Pune Metro update

The Maharashtra state government will provide funds for the two corridors of the metro rail project in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, between Vanaz and Ramwadi, and between Nigdi and Swargate.
The funds will be sanctioned after the central government approves the project, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said while presenting the state budget.
Very few details were given out about the status of the project. All that he said was that the two corridors of the metro rail project in the first phase cover a distance of 31.5 m and its total estimated cost is Rs 10,183 crore.
A new aspect about the proposed route in Pimpri Chinchwad, as announced by Pawar, is that the route is being extended. The earlier metro rail route was between PCMC building in Pimpri and Swargate. However, in his budget speech, he described the route as between Nigdi and Swargate, apparently indicating that there will be an extension of the route from Pimpri to Nigdi, a distance of about six km.
The Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations have taken up the metro rail project in association with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Both corporations have made token provisions in their budgets while asserting that there will be no shortage of funds for the project.
The Pune Municipal Corporation, senior officials said, has applied to the Registrar of Companies for formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle which will implement the project. The central government has already made a provision of R.10.01 crore in its union budget for 2013-14.
Pawar said Maharashtra is the most urbanized state in India and the government feels it is important to give due consideration to travel, accommodation and stay of citizens in urban areas. It is important to consider the proposals undertaken by the state with assistance from the central government, he said.

Rajasthan's annual plan

The Planning Commission benevolently opened its coffers for the state, approving the total annual outlay of Rs.40,500 crore for the year 2013-14. With a 20% rise over the last year (Rs.33,500 crore), it has become the largest annual plan for the Rajasthan till now.
The plan was finalized after a discussion between deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and chief minister Ashok Gehlot at Yojana Bhawan in New Delhi. In the approved plan of 2013-14, social and community services have been accorded highest priority (38.10%) while energy sector has been given second priority (33.02%) in the annual plan.
After reviewing various schemes and plans presented by the state officials, the Commission approved Rs.361 crore extra against the proposed plan of Rs.40,139 crore.
During the meeting, the CM also raised the demand for special category status for Rajasthan as the state has faced droughts and famines for 56 years out of the past 62 years and 60% of the area was desert.
A special package of Rs.51,000 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan for drinking water projects too was submitted before the commission.
The CM also demanded financial assistance of Rs.630 crore for the Jaipur Metro Project and Rs.1,176 crore as viability gap funding (VGF) — a total Rs.1,806 crore — should be provided to the state government separately.

MONEY MANTRA
At 40,500 cr, 20% rise in Plan outlay over last year’s 33,500 cr
Highest priority for social and community services at 38%
Energy sector comes in second at 33%
Panel cleared Rs.361 cr extra against proposed plan of 40,139 cr
Panel compliments state for highest agriculture growth of 7.9%

Complementing Rajasthan for its overall performance during the 11th plan, deputy chairman Ahluwalia applauded the state for achieving the highest agriculture growth of 7.9% — against the national average of 3.7%.
The commission referred the demand of making “Right to Shelter” a law to a working group under the ministry of rural development.

Karnataka Poll date announced

Ending months of suspense over assembly elections in Karnataka, the Election Commission hasy announced a single-phase polling on May 5 and counting of votes on May 8.
The model code of conduct, which bars a government from announcing fresh schemes or taking up new
projects, came into force on Wednesday. It was to beat this code that chief minister Jagadish Shettar presented the budget on February 8.
The term of the assembly ends on June 3. This means a new government must be in office by then.
The ruling BJP is in a disarray ever since Lingayat strongman B S Yeddyurappa left to form his Karnataka Janata Party. Yeddyurappa quit as chief minister in 2011 following corruption charges. There has been a steady erosion in the BJP’s vote base, evident from its rout in the urban local body elections.
The Congress will count on a victory in Karnataka to enthuse party workers ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, due later this year, followed by the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
As for the implementation of budget proposals from April, sources in the Karnataka Chief Electoral Office said chief secretary SV Ranganath and the Election Commission would issue guidelines. “The bottomline is that no new projects can be taken up, and even those tendered cannot be executed,’’ said sources.
Single-phase polling is bound to change the complexion of elections in Karnataka this time round. Election officials say political party representatives have themselves sought this schedule. Security will not be an issue as Karnataka is the only state going to vote, and forces can be co-opted from neighbouring states.
Besides, single-day polling could shave a bit off the expenditure bill.

Underwater BrahMos test fired

On Wednesday, the country for the first time tested the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from underwater. Its submarine-launched version was “successfully’’ tested from an underwater pontoon off Visakhapatnam around 2.10 pm.
BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai promptly declared, “The missile is fully ready for fitment in the ‘Project-75 India’ (P75I) submarines of the Indian Navy in vertical launch configuration, which will make the platform (submarine) one of the most powerful weapon platform in the world.’’
Defence minister A K Antony also chipped in soon after, saying, “It’s a wonderful achievement and proud moment for India.’’ DRDO chief V K Saraswat said it was “a significant step towards boosting India’s military strength”. Other scientists proclaimed this was “first time any supersonic cruise missile has been launched vertically from a submerged platform’’. Amid the gushing accolades, they, however, forgot to mention one critical fact: the Project-75 India submarines are nothing but a mere pipedream at present.
With even the initial global tender or request for proposal (RFP) for them yet to be floated, the Navy will not get the first such submarine anytime before 2023.

Of Drought in Gujarat....

Union agriculture ministry has declared 17 districts of Gujarat consisting 132 talukas as drought-affected.
In a reply to Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, union minister of water resources Harish Ravat stated that the districts include Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Amreli, Anand, Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Kheda, Kutch, Mehsana, Patan, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Vadodara.
The minister also stated that, water being a state subject, planning, and execution and funding of water resources projects was within the purview of respective state governments. However, union government provided technical and financial assistance to state governments under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP), Command Area Development and Water Management Program (CAD & WM) and Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies, he said.
Under AIBP, all these programmes were being reformed and upscaled during XII plan. Drought mitigation measures like water conservation and early completion of projects were also planned.
People in worst-affected Saurashtra have already pulled out swords against authorities. Protests are sweeping in Keshod, Jetpur, Amreli and Junagadh with people jamming the roads and clashing with police.

Somewhere in Kashmir....

Suspected militants shot an 18-year-old boy inside a mosque in Sopore in north Kashmir on Tuesday night. The boy, identified as Suhail Ahmed Sofi, was said to be involved in holding cricket matches in his village with the help of the local army unit.
Eyewitnesses said the militants chased the boy who tried to take cover inside the mosque where a group of clerics from Maharashtra were holding congregational prayers.
“We were having a chat near our homes when a few unidentified gunmen appeared and shot at Suhail. He ran to the nearby mosque where one of the terrorists pumped five bullets into him,” said the victim’s friend, Ghulam Hyder. Preliminary investigations revealed that the terrorists belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

SL resolution snippets

The impasse in Parliament over DMK’s demand for a resolution condemning Sri Lanka could not be broken with an all-party meeting failing to reach a consensus.
The meeting on Wednesday evening did not see any party apart from DMK and rival AIADMK supporting an aggressive stance against Sri Lanka, making it clear that a parliamentary resolution is a non-starter. Most parties felt it would be inappropriate to name and condemn another country as this was precisely the reason why Parliament had criticized the Pakistan national assembly resolution in support of Afzal Guru.