Skye Air Mobility has raised USD 9 million in a Series B funding round to expand its hyperlocal drone delivery services across key metropolitan markets in India.
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.
Odisha-based BonV Aero has partnered with ParaZero Technologies to introduce advanced counter-drone systems to India's defence and security agencies, offering a kinetic solution to neutralise hostile drones.
A drone from Skye Air Mobility on Tuesday covered an aerial distance of 104 km in West Bengal to deliver a medicine consignment of Flipkart Health, the longest commercial delivery using an unmanned vehicle in the state, a company statement said on Tuesday. The drone took off from Flipkart's Baruipur hub in South 24 Parganas and delivered medicines at the Healthbuddy Matangini in the state's Purba Medinipur district, it said. The distance between the two places is 185 km by road, and it takes about four-five hours to cover by the surface transport.
Punjab Police, in collaboration with the Border Security Force, dismantled a cross-border drug smuggling operation, arresting three individuals and seizing a significant quantity of heroin, cash, and a drone used for deliveries from Pakistan.
The same technologies that enable State forces to monitor and strike insurgent camps are now being mirrored by non-State actors with increasing sophistication.
'No civilian deserves to live in fear. No civilian deserves to be caught up in a war which is destabilising the entire region.'
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Even as the benchmark and broader indices were down sharply on Monday due to escalating tensions in West Asia, the Nifty Defence index ended the session in the green.
Qatar, India's largest supplier of imported natural gas, has declared force majeure on deliveries following a halt in production in the wake of an Iranian drone strike -- a disruption that has led to a cut in supplies to Indian industry by up to 40 per cent, sources said.
Punjab Police have dismantled a heroin trafficking network, arresting six individuals including an Army man and a dismissed police personnel. The operation uncovered links to Pakistan-based smugglers using drones to deliver heroin.
Let us start with ourselves. If we can reduce our LPG consumption by half, the problem is solved. Reduce wastage. Alter eating styles. Diversify methods of food preparation, suggests Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The Indian Army is equipping its infantry battalions with drone platoons and raising elite commando units as part of a modernization drive to enhance combat capabilities along the northern and western frontiers. The Army is also procuring new carbines and upgrading its arsenal with advanced weaponry.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
India took the first step towards legalising drones by officially publishing draft rules for drone operations in the Official Gazette on Friday. The rules, termed The Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020, are open for public consultation for 30 days.
'The defence forces have come up with certain problems they face in the drone space.' 'Recently we had a meeting at which they presented the problems to many of our start-ups and faculty.' 'Some of the start-ups have started working on the problems.'
While many areas compete for resources, defence, education, and adaptation deserve focus for maximum impact, suggests Laveesh Bhandari.
Security agencies are concerned about the increasing use of drones by terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir for surveillance and logistics, replacing human networks.
The foremost lesson for India today is to beef up its air defence to cater for multiple drone attacks. As seen in Operation Sindoor, we have come a long way, but there's room for getting better. We must develop a robust and almost impregnable air cover over ourselves, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
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.
However, the tender criteria demands that an entity must be eligible to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations in order to become eligible. Currently, no drone companies are eligible to do BVLOS operations, reports Arindam Majumder.
Recalling or relabelling medicines already in the supply chain before September 22 will not be mandatory, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, issuing a fresh set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to address industry concerns following the announcement of goods and services tax (GST) revisions.
Low-level lightweight radars; very short-range air defence systems (launchers and missiles); remotely piloted aerial vehicles; loitering munitions, including vertical take-off and landing systems; different kinds of drones; bullet-proof vests; ballistic helmets; quick-reaction fighting vehicles -- heavy and medium; and night sights for rifles (aiming devices that are visible in low light).
Qcom alone is expected to account for a 60 per cent surge in gig hiring, adding 1.5 million to 2 million roles.
The Indian Army is conducting field trials of several cutting-edge defence systems under 'near-combat conditions', integrating electronic warfare simulations, to assess their performance rigorously, officials said on Saturday.
The new supplies of the Igla-S air defence missiles have been received by the Indian Army a couple of weeks ago and are being provided to the forward formations for taking care of the threat from enemy fighter aircraft, choppers and drones on the borders.
Maharashtra govt, California-based Zipline to launch the automated delivery service funded by Serum Institute.
It marked a "milestone" in India's journey towards technological self-reliance in military operations, the ministry said on Operation Sindoor.
The smartest homes are not the ones that dazzle with tech, but the ones that disappear into your daily life while quietly elevating it.
The usage of unmanned drone for the first time in India by a Mumbai-based pizza shop for delivery has come under the scanner of the Mumbai police, which will seek an explanation from the outlet as to why it did not inform them before carrying out the experiment.
The Aquila drone is being created to widen the range of internet connectivity around the globe.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
E-commerce players may soon rent out drones, so you can use them the way you book a cab on an app, and test viable use-cases for last-mile delivery.
All civilian drone operations will be restricted only during day time and flying will be restricted within visual line of sight which usually would be 450 metres, the regulation says.
India's financial capital Mumbai, notorious for its traffic snarls, has achieved a first in the country after a city-based pizza outlet used an unmanned drone to execute a delivery by taking the aerial route recently.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
The ICMR has been permitted to use drones up to a height of 3,000 metre to deliver vaccines, the ministry's statement added.
China has delivered a second advanced submarine to Pakistan, part of a larger deal to bolster the South Asian nation's naval capabilities in the Indian Ocean. The move underscores China's growing influence in the region and its strategic partnership with Pakistan.
In absolute numbers, India had only 211 start-ups compared to 970 in the US.
"... It's time to stop this madness. It's time to halt the killing. It's time to end the senseless war. If you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides," Trump said.
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