The ecosystem for drones in India is set to evolve,
With many recent initiatives such as…
Notification of ‘liberalized drone rules’,
launch of ‘interactive airspace maps’,
‘Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) for drones and their components,
Drone Shakti Scheme to promote ‘drones-as –a-service’ (DrAAS),
Agriculture drones, …
This month, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Government of …

James Webb Space Telescope
The telescope,
A joint international collaboration led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies,
Developed at a cost of $8.8 billion,
Was successfully launched on 25th December 2021.
Unlike its 30-year-old predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, operated primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.
Webb mainly will view the …

With the advent of the vaccines,
Year 2021 was anticipated as a year of recovery.
However, earlier this year it was the ferocious Delta variant of Covid-19,
That devastated the millions in many of the countries,
And now it is the Omicron variant wreaking havoc
Though the world is better equipped to deal with the …

Another wave of Covid-19 sweeps Europe.
Russia and the UK face a surge,
The Netherlands heads for partial lockdown.
Austria restricts unvaccinated people.
Germany says national emergency.
Apparently in Europe ‘vaccine hesitancy’ overwhelms the ‘vaccine availability’.
The tyranny of virus continue to rage,
And the irony is that millions yet to get the first dose …

In this divided world, emerges an additional fault line
Vaccinated vs. un-vaccinated.
If in high-income countries around 60% have been vaccinated with at least one dose, the percentage remains abysmally low at around 3% in low-income countries.
The priority to vaccinate ones own first is understandable and justifiable to some extent,
But the concerns towards …

A new draft policy by Department of Space (DoS), Government of India.
Recognizes that Space based navigation /augmentation system is essentially a public good which has to be accessible to all users.
It plans for continuity of NavIC and GAGAN services, ensuring compatibility and interoperability with other GNSS/SBAS signals.
It intends to work towards expanding …

In this year itself, there have been many worrying events of extreme weathers.
In Greenland, for the first time rain fell at the highest point of its ice sheet.
If there are extreme level of flooding in Germany, China and Australia,
Then the Western US is facing one of the worst droughts.
Unprecedented heat waves …

 
When it hit, it hit hard.
The second wave of Covid-19 in India.
Millions infected, hospitals overwhelmed, crumbling health infrastructure, …
Many were struggling – for doctors, medicines, beds in hospitals, oxygen cylinders, cremations,…
With little or no support.
The best was that medical fraternity scrambled to do whatever it could,
And many volunteered to help, to serve, to donate, …
The …

A new race in space.
First Richard Branson in Virgin Galactic
then Jeff Bezos in Blue Origin
and Elon Musk in SpaceX to follow.
Space tourism is a new ‘buzz’
Appears to satisfy the urges of the mighty and wealthy.
It also opens up new avenues of desires and damages,
Given the human record of …

For the civilian use of drones, India has the guidelines in place.
In March 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the Unmanned Aircraft System Rules.
Recently, the government has invited bids to use drones for the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines and other medicines for remote areas.
Telangana state government in India engages with Flipkart …