Sardar Patel statue to cost Rs 2,000 cr

GANDHINAGAR: It's official. The proposed 182-metre high statue of Sardar Patel downstream of the Narmada dam will cost Rs 2,000 crore as against earlier estimates of Rs 1,000 crore.

The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has invited expressions of interest from reputed consultants for the project. Already, state government officials are in talks with builders of Burj Khalifa - Samsung Construction & Technology (C&T) - to take up the project.

The state government proposes to rope in Gujarati diaspora, top business houses and general public to collect money for the project.

While officials in the SSNNL claimed money may not be a problem, a top aide of chief minister Narendra Modi said, "One has to take into account cost escalation while building such kind of a statue. It is possible that by the time the state government floats tenders, the cost of the project would have escalated to Rs 2,500 crore".

The Gujarat government has collected Rs 55 crore for the high-profile project. Of this, Rs 50 crore has been collected from different state public sector undertakings, while Rs 5 crore has been contributed by Adani group. The PSUs have provided money from their corporate social responsibility funds.

Called Statue of Unity, to be built on Sadhu island which is about 3.5 km downstream of Narmada dam, the state government has formed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust to implement the project.

As per the official note, the consultant will be required to do overall area planning, including spaces for hospitality, health, education, convention and training centres, development and formulation of tourism plan and provide technical and managerial assistance for bids to invite EPC contract.

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Counter the Dragon: With $5 billion pledge, India takes big step into Africa

NEW DELHI: India took a diplomatic leap in Africa on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledging $5 billion for the continent's development over the next three years. Spreading out the Indian presence from agriculture to information technology, tele-medicine to a virtual university, India now rivals China for top honours in the new Great Game in Africa.

Hosting the second Africa-India Forum summit in Addis Ababa, the first to be held overseas, Singh said, "There is a new economic growth story emerging from Africa. Africa possesses all the prerequisites to become a major growth pole of the world... The India-Africa partnership is unique and owes its origins to history and our common struggle against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger... India will work with Africa to realize its vast potential."

"We will offer $5 billion dollars for the next three years under lines of credit to help Africa achieve its development goals," Singh said. To put the figure in perspective, India's healthcare budget is around $ 5.9 billion. This credit would be apart from $700 million pledged for new institutions in Africa.

And for all those who said only China builds infrastructure for Africa, India announced a railway line between Ethiopia and Djibouti at a cost of $300 million. The initial plan by the African Union was for a line running across the breadth of Africa, but the task of coordinating land acquisition through so many sovereign states was a challenge they weren't willing to take just yet.

China has the biggest presence in Africa, churning out airport terminals and football stadiums at a breathtaking pace, in return for access to resources and minerals. Its bilateral trade with Africa in 2010 was $126.9 billion, as compared to just over $40 billion India-Africa trade. Earlier this week, India declared a target of $70 billion by 2015.

India has had a long-standing relationship with African countries, particularly on the eastern seaboard, but it took a backseat when China strode into Africa with its deep pockets and insatiable demand for energy and resources. Since then, India has been playing catch-up. At the India-Africa summit in 2008, India signalled its seriousness about Africa. But this week, India announced that it will be playing in the big league here. India's interests in Africa are not very different from China's – with the added lure of 53 votes pushing for a reform of the UN Security Council.

But India prides itself on doing things differently from China. It sees itself as less extractive in its engagements and more inclined towards helping African countries improve their capacity. As a senior African diplomat observed, "China invests in our today, India in our tomorrow."

African nations are not unhappy at being the centre of attention and largesse by India and China. Although China is more efficient in the way it processes aid in Africa, India has been actively invited by African leaders themselves as they seek to balance the Chinese presence.

To that end, Singh announced a slew of new institutes in Africa on Tuesday – India-Africa Food Processing Cluster, Integrated Textiles Cluster, Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (India has donated a Param supercomputer to Tanzania), University for Life and Earth Sciences and an Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development. This is apart from a diamond institute and information technology and management institutes across the five regional groupings in the emerging continent.

The Indian presence is also mainly in the private sector, unlike the state-driven presence of China. This makes the Indian engagement far less threatening in Africa. Having said that, Indian companies are increasingly getting into mining for coal, copper and more industrial-use metals in different African countries. Indian farmers are engaging in commercial farming in countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In a recent agreement, Andhra Pradesh will send 500 farmers to become farming entrepreneurs in these countries.

PM Singh declared that India would invite all African airlines to Indian cities over the next three years. That's because no Indian airline now flies to Africa even as Chinese airlines are increasing their flights to the continent.

Singh will travel to Tanzania on Thursday for a bilateral summit – to a country where India has huge investments of over $1 billion, but also a country that, along with Mozambique, Mauritius and Seychelles, is forming part of India's security grid in the Indian Ocean.

