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   Here is the latest news and information related to Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games is the third biggest Sports event after the Olympics and the Asiad as far as India is concerned. The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014.

  It will be the largest multi-sport event ever around 4,560 competing athletes across 17 different sports.  Over the last 10 years, Glasgow and Scotland had staged World, Commonwealth, European, or British events in all 17 sports proposed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, including the World Badminton Championships in 1997.

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   Scotland was the first country to consider hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games in 2004, with Scottish cities being invited by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to consider making a bid.

   Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the international media to cover the event from July 23 to Aug 3 with 71 Commonwealth countries participating in 261 events of 17 sports.

He noted that the 575 million pounds (about $981 million) of the 20th Commonwealth Games’ budget will be “well spent”, with 80 percent of the budget from the Scottish government and 20 percent from Glasgow city council.

“As the 2012 London Olympics was a larger event than the Commonwealth Games, the total budget for London Olympics was billion pounds,” Salmond noted.

He also hailed the 2014 Glasgow legacy for regenerating local communities and creating jobs for thousands of young people, as well as the higher international profile and more tourists.

For his part, Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of Sport Scotland, stressed the sports culture for Commonwealth nations, expecting a well-managed international sports event in Scotland’s largest city.

The opening ceremony Wednesday evening at Celtic Park will witness Queen Elizabeth II read her message in the Baton to welcome the athletes of the Commonwealth.

After a 288-day relay touring about 190,000 km, the relay will conclude at the opening ceremony with Scottish female singer Susan Boyle, who took part in the baton relay in Glasgow, performing for an estimated global television audience of 1 billion people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his best wishes to the Indian athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games.