Tamil Nadu govt abandons Parandur airport plan, looks for alternative site
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led Tamil Nadu government has dropped the plans for a new ₹27,400 crore greenfield airport at Parandur following resistance from local villagers.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday made the official announcement in the State Assembly that the project, which was proposed by the previous government has been abandoned, with the government seeking to avoid the displacement of residents and loss of agricultural land.
Vijay said he went in person to the project site and assured the villagers of his support. At a political rally in Vikravandi, he announced said that a new airport should not be built at Parandur and had called for the project to be shifted to another location. The government is now examining a few alternative sites that could accommodate the airport without significantly affecting residential areas and agricultural lands.
The move marks a departure from the earlier proposal to develop the airport at Parandur, which had attracted opposition from residents and farmers over concerns about land acquisition and its impact on agricultural activity.
Sun Pharma’s recall of eyedrops: Experts raise concerns on implementation and enforcement
The recent voluntary withdrawal of Sun Pharmaceutical’s eye drops has raised concerns on the implementation and enforcement of recalled products - as some retailers and regulatory officials claim they did not have information on the recall.
Sun had initiated a voluntary withdrawal mid-July on 11 eye drops as a “precautionary measure”, it said in a letter to partners. A month on, businessline was able to procure a couple of the recalled products, for example, from local chemists.
Drug regulatory experts call for a realtime system to communicate product recalls across the supply chain, and consumers, in public interest. Pointing to the “patchy” implementation of the recall, and subsequent enforcement, they said, regulatory action should ensure the recall is effective.
ESIC crackdown: Over ₹2,400 cr social security money trapped in 6.45 lakh recovery certificates pending for a decade
The ESIC has launched a crackdown to recover ₹2,473 crore social security money through 6.45 ‘Recovery Certificates’ linked to employers, pending for over a decade due to structural and legal hurdles.
Under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948, when an employer fails to pay required social security contributions, interest, or damages, the ESI Corporation issues a Recovery Certificate to enforce collection in order to fund a self-sustaining and health insurance programme for workers.
Taking a leaf out of successful “Nudge (Non-Intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable)” campaign of Income Tax department to recover evaded taxes, the ESIC too decided to give up the traditional coercive action and use technology to prompt owners to submit amount due to each of them, said Ministry sources privy to the development.
Though under the ESIC Act, the officials are authorised to issue orders for attachment and sale of the employer’s movable or immovable property and also arrest or detain defaulters in extreme on-compliance cases.
Overall, 24,521 attempts were made before and after the chatbot were used to launch the campaign to recover ₹1,029 crore arrears across the country from employers as part of the Social Security Code, 2020. The ESIC had managed to get around ₹77 crore before the use of technology, sources said.
Centre gives in-principle nod to lease -out 11 AAI airports in five bundles
After extensive inter-ministerial consultations, the Centre has finally decided to lease out 11 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports through five bundled concessions, official document reviewed by businessline showed.
Accordingly, the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has given in-principle approval for the leasing out of the airports.
The development marks a key step forward in the Centre’s plan to bring private-sector participation into the operations, management and development of these airports.
(Research and VO: Siddharth Mathew Cherian)
