This KERFUFFLE surrounding the Delhi commonwealth games

[MikeySmall]

I had to laugh at that comment, I think even the most basic standards of cleanliness and hygiene wherever you are from in the world would generally include not finding faeces scattered around your room and a feral dog asleep on your bed

Unfortunately to many extents India is still very much a 3rd world country with the infrastructure, working practices and problems that go with it. Added to that the endemic ingrained corruption that infects every aspect of Indian life, It is no surprise that this games is looking like a train wreck.

When I was in India I saw some guy collecting his water from the local river only to look further upstream to see someone having a terd. Welcome to India....

 

[Chicken Run]

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that India doesn't have that much money to chuck around does it ?

Unless of course your not including their defence budget!!!

India is planning to raise its military budget by 50% to almost $40 billion, making military expenditure 3% of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), the defense minister said.

"Our current defense spending is lower than 2% [of GDP]...and it should be at least 3%," A. K. Antony said at a meeting with top military commanders on Tuesday, without specifying a timeframe. India raised its defense spending in February by 10% to $26.5 billion for the fiscal year 2008-2009, but it still fell below 2% of GDP for the first time in at least a decade.

 

[bhaexpress]

I agree with adrian29uk but not because of the distance. I despise non-UK based call centres as they provide no felxability. The person can not move from the script and usually doesn't understand your issue.

I used to have by business banking with HSBC. Only once did I call their Indian call centre. I gave my account details and branch. Stupid idiot then told me they couldn't help as they didn't know where Crawley was - the branch I banked with !!!!! Strangely when I went to see my business manager and threaterned to move my account I was given the number of a UK call centre who were always willing and capable of helping even if it meant moving away from the script.

I now try and avoid using companies that use non-UK call centres ( even though I'm employed by one that does !!!! ).

If you take BT as an example they have a lot of Asian support but they have made a pig's ear of providing details (given the way they work here it's no surprise, for a communications organisation they are pathetic). I am sure it's not unique to BT either. One of the reasons I'm with Natwest is that they advertise that they do not use anything other than UK based call centres. Other firms in the RBS organisation like Direct Line and Churchill do the same. I must admit that with the best will in the world I get a bit irked when I have to atlk to somebody who's accent I can't understand although with that I would say most Asians are a lot easier to comprehend than Europeans.

 

[magoo]

without wishing to sound racist, let's just say India works 'differently' to the west.

 

[bhaexpress]

without wishing to sound racist, let's just say India works 'differently' to the west.

This is true but you shouldn't forget they learned a lot from the Imperialists who marched into their country and told them how to run it having made themselves rather wealthy in the process.

 

[Martinf]

The games are definitely in trouble if this is the name of the chief minister.

From the Guardian website:

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has dismissed talk of abandoning the Games, saying that recent events are "minor glitches".

 

[crodonilson]

Too many people burying their heads in the sand surrounding this, there have been reports for years now that they were behind where they should have been in the planning so it's no great surprise. The Commonweath Games are a fantastic event encompassing over a quarter of the Worlds population, I hope they go ahead.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'll be watching the swimming with interest, what with all that water and shoddy electrical work...

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I'll be watching the swimming with interest, what with all that water and shoddy electrical work...

and floating turds....

 

[Reading Seagull]

This isn't about money it's about safety...

This is happening when no-one is there - what happens when the stadium is full and something goes wrong?

Scary !

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Just to re-iterate the extend of the SHAMBLES, I've just heard something quite extraordinary.

My company are providing the timing and scoring services to these games, as we do to all major multi-sports events worldwide. The guy from our UK office who is on the team [such a shame I turned this one down ] has just found out, that at this stage there is no hotel for our 150-man team.

 

[Badger]

Just to re-iterate the extend of the SHAMBLES, I've just heard something quite extraordinary.

My company are providing the timing and scoring services to these games, as we do to all major multi-sports events worldwide. The guy from our UK office who is on the team [such a shame I turned this one down ] has just found out, that at this stage there is no hotel for our 150-man team.

They may end up with

and

 

[Nibble]

India is one of the most corrupt countries on earth. Any money intended to sort the games out would have been used up by the officials years ago. It was a nation built on back handers, favours and people you know.

 

[Nibble]

Didn't have to thanks to technology called television

Ignorant, Racist fool.

 

[bhaexpress]

India is one of the most corrupt countries on earth. Any money intended to sort the games out would have been used up by the officials years ago. It was a nation built on back handers, favours and people you know.

Unfortunately I wouldn't bet against the fact that they probably learned that from us also.

 

[Nibble]

Unfortunately I wouldn't bet against the fact that they probably learned that from us also.

I would imagine so.

 

[bhaexpress]

Just to re-iterate the extend of the SHAMBLES, I've just heard something quite extraordinary.

My company are providing the timing and scoring services to these games, as we do to all major multi-sports events worldwide. The guy from our UK office who is on the team [such a shame I turned this one down ] has just found out, that at this stage there is no hotel for our 150-man team.

What's the problem, the excitement's in tents.

 

[Reading Seagull]

Thank god they're not involved with Falmer......

 

[LA1972]

This isn't about money it's about safety...

This is happening when no-one is there - what happens when the stadium is full and something goes wrong?

Scary !

Correct. Over 50 workers have lost their lives SO FAR in building projects for the CWG 2010. Is any bloody sporting event worth that? (well apart from Falmer)

 

[the hitman]

I lived in Delhi from 2001 until 2005. During that time we saw a lot of investment in infrastructure and I am told by friends still there that this has continued apace since we left.

One thing that struck me about the big building projects that we saw was that Health & Safety considerations simply didn't exist there. One of the charities out there provided day care for children of manual labourers on these projects. If this service was not provided the labourers simply brought their children to the site where they would promptly drop off the end of a flyover, fall into a cement mixer, etc.

The tales that have come through in the last few days do not surprise me at all. I am afraid that tales of poor sanitation, badly installed plumbing and the like more or less come as standard in India.

It is very sad, as I would desperately like to see the country succeed in hosting the games but I really feel that they should be pulled. At the very least, I feel the Home Nations are perfectly entitled to say thanks but no thanks. Security is an issue and it is not as though this is simply a case of athletes missing home comforts. Dengue fever is a risk and arenas are falling apart.

After Delhi, I went to Abuja in Nigeria for three years. I almost shat myself when they applied to host the games.

I think this post proves my point