For 1st time, India Post delivers mail using drone in Gujarat under pilot project
Ahmedabad, May 29: The Department of Posts has for the first time delivered mail using a drone as part of a pilot project in Gujarat's Kutch district, covering a distance of 46 km in 25 minutes, officials said on Sunday.
The mail was sent by the drone from Habay village in Bhuj taluka to Ner village in Bhachau taluka of Kutch district by the postal department under the guidance of the Union Ministry of Communications, a release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in Ahmedabad said.
"With the success of this pilot project, it will now be possible to make postal deliveries by drone in future," it said.
"Keeping pace with modern technology, the Indian Postal Department has successfully tested for the first time in the country's postal history a pilot project to deliver mail with the help of drone technology in Kutch district of Gujarat," the PIB said.
As per the release, it took 25 minutes for the parcel to reach the destination located 46 km from the originating point.
It was a medical parcel, as per the information shared on Twitter by Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan.
The pilot project specifically studied the cost of delivery by drones and the geographical location between the two centres, as well as possible coordination among staff during the delivery process, including possible roadblocks, the release said.
If the experiment is commercially successful, the postal parcel delivery services will be faster, it added.
Chauhan in a tweet on Saturday said, "As the country celebrated the #DroneMahotsav2022, the Department of Posts successfully conducted a pilot test for delivery of parcels through drones in Kutch, Gujarat. The Drone successfully delivered the medicine parcel covering an aerial distance of 46 Km in 30 mins."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the "Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022", the country's biggest drone festival, where he said the use of drones will rise in sectors such as agriculture, sports, defence and disaster management.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against Allahabad HC order on Sambhal mosque whitewashing
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea challenging an Allahabad High Court order that asked the Archaeological Survey of India to whitewash the Mughal-era Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district.
The high court had on March 12 asked the ASI to undertake and complete the whitewashing of the mosque within a week.
"We are not inclined to entertain the present petition. Dismissed," ordered a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.
Appearing for appellant Satish Kumar Aggarwal, Lawyer Barun Sinha assailed the high court's order, saying the ASI was wrongly asked to whitewash the wall of the mosque.
In his order, HC judge Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had said, "The ASI shall undertake the whitewashing work and complete the same within a period of one week from today. Further, no extra lighting shall be put on the walls, as it may cause damage to the monuments, but exterior lights in the shape of focus lights/LED lights may be used by the ASI for lighting of the outer area of the alleged Masjid.
"The expenditure incurred in the whitewashing shall be borne by the Masjid Committee, and the same shall be reimbursed within one week after the completion of whitewashing work," he had said.
The high court had earlier directed the counsel appearing for the ASI to come up with specific averments as to what prejudice would whitewashing of the outer walls of the mosque cause.
Prior to this, a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque was undertaken and it led to the violence at Sambhal last year.
