MONIKA TRIPATHY
monika.tripathy26@gmail.com

WHO SHOULD SUCCEED KALMADI?

Sports and politics do not jell. But in India, politicians run sports for the sheer business of it. There is money to be laundered, dirty tricks to be played, and limelight to be stolen. Therefore they are there cutting across party lines.

Just think of Sachin Tendulkar succeeding Suresh Kalmadi and the enormous prestige and grandeur it would lent to Commonwealth Games. It would have inspired the common man’s faith in commonwealth and sparked his enthusiasm in sports. It would have won the global admiration India deserves.

Think of Abhinav Bindra donning the mantle and all guns will salute the master shoot-man. That would have electrified the youth of the country and restored their faith in the system. Shashi Tharoor would have added panache to Commonwealth, with his experience in foreign affairs and sporting his foreign wife. But Lalit Modi is class apart and would have turned it into a global gladiatorial show, giving the Chinese a run for their money.

Laloo Prasad would have made a good mascot for Commonwealth Games and saved embarrassment for the species of animal. Since there was no railway safety involved, Mamata could be kept out of the games. Just think of the possibilities because you don’t have just 60 days to think!

JUHI CHAKRABORTY
juhichakraborty@rediffmail.com

LOOTING IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL PRIDE !

Sports from time immemorial have been a display of superhuman feats. The Olympics brought together the disunited Spartans, Athenians, Corinthians, Argos and Megara who were at each other’s throat. The grand Roman gladiatorial shows accomplished unity of sorts of a society split asunder as nobles and slaves.
Come the Commonwealth Games which is more of a wealth game of politicians than anything the common man would love to see. It showcases the cosmic failure of our system – leaking roofs, incomplete stadia, potholed roads and stench of garbage and corruptions galore, to cap it all. The Chinese who hosted the Olympics and South Africa which hosted the FIFA World Cup have many things to learn from us!
Times Now has reported that over £4.50 lakh was transferred to a little known British firm, A M Films, a one-man show which was also receiving £25,000 a month for some time. The deal came to light when the Organising Committee for Commonwealth Games asked for a VAT refund of £14,000 in March.
The deal has all the making of a major scam because there was no written contract between CWG and AM Films. To cap it all, the British Revenue and Customs Department has asked the Indian High Commission to probe the matter.
An RTI application found that about Rs 265 crore from the ‘Scheduled Caste Sub Plan’ for Delhi, has been used to pay for the CWG. More than 100,000 poor slum-dwellers have been evicted (with more likely).

So far, 42 workers are dead, toiling in the most pathetic conditions. Over 6 lakh workers are employed in the Capital, for whose welfare a cess of Rs 400 crore has been collected. But each one is paid just Rs 130 a day with no medical benefits if he falls ill.

The original estimate was around Rs 1,900 crore, later revised to Rs 10,000 crore. Recent independent estimates now suggest it will exceed Rs 30,000 crore. All in the name of national pride!

Kashika Saxena
kashikasaxena.90@gmail.com

FLASH MARRIAGE, FLASH LIFE, FLASH DIVORCE

In Hollywood, they marry to divorce. Much of their life is acting. They confuse acting with life, and understandably so. And finally things fall apart. Five couples have split in the first half of 2010!

Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes

Kate Winslet of Titanic fame and her director husband Sam Mendes have separated after a 7-year marriage. It was the second marriage – and second divorce, too – for the 34-year-old Winslet, 34, winner of the best actress Oscar award for The Reader, a movie based on the theme holocaust. She divorced her first husband, Jim Threapleton, in 2001, three years after their marriage.

Both Kate and Sam are Oscar award-winners.

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James

Newly-crowned Oscar queen Sandra Bullock and Jesse James have just divorced, ending their 5-year marriage. Jesse’s unfaithfulness is said to be the reason for the split.

Huang Yi and Jiang Kai

Chinese actress Huang Yi and her husband Jiang Kai have just ended their year-old marriage. Conflicting personalities is ascribed as the reason for the fiasco.

Charlene Choi and Ronald Cheng

When Hong Kong actress Charlene Choi and singer Ronald Cheng announced their divorce ending their 4-year marriage, it took even the paparazzi by surprise because they did not know the couple was married in the first place.

Gong Li and Ooi Hoe Seng

Gong Li the actress has split from Singaporean tobacco tycoon Ooi Hoe Seng (59). Gossip about Gong’s new relationship is making the rounds.