ndian PM furious over Games' mess

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, exasperated by the chaos surrounding the
Commonwealth Games, has angrily refused to listen to his sports minister's
explanation of the mess, reports said on Saturday.
All major Indian newspapers carried the same front page report based on clearly
leaked details of a crisis meeting on Friday between Singh and a number of senior
ministers.
During the talks, sports minister M.S. Gill attempted to give a briefing, explaining
how problems had arisen during preparations for the October 3-14 event which the
media has dubbed India's 'Shame Games'.
But Singh cut him short, saying the time for presentations was long past with barely
more than a week remaining until the opening ceremony and serious questions
remaining over the facilities, especially the athletes' village.
The prime minister "literally threw up his arms in exasperation over the inability
of those in charge to tackle even minor issues related to housekeeping", one
government source told the Indian Express.
"What is the problem?", he asked those present, including Gill, the source said.
Singh has been increasingly involved in sorting out the Games fiasco since Tuesday
when the event seemed on the brink of collapse, amid worries about security, a
bridge falling down and complaints about the "filthy" state of the village.
He has held a series of crisis meetings at the highest level in a bid to bring some
focus to crucial remedial work that still remains to be done with athletes already
arriving in New Delhi.
The leaked details of Friday's meeting appeared aimed at publicly underlining the
prime minister's resolution to ensure that the Games, meant to showcase India's
superpower ambitions, are a success.
The reported incident as hundreds of staff, overseen by Delhi's chief minister
Sheila Dikshit, were deployed to clean the athletes village.
"We are now working on a war footing," said the chief administrator in the village,
Ashok Kapoor.
"More than 2000 people are on the job, everywhere, round the clock, cleaning and
re-fitting fixtures that do not work or are missing."
Several world class athletes have already pulled out, including Australian world
discus champion Dani Samuels, English Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu
and world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu.
Organisers also have struggled with financial woes, an outbreak of dengue fever, the
collapse of a footbridge leading to the main stadium and security fears after last
Sunday's shooting of two tourists at a Delhi mosque, for which a Muslim militant
group claimed responsibility.
Several nations delayed travelling to New Delhi and some even suggested the Games
might be cancelled.