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Rupee down 10 paise against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee lost 10 paise to Rs 45.31 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Wednesday, weighed down by dollar gains against the euro and other currencies overseas.

Forex dealers said strengthening of the dollar against the euro and Asian currencies and a lower opening in the stock market mainly put pressure on the rupee.

The rupee rose by 1 paise to close at Rs 45.21/22 against the US dollar in yesterday's trade after equities closed a shade higher.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 87.71 points to 17,924.26 in opening trade today.

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Monsoon delayed in Andamans

PUNE: The southwest monsoon has not kept its date with the Andamans yet but the Met department maintains that is no cause for concern. The monsoon normally reaches the Andamans around May 20, but this time the weather conditions there are not yet favourable for the rain-laden winds.

But all that can change swiftly and the monsoon could arrive in the Andamans as early as Thursday, say India Meteorological Department officials.

"Though there is a delay... this will not affect the arrival of monsoon in Kerala. The monsoon can reach both places on the same day. We still see the monsoon hitting Kerala on time, that is, on May 31," said P C S Rao, director (weather central), IMD.

Though rains hitting Andamans around May 20 is taken as a good omen, the monsoon is officially declared to have arrived in India when it hits the Kerala coast.

India Meteorological Department officials said the monsoon's arrival over the Andamans can be announced only if specific weather factors develop there – cloudy conditions and a particular wind speed. "These conditions are not present in the Andamans right now. There is not enough pre-monsoon rainfall in that region," P C S Rao, director (weather central), said.

A westerly trough in the southern parts of the country has been preventing the formation of rain-bearing deep convective clouds, which has delayed the arrival of the monsoon in the Andamans, says J R Kulkarni, senior scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) here. "These clouds develop just before the monsoon. However, the trough is posing a hurdle to the formation of these clouds. It is difficult to say when the impact of the trough will reduce but it is likely it will happen in the next few days," he said.

The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala heralds the beginning of rainy season in the Indian subcontinent. From 2005 onwards, the IMD has been issuing operational forecasts for the onset of the monsoon over Kerala using an indigenously developed statistical model with an error of plus or minus four days.

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A K Seth to be cabinet secretary

NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Ajit Kumar Seth will be the country's next cabinet secretary. The 1974 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, who is at present secretary public grievances and coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed K M Chandrasekhar. The latter will retire next month after holding the post for four years including two extensions.

Seth's appointment has been cleared by the Prime Minister. He will be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Cabinet Secretariat till June 13 and assume charge on June 14. As cabinet secretary he will have a fixed two-year tenure. Seth has been on deputation at the Centre since January 2009. In the 1980s, he served in the commerce ministry and for three years was the first secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN at Geneva.

Colleagues describe the St Stephen's College alumnus as a man of "impeccable integrity" – something which many believe was the key to his selection ahead of other "favourites" – and very methodical. He is also the senior-most empanelled officer of the 1974 batch. Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training said that the Prime Minister was keen to go by seniority. "Anybody in the establishment would vouch for his (Seth's) honesty. And he is an excellent officer, very clear about what he is to do and how it should be done. He is a stickler for rules," said a bureaucrat.

A former collegemate recalls the 59-year-old Seth as a keen debater and one who was a very enthusiastic participant in extracurricular activities. He has a masters' degree in chemistry and an M.Phil in life sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Seth later did a master's in development financé from University of Birmingham.

Sources say among the 1974 batch officers Seth edged out are Pulok Chatterjee, K Mohandas, Deepak Gupta, Alka Sirohi, Anup Mukherjee, K M Acharya and Vivek Mehrotra.

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Guarding Kasab: Maharashtra govt gets Rs 10cr bill

MUMBAI: Maharashtra government is stunned after receiving a Rs 10 crore bill from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) towards reimbursing expenses on guarding 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, lodged in the Arthur Road jail here.

Confirming that the state government did receive the Rs 10 crore tag from ITBP, Medha Gadgil, principal secretary, Home, said that the Maharashtra authorities are writing to the ITBP.

"We are in the process of writing to them. We will explain that 26/11 terror attacks is not only an issue limited to Maharashtra but a national issue," she said.

The state government received a request for reimbursement of Rs 10.87 crore from the Director-General, ITBP, New Delhi, R K Bhatia for expenses incurred between March 28, 2009 and September 30, 2010.

"What Kasab and his associates did is an attack not only on Mumbai but an attack on India and it is unfair to ask the state government to bear the burden (for ITBP guarding Kasab)," another senior Home department official said.

The ITPB was deployed in the jail in the run-up to the 26/11 trial, held in a special sessions court set up in the jail premises.

Last year, the home department sought an extension for the deployment of the ITBP which comprised around 200 commandos, armed with sophisticated weaponry and communication equipment, guarding Kasab 24x7.

The ITBP team was deployed for the trial period, after which the state government wrote to the Centre, seeking an extension, the official said.

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