Noida, Mar 19: A mentally challenged dentist has been booked for allegedly making a phone call to police falsely informing them about a bomb threat at a district hospital here, officials said on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, the emergency helpline received a call alerting them about a bomb being placed in the combined district hospital in Sector 30, said sub-inspector Balvir Singh, in-charge of the Sector 29 police post.

"The information was immediately relayed to the local police post in-charge and a police team reached the hospital for checking," he said.

"Upon inspection at the hospital, it was ascertained that the information about the presence of a bomb was false," said Singh, on whose complaint the FIR was lodged against the dentist.

He claimed that the woman had spread a rumour and misused public service (police).

The 53-year-old accused, who is a Bachelor in Dental Surgery, lives in an apartment with her mother and sister in the Sector 20 police station area and is currently undergoing rehabilitation for the illness, a local official said.

Sector 20 police station in-charge Manoj Kumar Singh said the FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code section 177 (knowingly giving false information to public servant).

"During the inquiry, the caller's details were searched and her address tracked. Her family members denied making any such alert call to the police on Saturday," he told PTI.

"It was later found that the woman, who is undergoing rehabilitation for her mental illness, had raised the false alarm," he said.

The woman has been booked but not arrested, he added.

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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.