The US has attacked targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the drone attack that killed three US service members in a base in northeast Jordan last week. Tehran and others have condemned the US' actions. Iran, Syria and Iraq all vehemently criticized US strikes which came in retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.   The US blames an Iran-backed umbrella group, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, for the last week's attack. The US military said it had hit more than 85 targets in Syria and Iraq, including control operation centers, intelligence centers, rockets and munition supply chain bases of militias and their Iranian sponsors "who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces." Tehran said the US strikes were a "strategic mistake." "Last night's attack on Syria and Iraq is an adventurous action and another strategic mistake by the US government, which will have no result other than intensifying tension and instability in the region," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement. Syria's Foreign Ministry issued a statement in the same vein, saying: "What (the US) committed has served to fuel conflict in the Middle East in a very dangerous way," while Iraq said that the airstrikes were a "violation of Iraqi sovereignty" and "pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences." "The outcomes will have severe implications on the security and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region," Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement.   Dozens killed in Iraq and Syria According to Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi, the US strikes killed at least 16 people, including civilians, while wounding 23 others. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group monitoring the conflicts in Syria, said the strikes there killed no civilians, but at least 23 pro-Iran fighters, updating an earlier toll of 18. "The toll has risen to 23 dead: 10 pro-Iran fighters in the Deir Ezzor area and 13 in the Mayadeen area," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory head. He said nine of the fighters were Syrians and six were Iraqis.  Other pro-Iran forces were evacuating positions in Deir Ezzor for fear that more US strikes could be imminent, the Observatory said. Biden says US response to 'continue' The drone attack killed three US soldiers and injured dozen others at a small US base in Jordan near the border with Syria. In a statement, US President Joe Biden said he had attended the return of the remains of the three soldiers at Dover Airforce Base.  "This afternoon, at my direction, US military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack US forces," Biden said. "Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing," Biden added. "The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: if you harm an American, we will respond." Iran denies responsibility for Jordan attack The series of US strikes lasted about 30 minutes, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding the Defense Department was still assessing the effect.  The Biden administration had made it clear that it wouldn't be just one hit, but a "tiered response" over time, meaning the strikes could only be the first of a set of responses by the Biden adminstration.   Iran has denied it was behind the attack on the US base in Jordan. On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi repeated Tehran would retaliate if the US strikes were to target its interests, saying: We "will not start a war, but if a country, if a cruel force wants to bully us, the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a strong response." London also weighed in on the attacks, saying they support the US' "right to respond to attacks."   "The UK and US are steadfast allies," a British government spokesperson said in a statement. "We have long condemned Iran’s destabilising activity throughout the region, including its political, financial and military support to a number of militant groups." The EU, for its part, warned that the continuing instability in the Middle East as partly reflected by the US strikes was a danger to global security.   "The Middle East is a boiler that can explode. And certainly, there are attacks both on the Lebanon border; north and south; there are attacks in Syria; there are attacks in Iraq, attacks in the Red Sea," top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said.  He said the bloc called oneverybody to try to avoid an escalation." 

The Red Sea has come under sustained attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, prompting the US to create a new force to protect vessels in the major shipping route amid the Israel-Hamas war.   A US warship on Thursday shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile in the Red Sea fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the US military said. "The USS Mason (DDG 87) shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, referring to a guided-missile destroyer.   "There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries. This is the 22nd attempted attack by Houthis on international shipping since October 19," the statement read.   Houthis increase attacks in Red Sea The Houthis have stepped up attacks on commercial vessels in the important waterway where everything from oil and natural gas to electronics and toys pass through. The Houthis say the attacks are in support of ending the war in Gaza. The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, earlier on Thursday spoke about the importance of freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.   Prosor told the German news agency DPA: "What the Houthis are doing in the Red Sea is not only directed against Israel, but against the entire international community." Israel has vowed to crush Hamas' governing capabilities in Gaza in retaliation for its attacks on Israel on October 7, where militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians. Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the US, the EU, Germany and others. Commercial ships rerouted to bypass Red Sea The attacks on vessels in the Red Sea — through which 12% of global maritime trade passes — have prompted the United States and a host of other nations to create a new force to protect ships.   Some of the world's largest shipping companies have re-directed their vessels on longer journeys in order to bypass the Red Sea. The US also imposed sanctions on December 28 against groups from Yemen and Turkey that allegedly helped fund the Houthis.

