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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Gujarat: Man manhandles bank manager over tax deduction on FD interest, assaults another person
Ahmedabad, Dec 8: A man was arrested for allegedly manhandling the manager of a public sector bank in Ahmedabad over TDS on interest on his fixed deposit and assaulting another person, police said Sunday.
A purported video of the incident went viral, in which two men are seen holding each other's collars while a woman is heard trying to pacify them.
In the clip, the enraged customer slaps a person and tears his shirt amid the woman’s pleas for peace.
A police official said that the incident was reported on December 5 when a customer got into an argument with the manager of the Vastrapur branch of the Union Bank of India.
An FIR was registered and the accused, Jaimin Rawal, was arrested the same day, said inspector of Vastrapur police station LL Chavda.
In his complaint, the manager said Rawal started blaming the bank for a “higher” tax deduction at source (TDS) over interest on his FD even after being explained that he could claim the money while filing his income tax return.
The accused allegedly started abusing the bank manager and snatched his ID card. He also allegedly slapped an employee of an insurance company when he tried to intervene, and tore his shirt.
Rawal has been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), 221 (obstructing public servant from performing duty) and 296 (using obscene words).
'Customer' turned 'Crocodile' after TDS Deduction in Bank FD. FM sud instruct Bank staffs to learn 'taekwondo' for self defense. pic.twitter.com/CEDarfxcqi
— Newton Bank Kumar (@idesibanda) December 6, 2024
