Thinkin' on your stomach.

The three subsequent pieces are all based on issues and events that were covered by the recent edition of the developments magazine. Unless mentioned otherwise, photos are attributed to the same.

The 3rd Homeless World Cup.

The Third Homeless World Cup was organized in Edinburgh (Scotland) recently. Besides proving to be a motivational source for the players (who usually are street vendors from all corners of the globe), the World Cup has been instrumental in trying to transcend cultural and political boundaries. The term "Third World", we realise, has been a misnomer all the while. Destitute people from Britain meet and share thoughts,opinions (everything except the football) with Namibians. The Third World is all about people rather than defined geographic locations. As mentioned earlier, for the players, the tournament has been an inspiration to struggle and succeed in life. In fact, many have received offers from professional football clubs;most of them return with lucrative sporting opportunities under the wing. Obstacles of a cultural nature still persist. The Homeless World Cup, "which sidesteps the usual sporting elite to turn the floodlights on those at the bottom of the heap", has nonetheless turned out to be a splendid idea to foster rapid development through excellent human connectivity.

Facilitating Development via Blogging.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development has equipped select Ethiopians in rural areas with digicams, enabling them to chronicle their life in vibrant fashion. The experiment, with an objective to motivate the people to come out with their bios (complemented by pics), is indeed a novel one. The results are quite encouraging; more and more Africans have come out of their shells to depict their lives on the Net. Not only do these tales provide exposure to the other-wise ignorant developed countries, but they also end as wholesome pre-occupation (sometimes even jobs) for the bloggers. The logs are posted in EthiopiaLives. Picture courtesy Alefu,EthiopiaLives.

Grameenphone.

Grameen Bank, the popular micro-credit provider in Bangladesh has come out with a cracker of a scheme that entails development vis-a-vis technology. Titled Grameenphone, it encourages to-be "micro-entrepreneurs" to purchase handsets (with the aid of a loan) and then rent out airtime. "When you get a mobile phone, its almost like having a card to get out of poverty in a couple of years", so says Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. Best news is, women have utilized the opportunity to the max. Over 100,00 'phone ladies' and counting....

You're possibly wondering why, of all things, I chose to dwell on this.The answers aren't far to seek:primarily because I was having a torrid time think of topics to blog and also because the 2012 bids are EXTREMELY fascinating.You guys will probably know who the bidders for Olympics 2012 are..(Just in case:- Paris,London,New York,Madrid and Moscow..all the bigwigs).They're among the most renowned cities in the world and you can trust them to come up with something majestic.Believe me, some aspects of certain bids are incredulous!!The International Olympic Committee recently evaluated all five contenders and gave Paris the top slot.This post ought to give you an in-depth coverage of the nuances of the various bids.Here we go...

The Paris Bid.
This is Paris' third attempt at bidding in recent times.The city initially had serious reservations on another attempt after losing to Beijing and Toronto in the 2008 bid and to Barcelona in 1992.However,the French capital is considered to be the favourite for 2012 after scoring highly in the evaluation by the IOC.Paris is campaigning under the slogan 'L'amour des jeux' meaning "Love of the Games" and it promises to provide the ultimate experience to athletes,officials,spectators and journalists alike.Paris has an upper hand as it enjoys a high-profile as a centre of culture and tourism.One of the main advantages Paris has over other cities is that a large number stadia where events are to be held have already been constructed.The Stade-de-France which hosted the FIFA World Cup 98 is of Olympic Standard and it will be ,in all probability, the main venue.The city plans to host the games in two main sites,north and west of Paris,within 10kms from the Olympic Village.Other important venues include the Parc-de-Princes Stadium and Roland Garros(one thing's for sure,if Paris wins,Andy Roddick will have a tough time getting to the Olympic gold ).Beach Volleyball , the organizers say, is going to be held BENEATH THE EIFFEL TOWER!! Will ya look at that?!.Paris estimates the cost of hosting the games at 4billion pounds.

Hosting a 'Green Olympics':The Madrid Bid
The Spanish capital is one of the few major European Capitals not to have hosted the biggest show on earth and has promised to host a "Green Olympics" if its given the Games.In the words of the Mayor of Madrid," Respect for the environment governs all aspects of this project."Madrid's previous attempt at hosting came in '72 when the bid was won by Munich.The success of the Barcelona Lympics is bound to favour the city, but the timing is a problem.Even though the IOC ranked Madrid second,its not very likely that the same country will get the chance 20 years(or 5 Olympics) later(the IOC,however, continually dismiss allegations that the chance is not decided by rotation).One of the key attractions of the Madrid bid is a car-free games with transport and other systems using renewable sources of energy.70% of the infrastructure has already been built and with the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the list (I'm not a Real Madrid fan, but hey! its one of the best you've got) the Spaniards do stand a decent chance.They've given just 1.85 billion for the games and an eco-friendly Olympics could certainly be a trailblazer.

London's attempt at snatching 2012.
London hasnt made a bid since its successful one in '48 and it faces formidable opposition this time around.Manchester lost out to both Atlanta and Sydney,but its success as a capable Commonwealth Host could boost the chances of the games going to the British.The British Govt had made a late bid for the Games and they needed the help of an American Businesswoman and a former Olympic Gold medallist to gain momentum.London's ideas are pretty innovative..they intend to build an Olympic park around Stratford;the Village will be on the same site as the main venue and main venues will,obviously,include Wimbledon,Wembley and Lord's.The Beach Volleyball is supposedly, going to be conducted in the Horse Guards Parade *chuckle*..London needs to convince the IOC that all these can be achieved;the latter's also voicing concerns over the transport infrastructure.Some say that Liverpool's win at the Champions League is a boost to the bid..though I'm blissfully ignorant of how it will..


New York 2012

The Big Apple's profile on the world stage is unsurpassed,but it will face a tough task in bringing the games to USA this time.NY's bid is called Olympic X and its one of the craziest (dont forget unsuccessful) bids in the history of the games.Most sport venues will be along two intersecting axes; water and rail.New York's team say no venue will be more than 20 miles from the Olympic village, at the centre of the X (the intersecting axes) on the East River in Queens.A railway yard west of Manhattan will be re-developed,a huge platform will be built on its working tracks;On this platform will be constructed a huge stadium and Voila! you have the Olympic Stadium(nuts..thats what i think).The athletes warm up track will be on a floating platform in Hudson River (wish Hudson had a waterfall).Important venues will be The Yankees Stadium,Flushing Meadows,Madison Square Garden etc..9/11 will have an important role to play;while Ground Zero may amplify security concerns it also provides an emotive appeal.The Atlanta attacks are also going to be harmful to the Apple.Budget:2.7 billion.

Moscow's Bid
Moscow's USP is that it will provide the most 'compact' games ever.The city believes that the key feature of hosting the entire games within its city borders will provide an edge over the other contenders.Most sports events will be held in complexes along the Moscow river.Russia also hopes that it could make up for the disappointment in '80 when there was an American-led boycott over USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.However, the IOC has ranked Moscow fifth and although 71% of facilities are already in place the evaluation committee insists that the capital lags behind in areas such as infrastructure, accommodation, project and legacy, safety and security.St.Petersburg had lost out to Athens in 2004.

That's about it...I hope you have a good idea now about what's happening behind the scenes of Olympics 2012.Lemme ask ya something.What bid would you support?My vote would go to Madrid.Absolutely fantabulous idea of merging Sport and Sustainable Development..