Ministry of Civil Aviation
On receiving complaints about the congestion at Coimbatore Airport, the Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Suresh Prabhu reviewed the progress of ongoing works at Coimbatore Airport. The Minister was apprised that the AAI has undertaken following works within available land to meet growing passenger demand and all the works are at different stages of completion:
1. New Departure block
@ a cost of Rs.180 Cr Additional apron
5 bays @ a cost of Rs.30 Cr. Densification of residential colony @ a cost of Rs.49 cr.
The Minister directed the officials to expedite the completion of the pending works at the earliest and make available the above facilities to the passengers in order to reduce the congestion. The officials brought to the notice of Shri Prabhu that AAI has requested the Tamilnadu Government for the allotment of an additional land of 468 acres for terminal development across runway. Shri Prabhu told them that he will take up this matter with the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu.
Digital Sky Platform launched – India to start registration of drones, pilots, and operators Registration portal for online permission
Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), popularly referred to as drones, are a technology platform with wide-ranging applications. In August 2018, India had announced the release of its Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) to enable safe flying of RPAS in India. The CAR detailed the obligations of operators, remote pilots/ users and manufacturers/ OEM for safe operations of RPAS and co-operative use of airspace. It also announced Digital Sky Platform, a first of its kind that implements 'no permission, no take-off’ (NPNT) – a novel system of software-based selfenforcement to minimize deviations from the CAR. The regulations were
to come in effect from December 1, allowing the industry time to ready themselves for the launch. Nano drones in India can start flying legally from today. For micro and above categories, operators and pilots are required to register on the Digital Sky Portal.
The platform has begun accepting registrations of users. Payments for Unmanned Aerial Operator’s Permit (UAOP) and Unique Identification Numbers (UIN) will be accepted through the Bharat Kosh (bharatkosh. gov.in) portal.
To get permissions to fly, RPAS operators or remote pilots will have to file a flight plan. Flying in the ‘green zones’ will require only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the portal or the app. Permissions will be required for flying in ‘yellow zones’ and flights will not be allowed in the ‘red zones’. The location of these zones will be announced soon. Permission, if granted, will be available digitally on the portal.
If an RPAS does not have permission to fly, it will not be allowed to takeoff under the policy of NoPermissionNo-Takeoff (NPNT). This aspect of the portal is expected to be live soon. Existing drone operators are requested to contact their manufacturers for NPNT-compliant firmware upgrades & Equipment Type Approvals (ETA) from WPC Wing of DoT. Potential drone owners are required to buy NPNT-compliant RPAS. A point of contact in the WPC is available on the Digital Sky Website DGCA has released a list of Frequently Asked Questions as well as a list of Do’s & Don’ts for safe flying.
A detailed RPAS Guidance Manual has been released in November and is available on the DGCA website. This includes technical Specifications for NPNT compliance that will help manufacturers roll out relevant upgrades to their RPAS. The import of drones is now permitted as well, and a point of contact in the DGFT is available on the Digital Sky Website. The Digital Sky Platform is built to evolve with the evolving needs of this rapidly changing industry. In the coming months, new features will be developed to ease the process of flying for users, and provide oversight to security agencies. Furthermore, it is envisioned that in the future Digital Sky Service Providers (DSPs) will be extending the functionality of the platform through Application Program Interfaces (APIs).
On this occasion, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India said that “Drones are an industry of the future. It is a matter of great pride for India that we are now at the cuttingedge of the rule making in this industry. India will be taking lead in this sector and will be working with countries around the world to develop common, scale able standards. This industry has a large potential for Make in India and also to export drones and services from India.’
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Shri Jayant Sinha said that, “Today, we have taken the first step towards our vision of seeing millions of drones fly in India. Drones are a frontier technology which has the potential to leapfrog India’s economic growth. This technology can greatly benefit our farmers, infrastructure entities like railways, roads, ports, mines and factories, sectors like insurance, photography, entertainment, etc.” The Minister for Civil Aviation has constituted a task-force on the recommendation of Drone Policy 2.0 under the chairmanship of the Minister of State. This task-force which is expected to release their final report by the end of this year. Drone 2.0 framework for RPAS are expected to include regulatory
architecture for autonomous flying, delivery via drones and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights.
Successful completion of Swachhta Pakhwada of Ministry in Civil Aviation
As a part of the Swachhta Pakhwada of Ministry of Civil Aviation for the year 2018, the 15 day cleanliness drive, has successfully been observed in M/o Civil Aviation and all of its organizations from 01st November 2018 to 15th November 2018. Shri Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Secretary (Civil Aviation) inaugurated the Swachhta Pakhwada campaign in MoCA on 01st November 2018 by administering ‘Swachhta Pledge” to all the employees. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Choubey highlighted the importance of cleanliness by citing the example of the life of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and requested all the employees to ensure cleanliness around their workstations. Briefing the media, Smt. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, said that during this Pakhwada, the Ministry and its attached offices organized various activities related to cleanliness awareness such as Shramdan by staff, short play, tree/ sapling plantation, swachhta lecture by Shri Bezwada Wilson (Magsaysay award 2016 winner), visit of Secretary, M/o Drinking Water & Sanitation to paper recycling unit of Airport Authority of India, special rally for awareness on hygiene, drawing / painting competition etc. with an objective of dissemination of the message of Swachh Bharat widely and to connect the local masses in the surrounding areas to this campaign. Based on the swachhta related activities carried out by all the organizations of MoCA, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation, declared and awarded Pawan Hans Ltd (PHL), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) as the 3 best performing organizations under MoCA during this Swachhta Pakhwada
Some of the major activities undertaken during Swachhta Pakhwada were:-
Teams of MoCA and DGCA performed short plays on Swachhta centric theme. Drawing/Poetry/Poster Making/ Essay/Speech Competitions inviting innovative ideas for Swachhta amongst employees. Such competitions were also organized by AAI and PHL for students in identified government schools for the awareness of cleanliness.
Paper recycling unit of AAI planned to share expertise of recycling paper with other agencies/Ministries/PSUs. NTPC has shown interest in starting their own recycling unit.
PHL adopted a road in front of their Corporate Office along with other owners / occupants on cost sharing basis with focus on regular cleaning, proper drain management in association with Noida Authority.
AAI invited Shri Bezwada Wilson for a lecture and workshop on cleanliness. AAI also conducted Medical awareness programme. In IGRUA, the bio-degradable solid waste materials collected from Mess, Kitchen and from residential area were processed in a Vermiculture Plant and the manure produced used in various gardens of the Akademi. IGRUA invited students of nearby schools and Gram Pradhans of nearby villages for Exhibition of Municipal Solid Waste ( MSW) System in IGRUA in two sessions of two hours each.
Cleanliness drives in nearby
residential colonies.