1 dead, policemen injured as mob hurls stones to oppose plan to raze dargah; tear gas used, 174 held
Junagadh (PTI): One person died apparently after being hit by a stone, while at least five police personnel were injured in Gujarat's Junagadh city after a group of people hurled stones and torched a vehicle to oppose the civic body's plan to raze a dargah to clear "encroachment", officials said on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday night near Majevadi Darwaja in the city, during which the police lobbed tear gas shells and baton-charged the protesters to control the situation, and later rounded up 174 people, they said.
The exact reason behind the civilian's death would be known after the post-mortem, but the police suspect that he died after being hit by a stone hurled by the mob.
"On June 14, the Junagadh Municipal Corporation issued a notice to a mosque near Majevadi Darwaja to produce documents regarding the ownership of land. Agitated over the notice, around 500-600 people gathered near the religious structure and blocked roads on Friday night," Superintendent of Police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said.
Deputy SP of Junagadh and other staff, who were present at the site, tried to convince them. After nearly an hour-long deliberations aimed at finding a peaceful resolution of the matter and clearing the protesters' road blockade, some stones were thrown at the police staff around 10.15 pm, he said.
Shouting slogans, some people, agitated over the notice to the dargah, charged towards the police personnel and tried to attack them, he added.
Police lobbed tear gas shells and baton-charged to disperse the unruly crowd. Junagadh DySP, three sub-inspectors and two other police personnel were injured in the incident, but all of them are out of danger, he said, adding that a mob also set a vehicle on fire.
"A civilian died and it appears that stone-pelting was the cause of his death. But we are waiting for a post-mortem report to know the exact cause. Police teams rounded up 174 people in a combing operation," Vasamsetty said.
Police personnel are deployed in the area to avoid any further untoward incident and efforts to nab all those involved in the clash are being taken, he said.
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Noida International Airport appoints Nitu Samra as interim CEO
New Delhi (PTI): Noida International Airport on Friday announced the appointment of its Chief Financial Officer Nitu Samra as the interim Chief Executive Officer after authorities denied permission for foreign national Christoph Schnellmann to be at the helm.
"This change follows directions issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the Chief Executive Officer of an airport in India is required to be an Indian national," NIA said in a statement.
Samra will replace Schnellmann, a Swiss national who has led Noida International Airport (NIA) as the CEO since August 2020.
The regulatory issue related to the requirement of having an Indian national as CEO has been delaying the start of commercial operations of the airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
Schnellmann will join the airport's Board of Directors as Executive Vice Chairman. In this role, he will continue to support the project and its transition to operations, the statement said.
With immediate effect, NIA said Samra has been appointed as the CEO on an interim basis until the Board of Directors can conclude a formal selection process.
Samra has been serving as the CFO since October 2021 and was closely involved in the airport’s development journey, overseeing financial stewardship, governance, and strategic planning during a key phase of the project, the statement added.
NIA will be operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership.
Originally scheduled to commence passenger services in September 2024, NIA is being developed in four phases, along with a dedicated cargo terminal. It received an aerodrome license from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in March.
YIAPL Chairman Daniel Bircher said that since the inauguration of the airport by the Prime Minister, the goal was to enable the start of operations as early as possible.
"This management change brings the airport into compliance with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security requirements while maintaining continuity in the airport’s leadership team. The newly structured team will support a smooth transition into operations, guided by clear and transparent governance and a strong corporate culture," he said.
On March 28, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said commercial flight operations from the airport would start in the next 45 to 60 days.
Among the largest greenfield airport projects in the country, NIA will initially have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per annum.
Once fully developed, the airport will have a total passenger handling capacity of 70 million.
The first phase of NIA has been developed at an investment of around Rs 11,200 crore. 'DXN' is the code for the airport.
The airport features a 3,900-metre runway capable of handling wide-body aircraft, along with modern navigation systems, including Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airfield lighting.
The peak handling capacity in the first phase will be 30 flights per hour.
In the first phase, there will be 28 aircraft stands, and the projected cargo capacity is around 2.5 lakh tonnes.
Terminal 1 of the airport is spread across 1,37,985 square metres with 48 check-in counters. Over 40 acres of land have been earmarked for developing MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