A Pakistani drone with a suspected contraband item was recovered in a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police in Punjab's Tarn Taran district on Tuesday, said officials. The BSF said that on Tuesday around 11:28 am it intercepted the movement of a suspected drone near Village Wan in the district of Tarn Taran. "As per the laid down drill, BSF troops immediately reacted to intercept the drone," said a statement issued by the BSF. "Further, a joint search operation with Punjab Police was carried out. During the search at about 12:15 pm, a drone in broken condition along with one packet of suspected contraband items (Gross weight - 420 gm) wrapped with yellow adhesive tape, attached with a ring for hanging it with the drone and one battery (5000 mAH) of the drone was recovered from the farming field adjacent to Village - Wan, District - Tarn Taran," the statement added. The BSF officials said that the recovered drone is a Quadcopter of model DJI Mavic 3 Classic. There have been many Pakistani drones that crossed the border and entered India's Punjab and have been recovered by BSF. Last Sunday, The BSF and Punjab Police in a joint operation recovered a Pakistani drone in broken condition from Punjab's Ferozepur.

A Pakistani drone with a suspected contraband item was recovered in a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police in Punjab's Tarn Taran district on Tuesday, said officials. The BSF said that on Tuesday around 11:28 am it intercepted the movement of a suspected drone near Village Wan in the district of Tarn Taran. "As per the laid down drill, BSF troops immediately reacted to intercept the drone," said a statement issued by the BSF. "Further, a joint search operation with Punjab Police was carried out. During the search at about 12:15 pm, a drone in broken condition along with one packet of suspected contraband items (Gross weight - 420 gm) wrapped with yellow adhesive tape, attached with a ring for hanging it with the drone and one battery (5000 mAH) of the drone was recovered from the farming field adjacent to Village - Wan, District - Tarn Taran," the statement added. The BSF officials said that the recovered drone is a Quadcopter of model DJI Mavic 3 Classic. There have been many Pakistani drones that crossed the border and entered India's Punjab and have been recovered by BSF. Last Sunday, The BSF and Punjab Police in a joint operation recovered a Pakistani drone in broken condition from Punjab's Ferozepur.

Kyiv's mayor said one person was killed in the capital after the latest Russian assault. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin ordered a bolstering of border security to facilitate "fast movement" into Ukraine.  The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was targeted by a fresh 'massive' Russian drone attack, the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early Sunday.  Klischko said the assault left one person dead and another hospitalized. "A 35-year-old woman was hospitalized, a 41-year-old man died," Klitschko said, while adding that Kyiv's air defenses took down "more than 20 drones." He also said that the drone attack caused a fire in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, adding that it was contained. Russia has frequently used Iranian-produced drones to attack Ukraine. Iran's supposed involvement in Russia's invasion has lead to worsening ties between the Ukrainian government and the Islamic Republic.  The latest drone assault on Kyiv came as the city celebrates the anniversary of its founding 1,541 years ago. The anniversary, known as Kyiv Day, is celebrated on the last Sunday of May.    Here's a look at other developments on Sunday pertaining to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Putin orders tougher Russian border security Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday mandated toughter border security to facilitate "fast" Russian military and civilian movement into Ukrainian areas now controlled by Russia and "reliably cover" the lines near the combat zone. Putin addressed the border service on their Border Guard Day holiday. "It is necessary to ensure the fast movement of both military and civilian vehicles and cargo, including food, humanitarian aid building materials sent to the new subjects of the (Russian) Federation," Putin said in a message posted on the Kremlin's Telegram messaging channel. Putin announced last September the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk, in a move widely condemned as illegal by Kyiv and its Western allies.  Zelenskyy orders more sanctions against Russia  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveiled new sanctions targeting Russia-affiliated businesses and entities. Zelenskyy announced adding more companies and individuals to a list of those "who work for terror," vowing tougher measures against Russia. The Ukrainian president dubbed Saturday as "another sanctions day" during his daily evening address. Two-hundred and twenty companies and 51 people were added to the list. Zelenskyy said most were arms companies linked to Russian businesses, though not all those listed were operating on Russian soil.  The Ukrainian president also thanked allies Germany, Finland, Canada and Iceland for fresh weapons deliveries, as well as Japan, which issued earlier this week a new package of sanctions against Russia.

