Coordination Committee reviews progress in CWG preparation

Sports Minister MS Gill chaired the meeting also attended by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit,Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi and

officials from Tourism Ministry,Delhi Development Authority and other departments.

“The progress of all the stadia built by Sports Authority of India and DDA were reviewed and found satisfactory,” informed a ministry official.

“Security arrangement,medical facilities,city infrastructure,volunteer recruitment and their training,police and traffic arrangements — everything

was assessed in the meeting,” he added.

Tourism Ministry officials spelled out plans for the accommodation of tourists,while construction of the Commonwealth Games Village also came up for review.

“The Minister assured all the stakeholders that adequate fund has been provided for all the activities and money should not be a concern,” the official

said.

The Coordination Committee also decided to set up another committee comprising officials from Sports Ministry,representatives from Delhi government and

organizing committee to review the progress in construction of various facilities and report to the Ministry every fortnight.

By Rajeev Khanna

Dehradun

The armed forces plan to have a new Short Service Commission (SSC) Academy on the lines of the Chennai based Officers Training Academy (OTA).

According to the Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) Lt. Gen. R.S. Sujlana,There is a proposal to set up such an academy at Gaya in Bihar

which would have an intake capacity of 630 to 700 cadets.

He went on to say that there is a plan to encourage more intake of officers in the SSC as compared to the regular commissioning. He pointed that after their

brief stints the SSC officers can go and join other vocations. In addition to this it will also help in resolving the issues of promotions of those who

have regular commissioning. However,he added that it remains to be seen how the youth of the country responds to such a plan.

Interacting with the media persons on the eve of the Passing out Parade (POP) scheduled for Saturday,Lt. Gen. Sujlana said that the IMA is encouraging

its cadets to become computer savvy.

He said that the Academy proposes to provide every Gentleman Cadet undergoing training with a computer very soon. He said that the cadets would be provided

a WiFi environment but at the same time they would be asked not to upload any official document or map on their computers.

The Commandant informed that a computer mela had been organized by the IMA recently and several cadets had come forward to purchase lap tops.

A total of 513 officers would be passing out from the Academy on Saturday. The Reviewing Officer for the POP will be the Punjab Governor and Chandigarh

Administrator Gen. Sunith Francis Rodrigues (Retd). The maximum number of officers passing out this time will be from Uttar Pradesh with their figure standing

at 96. The pass outs will also include 16 officials from Bhutan,Tazakistan and Mauritius.

Lt. Gen. Sujlana informed,From the first course of 40 Gentlemen Cadets,the IMA has grown to a current capacity of 2065. This institution has so far trained

over 47,000 officers and has a glorious and colourful history.”