In a first of its kind, the Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR, delivered COVID-19 vaccines via drone from the Bishnupur District Hospital to Karang island in Loktak lake in Manipur, a distance of 26 kilometres.
Delhi LG Taranjit Singh Sandhu addressed the Global Confluence 2026, emphasising the importance of maintaining a human element at the heart of digital nation-building. He highlighted India's digital transformation and the role of technology in improving lives, while urging a focus on inclusive development and national security.
The ICMR has been permitted to use drones up to a height of 3,000 metre to deliver vaccines, the ministry's statement added.
Maharashtra govt, California-based Zipline to launch the automated delivery service funded by Serum Institute.
The Meghalaya government in partnership with startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia's first drone delivery hub and network which is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state, a release said on Tuesday. The project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network, it said. On Monday, the first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub Divisional Hospital, which will act as the hub, and delivered medicines to Padeldoba primary health centre in less than 30 minutes, which would otherwise have taken 2.5 hours by road, TechEagle said in the release.
Drug major Cipla on Tuesday said it has launched drone-powered deliveries of critical medicines - cardiac, respiratory and other essential chronic therapies - to hospitals and pharmacies across Himachal Pradesh in partnership with Skype Air Mobility, a Gurugram-based drone delivery company. Cipla is the first among large Indian pharmaceutical companies to adopt drone-based deliveries to facilitate expedited supply to stockists in remote areas, it claimed. The Mumbai-based firm said the use of drones will support the on-time delivery of its medicines to chemists and clinics in remote areas, and minimise risks of affecting cold chain products due to temperature excursions.
Drones are being sold by e-retailers like Flipkart and Snapdeal for less than Rs 40,000 apiece.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.