Drone carrying package crashes in Gurugram locality; FIR against company
Gurugram, Feb 17: A drone on way to deliver a package hit a dish antenna, triggering a scare in a residential locality here.
The incident took place in G Block of South City 2 residential area around 5 pm on Thursday, police said.
The drone was being flown by Skye Air at a time when prohibitory orders were in force due to Chief Minister M L Khattar's visit in the district and a case has been registered against the company, they said.
The RWA of the society informed the Sector 50 police station about the incident and a police team reached the spot.
In a statement, logistics solution provider Skye Air said an obstacle in the drone's path prompted an "emergency landing in a nearby open area". "Unfortunately, due to the uneven surface, the drone collided with a dish antenna," causing the UAV to topple on the rooftop, it said.
In an earlier statement, the company said the pilot, after getting to know about the prohibitory orders, "attempted to make an emergency landing on a building in compliance with the law".
Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones etc.) in Gurugram district was banned on February 15 and 16 in accordance with the prohibitory orders enforced under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Based on a complaint, an FIR was registered against Skye Air under Indian Penal Code sections 188 ( disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 287 (negligent conduct to respect to machinery), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) at Sector 50 police station on Thursday night.
It has been told that the drone crashed due to some technical fault, the FIR said.
"We have taken the damaged drone into possession and are investigating. Action will be taken against the company in accordance with law," said Inspector Jitender Kumar, SHO of Sector 50 police station.
A Skye Air spokesperson stated that the company has obtained all required approvals and permissions for drone operations along the approved route.
"During yesterday's flight at 4.15 PM, our UAS sensors detected an obstacle obstructing the path, prompting an emergency landing in a nearby open area. Unfortunately, due to the uneven surface, the drone collided with a dish antenna, causing it (drone) to topple.
"Our team promptly responded, securing the site and taking necessary actions for safe retrieval. Subsequently, we conducted a thorough internal investigation and submitted comprehensive reports to both the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation," the spokesperson said.
The company also said the information about the enforcement of Section 144 in the district was only disseminated by the Gurugram DC at 5.41 PM on X and other social media platforms. "No such information was provided to the drone operators beforehand. We received this information only after the incident occurred," the spokesperson said.
In an initial statement, a company spokesperson said the drone was on its routine flight, and around 5 pm, "we received a notification on Twitter (now X) that Section 144 had been imposed". "Consequently, our pilot attempted to make an emergency landing on a building in compliance with the law, but the building's surface was not smooth, causing the drone to hit the plant pots," the spokesperson said.
Skye Air entered into a partnership with an e-commerce platform this month for delivery of packages by drones.
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BJP slams Cong over internal quota for SCs, alleges injustice done to several communities
Bengaluru (PTI): The BJP in Karnataka on Saturday attacked the Congress government over its decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging injustice to several communities and questioning the intent behind the revised quota formula.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MP Govind Karjol criticised the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing it of delay, dilution of quota, and lack of commitment to social justice.
The Cabinet on Friday cleared a revised internal reservation formula for Scheduled Castes within the overall 15 per cent quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment.
The Cabinet approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand groups" and "left-hand groups", and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
"The Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has committed a historic betrayal and stabbed the Scheduled Castes in the back," Vijayendra said.
In a post on 'X', the Shikaripura MLA alleged that the government had delayed the distribution of reservation among Scheduled Castes for nearly two-and-a-half years despite a Supreme Court order, before classifying them into A, B and C categories in a Cabinet decision.
He said the previous BJP government had increased reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, but the present dispensation had reduced allocations.
"The quota for Category 'A' has been reduced from 6 per cent to 5.25 per cent and for Category 'B' from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, thereby causing grave injustice," he said, adding that allocations meant for several communities had been merged into Category 'C' and reduced to 4.5 per cent.
"Instead of the justifiable 5.5 per cent, the quota has been reduced to 4.5 per cent- amounting to a betrayal of these communities as well," he said.
He further claimed that despite there being no stay order, the state government had filed an affidavit agreeing to reduce reservation from 17 per cent to 15 per cent.
"As a result, the Scheduled Caste reservation has been brought down from 17 per cent to 15 per cent," he said.
Alleging inaction on employment, Vijayendra said the government had wasted two-and-a-half years of valuable time in the name of internal reservation despite lakhs of vacancies, and termed the recent recruitment assurance as misleading.
He added that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar will pay a price for the alleged injustice.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, Karjol questioned the internal reservation mechanism adopted by the Cabinet.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said the Justice H N Nagamohan Das committee had recommended 17 per cent internal reservation and the government had reduced it to 15 per cent.
He questioned whether repeated assertions on social justice and equitable distribution were mere rhetoric, and accused the chief minister of misleading the public to retain power.
Terming the decision "arbitrary justice", Karjol said, "There were the Sadashivayya report, the Justice H N Nagamohan Das report, and even the Cabinet sub-committee report under former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. There was also a Supreme Court order. Ignoring all of these, the government has delivered arbitrary justice."
He maintained that the previous BJP government had increased reservation scientifically to 17 per cent based on a report by then Law Minister J C Madhuswamy, and alleged that, despite promises made in 2013 and after returning to power in 2023, Siddaramaiah had failed to implement internal reservation.
Accusing the chief minister of attempting to create divisions among SC sub-castes and pushing the issue into courts, Karjol urged him to stop this deception.