Pyongyang's new underwater drone is intended to be capable of carrying out sneak attacks in enemy waters. As a test went ahead, North Korea's Kim Jong Un condemned joint US-South Korean drills. North Korean state media reported on Friday that the country's military had tested a new underwater nuclear drone. The announcement came with tensions around the Korean peninsula running high as the US and South Korea recently concluded their largest joint military exercise in five years. North Korea's Kim Jong Un has vowed to ensure that the two allies will "plunge into despair". A radioactive 'tsunami' The new drone dubbed "Haueil", meaning "tsunami" is intended to be capable of sneaking into enemy waters and destroying naval strike groups and major operational ports. This would be done using large radioactive waves through underwater explosions, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. During the test, the drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 meters (about 260 to 490 feet) for more than 59 hours. Analysts remained skeptical about the readiness of the underwater vehicle. However, they warned that the North Korean dictator is showing off his diverse nuclear tactics as a threat to Washington and Seoul. Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observed that the new drone resembled Russia's nuclear torpedoes — a new type of weapon meant to create destructive, radioactive blasts in coastal areas. North Korea warns of brewing "nuclear crisis" North Korea stepped up its weaponry demonstration as Washington and Seoul completed their 11-day joint exercise called "Freedom Shield 23." KCNA said Kim had supervised the three-day exercise, which also involved the detonations of mock nuclear warheads. The drills, the media reported, were aimed at alerting the two allies of a brewing "nuclear crisis" as they continue with their "intentional, persistent and provocative war drills." The US intends to send an aircraft carrier in the coming days for another round of joint drills with Seoul. Seoul: North Korea will pay for "reckless provocation" Kim Jong Un believes that the military drills conducted by the allies are part of a preparation for the invasion of North Korea. However, Seoul and Washington have maintained that the exercises are purely defensive. They have criticized North Korea's tests and accused the isolated country of breaching UN sanctions. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Friday that he would ensure that Pyongyang paid for its "reckless provocation." In 2022, Pyongyang fired more than 70 missiles. This year, North Korea has fired at least 20 ballistic and cruise missiles over 10 different launch events. Seoul and Washington have responded by expanding their joint military exercises which had been downsized in previous years.

India could get its first dedicated medical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) corridor before year-end. This as India’s premier medical institute, AIIMS, could get a drone corridor with its extension campus at Haryana’s Jhajjar before the year-end. If that happens, rushing life-saving supplies from the parent campus to AIIMS Jhajjar  located around 50-km apart with a drive time of about 1.5 hours between the two depending on traffic will be a matter of minutes. Aviation ministry officials said the ministry and Airports Authority of India have approved (this plan). “AIIMS is awaiting (some) other approvals. Once that happens test flights will be carried out. If all goes well, regular (drone) flights may start in about six months,” the official added. One of the top officials from AIIMS confirmed that they are waiting for an approval from Delhi Police. Once they have it, the drone facility will be launched by the health minister,” he said. Initially, the official added, drones will be used to transport blood samples, blood products and medicines. “There are some tests that aren’t available at the Jhajjar campus currently. We can use the drones to transport samples to Delhi campus for testing. Similarly, blood products can be transported in case of urgent requirement,” he explained.   Over the past one year, drones have been used to send medical supplies, including Covid vaccines, to remote parts of India. In coming times, their deployment for rushing life-saving medicines is only going to increase. The tricky part is using them in urban areas, and that too in areas lying in flight path of airports. “There have been numerous occasions when local police across Indian cities have created traffic corridors for vehicles to rush freshly harvested organs from airports for being transplanted to critically ill patients in city hospitals. Given the state of traffic in all big Indian cities, this is not an easy thing to do. Drones can do the same job in peak-hour traffic too,” Arjun Aggarwal, MD of drone major Aerodyne India group, told TOI. One of the challenges in transporting medicines, blood sample, blood products or organs to be used for transplant is how to maintain its temperature, handle vibration that may be caused during the transportation and other contingency plans like biosafety. Sources said a panel discussion was held on the sidelines of the Bharat Drone Mahotsav - India's biggest drone festival - that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Pragati Maidan on May 27 to deliberate on this issue. “We discussed the models adopted by countries such as Israel where this facility is already in use,” one of the experts, who participated in the deliberation, told TOI. A drone corridor is defined as a segregated airspace defined by appropriate authorities in consultation with the airspace designers to keep commercial UAV operations out of the airspace, in which manned aircrafts operate. Air traffic control, which comes under the AAI, has an important role to play in this corridor as it traverses the flight corridors/approach path of Delhi airport’s runways. AIIMS comes under the approach path of runway 27 (closest to Dwarka side).  Next comes the IIT area that is the flight corridor for the main runway (28). And beyond that the Saket malls-Qutab Minar areas is the approach for runway 29 (the one close to Shivji statue). "The AIIMS project for rushing life-saving medical supplies through drones is excellent. If it succeeds, other medical institutions in various states can replicate the same model for better utilization technology and equipment," Dr Harsh Mahajan, founder and chief radiologist of Mahajan Imaging and former president NATHEALTH, told.   Source: The Times of India

