled to be completed by the first week of June. The cost has escalated to Rs.1,038 crore (over USD 200 million). It earlier received a Rs.700-crore (USD 15 million) bailout package from the DDA.