Centre firm on Jaitapur plant

NEW DELHI: A rethink of UPA's nuclear push is ruled out. The riotous protests and death at Jaitapur or the disaster at Fukushimi might slow the rollout of nuclear power plants but it won't derail UPA's plans of a nuclear thrust to the Indian economy, sources in the government told TOI.

The Fukushima impact on Indian shores has been to force the nuclear establishment to do a bit of closed door review but it's not opened the establishment to open scrutiny. At best, it got environment minister Jairam Ramesh to ask for an independent authority to administer the civilian nuclear power business in the country.

The protests leading to death of a person at Jaitapur, one of the four plants Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has got environmental clearance for, hasn't had much of an impact on the UPA's will to push ahead. At the Centre, it has been dismissed as mishandling of local protests about livelihoods, about the need to negotiate – implying it's about providing the right amount of compensation and perhaps a bit more.

The increasing flare up in the area has been described as 'politicisation' of local discontent by the Left and the right.

But the fact that the environmental clearance, itself full of holes, is not even required to assess questions of nuclear safety is not up for review – a clear indication that not much is expected to change. In a conscious attempt, questions of nuclear safety were kept out of the purview of environmental norms when the laws were framed. That is going to remain so, sources indicated.

Unlike other environmental issues, nuclear safety does not form part of the issues reviewed by either the ministry or third party experts. Nuclear safety is not part of the mandatory public hearings on environmental clearances. It was not at Jaitapur. UPA has no plans of altering that either.

The government is handicapped by the fact that in the case of nuclear power plants, like in other projects, it doesn't have a separation between environmental concerns and land acquisition issues. With land acquisition and R&R bill pending infinitely, that is not going to change soon. But Congress is sure, for now, that it will not hinder its plans to sprout nuclear power plants around the countryside.

toi

DDA draw of lots today, results to come day later

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is going to hold the draw of lots for its latest housing scheme on Monday. But applicants will get to know about the results of the draw only a day later. The draw will take place at the Noida-based office of the Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC).

DDA roped in the company as the number of flats involved—nearly 16,000—is three times its previous housing scheme. Moreover, the agency believes that C-DAC has the requisite equipment to carry out the computerised draw.

“The draw can take up to four hours and it might not be possible for us to put up the list of successful candidates on our website the same day,” said a senior DDA official. The list will be put on DDA’s website www.dda.org.in and will also be published in major newspapers.

Though no one would be allowed to enter the C-DAC office during the draw, a television would be installed outside for those who want to witness the exercise live.

Noida administration has made tight security arrangements for the draw at C-DAC’s sector-62 office. Keeping in mind a huge gathering, traffic police personnel, and women police officers have also been deployed. “The draw is likely to continue till 4pm . Two companies of the provincial armed constabulary, four SHOs, 15 sub-inspectors, and 40 constables have been deployed,” said a senior police officer. If needed, traffic on some routes could be diverted, he said.

About 7.53 lakh people have applied for the 16,000 flats on offer. “This time, the exercise is more stringent than ever. Applicants have to make payments from their own accounts and details will be sent to the IT department for verification. This will rule out the involvement of speculators and property dealers,” the official said.

Draw of lots tomorrow for DDA housing scheme 2010

NEW DELHI: The wait to know whether you will be able to own a flat in Delhi ends in a couple of days as the DDA holds a draw of lots tomorrow for 16,000 flats offered under its latest housing scheme.

Some 7.53 lakh applicants are vying for the flats, located in areas like Vasant Kunj, Mukherjee Nagar , Motia Khan , Jasola , Dwarka, Rohini, Narela, Jaffarabad, Kondli and Gharoli. There are one, two and three bedroom flats with the prices ranging from Rs 9 lakh to Rs Rs 1.12 crore.

The results of the draw, the biggest ever in the history of DDA, will be uploaded on DDA website and published in newspapers by April 19. The allotment might be given by the end of the year.

The housing scheme was launched on November 25, 2010. Asked about the allegations of irregularities that had cropped up during the last draw of lots for its housing scheme, Delhi Development Authority officials said all necessary checks and balances are in place.

"The draw is being held in a transparent manner in the presence of independent senior observers from diverse fields," an official of the housing agency said.

For the first time, the draw will not be held in DDA headquarters but at the office of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Noida.

"The draw is being held in Noida only due to the fact that the number of applicants and the number of flats being allotted under the scheme is high as compared to earlier schemes. CDAC has better wherewithal and expertise to conduct the draw of such a magnitude and it is not possible to transport the equipments from there," the official said.

The DDA said that as there is limited space at the CDAC premises, it will be difficult to accommodate everyone wishing to witness the draw.

DDA draw of lots on Monday, results next day

CDAC in Noida will be the venue to decide allotments for 16,000 apartments

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will conduct a draw of lots for 16,000 flats on April 18. However, the nearly 7.5 lakh applicants will have to wait a day more to know the results.

For the first time in its history, the draw will not be conducted at the DDA headquarters in Vikas Sadan but the office of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Noida. “The draw is going to be really huge in scope. We have never had the kind of numbers that we have now, with 16,000 flats and 7.5 lakh applicants. The DDA does not have the kind of computing capability that is required for a lottery of this size,” a senior DDA official said.

The official said the draw will be conducted by the DDA itself, using computing equipment provided by the CDAC. Incidentally, CDAC was one of the prime agencies involved in investigating DDA’s last draw held in 2008, which landed in a major controversy over allegations of anomalies in the draw procedure.

However, the DDA official clarified that the decision to conduct the draw in the CDAC’s premises had nothing to do with the controversy, and was instead based on the fact that DDA’s software cannot deal with a number as large as the one involved in this draw.

Again, breaking from tradition, neither the applicants nor the media will be privy to the draw procedure, as is usually the case. “The CDAC campus is not very large, and there will be heavy security while the draw is underway. A screen in the CDAC hallway will broadcast the procedure, but only accredited personnel will be allowed access even to the hallway. However, there will be neutral observers — senior bureaucrats and a senior journalist — who will be invited to observe the draw,” the official added.