Govt may allow private air traffic controllers to manage drones in lower airspace
Bengaluru, Feb 3: The government is considering allowing air traffic controllers, operated by private entities, to manage drone operations in the Indian airspace below 1,000 feet, said a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official on Wednesday.
"The drone ATC (air traffic controller) will be called UTM (unmanned traffic management) and it will collaborate with the manned traffic management, which is being handled currently as a sovereign function by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)," said Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The AAI, which works under the ministry, manages all manned aircraft operations in the Indian airspace. A passenger aircraft generally flies at a height of around 30,000 feet.
"The airspace below 1,000 feet is lower airspace and it would be the main playground of drones. For that, we may have a system of private ATCs, which would be managed by private operators," Dubey said at a session organised by industry body FICCI at Aero India 2021.
"It could be a government agency or a private agency, it is something that would evolve," he added.
The AAI cannot handle drones because they would be flying at 5 feet to take care of crops to about 1,000 feet in the airspace, Dubey mentioned.
Drone technology is moving way faster than the regulations so we have decided that we need to start a parallel activity, he said.
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Bengaluru PG murder: Accused arrested in Bhopal
Bengaluru (PTI): The Bengaluru police have arrested the prime suspect in the murder of a 24-year-old woman at a paying guest accommodation here on July 23.
Abhishek was arrested in Bhopal where he fled after committing the gruesome murder of Kriti Kumari.
"Yes, he has been arrested," a senior police officer told PTI on Saturday.
On Friday, the video of the chilling incident went viral.
According to police, Abhishek had sneaked into the PG accommodation and killed Kriti Kumari from Bihar.
The victim was staying with another woman.
In the video, the man is seen walking into the corridor of the paying guest accommodation holding a polythene bag. He then knocks on the door and, later, drags a woman out. The victim resists the attack but is soon overpowered by the murderer, who slits her throat and runs away.
Hearing the loud noise, other women in the building come to the spot, but could not save her.
"Kriti Kumari was working in a private company in the city," a police officer said.
