New Delhi Dec 20 PTI The Uttar Pradesh government has acquired approximately 52 hectares of land for around Rs 716 crore for the rehabilitation of families that have been displaced due to the Noida international airport project in Jewar Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on MondayPrime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 25 laid the foundation stone of the airport in Jewar in Uttar PradeshThe GoUP has informed that the rehabilitation of the displaced families as a result of Jewar airport project has been carried out in accordance with the provision of Land Acquisition Act 2013 Singh said in his written reply to a question in Rajya SabhaAccording to the state government they have allotted developed plots by creating a new sector equal to 50 percent of the total inhabited area and have ensured that a minimum plot of 50 square meters is allotted to each displaced family he mentioned In line with the demand of the 3074 displaced families they have been allotted developed plots and the government of Uttar Pradesh GoUP has made arrangements to provide necessary basic facilities and infrastructural facilities he notedThe GoUP has acquired approximately 52 hectares of land for rehabilitation of the displaced families and incurred an expenditure of approximately Rs 716 crores he saidYamuna International Airport Private Limited a fully owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International is building the Noida International AirportThe airport site is around 70 km from the main Delhi regionThe first phase of the airport is scheduled to be completed and become operational by September 2024 PTI DSP RT RT

Noida Dec 17 PTI The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority NOIDA which was formed by the Uttar Pradesh government in 1976 has failed to achieve its main objective of industrialisation according to a new CAG reportThe stinging remarks were made in the performance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG of India on Land Acquisition and Allotment of Properties in NOIDA tabled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on FridayIn a note of allotment of industrial plots the report stated The main objective of NOIDA is to develop the industrial area NOIDA developed 1836 per cent of land for industrial use of which only 3291 per cent area could be made functional by March 2020 Thus the actual functional industrial area was only five per cent of the total area which shows that NOIDA has failed to achieve its main objective of industrialisation the CAG notedAsked about the CAGs audit the NOIDA Authority said it was yet to study the report which runs around 500 pages and covers years after 2005Gaps in allotment which had been highlighted in the past are being streamlined now There have been certain areas of concern pointed in draft report some of which were agreed to by us while to some others NOIDA had presented counter facts also Final report is yet to be studied NOIDA CEO Ritu Maheshwari told PTIThe detailed report is yet to be studied by us and we will take action as per the governments directions to us the senior IAS officer addedThe CAG report also highlighted discretion in allotment due to absence of parametersThe audit evaluated the reasons constraints and loopholes causing delays in the development of industrial area and observed that the system of allotment was riddled with infirmities the report statedAllotments were made on the basis of interviews of applicants by the PAC plot allotment committee which conferred a large amount of discretion on the PAC No parameters were prescribed for the PAC for evaluating the applicantsprojects it statedPAC adjudged the application as satisfactory or unsatisfactory without detailing the basis of its judgement As a result cases of undue favours in allotment were noticed and discretionary allotments were made it notedThe CAG also noticed in its around 500-page report instances of NOIDA management directing the PAC to reconsider their selection or rejection of proposed allotmentThe Uttar Pradesh government had constituted the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority NOIDA in April 1976 under Section 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development UPIAD Act 1976 with the objective of creating a planned integrated and modern industrial city well connected to DelhiAs per the UPIAD Act 1976 the objective of the Authority shall be to secure the planned development of the industrial development areaThough NOIDA has been in operation since April 1976 it was only in July 2017 that the UP government entrusted its audit to the CAG Thereafter in January 2018 the government appointed CAG as the sole auditor from the year 2005-06 onwards according to the report PTI KIS TIR TIR

Chennai Nov 24 PTI The Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside an order of the previous AIADMK regime to convert late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaas residence Veda Nilayam here as a memorial The property is located at the posh Poes Garden locality in the city Justice N Seshasayee quashed the order while allowing a batch of writ petitions from J Deepa Jayakumar niece of Jayalalithaa and J Deepak her brother challenging the order of the state government today After cancelling the conversion order dated July 22 2020 of the Land Acquisition officer in Guindy under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 the judge directed the authorities concerned to hand over the keys of the property back to the petitioners The court also permitted the Income Tax department to recover dues running to several crores of rupees from the petitioners The residential building in the upscale locality comprises office room library waiting room for guests and conference hall Reportedly it was bought by Jayalalithaas mother in the late 1960s and it was home to the late chief minister for over three decades where several leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on her On August 17 2017 then Chief Minister K Palaniswami had announced Veda Nilayam would be converted into a memorial and opened to public in remembrance of her achievements and service to the people The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in September 2020 adopted a Bill to replace an ordinance issued for possession of the house and to facilitate vesting of movable properties therein with the government In January this year Veda Nilayam converted into a memorial was declared open by Palaniswami PTI CORR SA SA