CWG Organizing Committee and IBNlive.com partner for this unique, unprecedented initiative as build up of CWG 2010 Delhi
As India gets ready to host the 19th Commonwealth Games, IBNlive.com has come up with a unique and unprecedented opportunity for the millions of enthusiastic sports lovers to personally participate in this historic Relay. The Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) is one of the greatest traditions of Commonwealth Games and is a relay around all the participating Commonwealth nations prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. Now the citizens of India can participate in this momentous event, by getting the privilege to officially carry the Queens Baton online. Users will be able to participate virtually along the path of Queen’s Baton in India by simply logging on to a specially created micro-site www.IBNLive.com/qbr and become a part of this historical sporting event in our country.
The Queen’s Baton Relay for the 19th Commonwealth Games began with a commencement ceremony by her majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the President of India, her Excellency Dr. Pratibha Patil on 29 Oct 2009 from Buckingham Palace, London. When the Queen’s Baton Relay reaches India via the Wagah-Attari border from Pakistan on the 25th June, 2010; it will be the culmination of a journey covering a distance of 170,000 kilometres spanning 70 nations over 240 days. The baton will travel 20,000 kilometres, over 100-days in India covering 400 cities and towns and will pass through the hands of around 5,000 Baton bearers. And as everybody will not get an opportunity to carry the Queen’s Baton physically, IBNLive.com, CNN-IBN’s definitive news portal, with this special initiative has created this unique opportunity for the millions of enthusiastic Indian sports lovers to participate in this historic occasion by carrying the Queen’s Baton online and become a part of the Commonwealth Games 2010 history.
Speaking on this association, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman, Organizing Committee, Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010, said, “The Queen’s Baton Relay symbolizes the involvement of people from across the Commonwealth nations at this festival of sport and culture. The relay has evolved into a powerful symbol of unity and diversity of Commonwealth Nations. We at CWG are very pleased to partner with Network18 and look forward to this online platform created on ibnlive.com which will provide a unique opportunity to Indian citizens to participate in the Queen’s Baton Relay online.”
Speaking about the initiative, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, IBN18 Network added, “We are proud to partner with the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 Organising Committee for this unique and unprecedented initiative. A special platform has been specifically developed for this initiative on IBNLive.com which will enable millions of proud Indian citizens to extend their support to the Queen’s Baton Relay and in turn the Commonwealth Games through direct participation.”
About Network18
Network18 [BSE: 532798,NSE: Network18] is one of India's leading full play media conglomerates with interests in television, print, internet, filmed entertainment, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its holding in Television Eighteen India Ltd (TV18) [BSE: 532299, NSE: TV-18], Network18 operates India’s leading business news television channels, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz. It also runs one of India’s largest Internet players - Web18, as well as one of India’s leading real time financial information and news terminals - Newswire18. TV18 has recently expanded into print with Infomedia18, a newly formed entity following the acquisition of Infomedia, India's leading player in the special interest publishing and printing operations space.TV18 has also announced collaboration with Forbes media for the launch of a business magazine in India. Through its holding in ibn18 Broadcast Ltd (ibn18) [BSE: 532800,NSE: ibn18], Network18 operates in the general news and entertainment space with leading general news channels CNN-IBN and IBN7 and has launched IBN Lokmat, a Marathi news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group. ibn18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18 which houses the MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon channels in India - as also Studio18, the Group’s filmed entertainment operation and has launched ‘Colors’, a Hindi general entertainment channel. Additionally, Network18 holds the Group’s online & on-air home shopping venture, Homeshop18 and its full spectrum events management venture, E18.