India will need approximately 100,000 drone pilots in the coming years as the sector is on the path of “exponential growth”, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday, adding that the country has the potential of becoming a global drone hub by 2030.   “We are taking the drone sector forward on three wheels: policy, incentives and demand creation… Today, a drone pilot can be trained in 2-3 months. Close to one lakh (100,000) drone pilots will be needed in the years to come. The opportunity is tremendous,” Scindia said at the launch of NITI Aayog’s Experience Studio on Drone, an initiative to promote a collaborative ecosystem aimed at fostering innovation and adoption of drones for public services “It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim to make India the global drone hub by 2030. NITI Aayog and the (civil aviation) ministry are working towards this,” the minister said. Elaborating on the three wheels to take forward the drone sector, Scindia said, “The first wheel is of policy. You have seen how fast we are implementing the policy.” The second wheel is to create incentives, he said. “The PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme, which has been implemented under the leadership of PM Modi, will give a fresh boost to manufacturing and services in the drone sector,” Scindia added. The PLI scheme was introduced in September last year as a follow-through of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, released by the ministry on August 25 last year. The minister said the third wheel is to create indigenous demand and “12 central ministries — including agriculture, mining and rural — have tried to create the demand for the use of drones”. The minister said that close to “15-20 drone schools have been certified across 12 states so far”. Scindia, along with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, inaugurated the country’s first drone school in Gwalior in March this year. On Tuesday, Scindia said the civil aviation ministry will organise a two-day Bharat Drone Utsav in New Delhi from May 27. The government is working towards making drone services easily accessible, he said. “With the active participation of the stakeholders of the drone industry and the government of India, the drone industry is set on a path of exponential growth. The government will enable the continuity of this accelerated drone adoption by easing drone regulations and through drone literacy via programmes such as Drone Shakti and Kisan Drones,” Scindia added   In the nearly month-long Niti Aayog’s Experience Studio on Drone initiative, discussions and events regarding the sector will be held. Speaking the event, NITI Aayog’s vice chairman Suman Bery, who took charge on May 1, said, “Drones are expected to be significant creators of employment and economic growth due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas. The NITI experience studio launched today shall help promote various applications of drone technology to public and private stakeholders as well as help them fast-track adoption of drone technology within their organisations and aid in building a robust drone industry in India.” The civil aviation ministry and NITI Aayog have launched two challenges: Drones for Social Impact Competition and Robotics workshop and competition for the start-up community and students of Atal Tinkering Labs respectively.   Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog’s chief executive officer, said the experience studio will help start-ups showcase their innovations and next-gen technology-enabled solutions. “It will allow various government departments to experience these technologies first-hand and think about how they can be contextually used on the ground in public services. It will also act as an anchor for initiating proof-of-concepts and pilots aimed at solving issues that persist in service deliveries.” Source: The Hindustan Times

BotLab Dynamics, a startup incubated at IIT Delhi, has been working on building robotics for more than 5 years. The drones made by the IIT-Delhi startup lit up the sky at the Beating Retreat ceremony and also this Republic Day. Sarita Ahalawat, co-founder of BotLab Dynamics, while exclusively speaking to ANI said, "BotLab Dynamics is a start-up incubated at IIT Delhi. We have been working on building robotics for more than 5 years. We have been specified in the drone domain. Initially, we optimised a single drone domain but eventually, it occurred to us that it would be more useful to connect multiple drones." "So with that idea that we can put LED light in a drone, it can be a useful formation is when the Ministry of Defence contacted us we were asked to do a thousand drones light show on the occasion of Beating Retreat," she said. Ahalawat said they built their own drone hardware and associated software for the last five years. "We have been building all the essential components of the drone. Three important components, flight controller which is the brain of the drone, GPS which gives the precision and the motor controller-- all the components we built ourselves indigenously in the IIT Delhi. With that capability we knew that we could scale it up but of course challenges were there," said the co-founder of BotLab Dynamics. Speaking about the Beating Retreat preparation, Sarita said, "When The Ministry of Defence asked us, we were only at 100 drones. Imagine from 100 drones we have to go 1,000 and we had very little time. Being at IIT we love to take challenges-- we had to work with chip shortage as due to COVID the supply chain was broken. But because of our skills, we managed to take different shapes and redesign our circuits. So in six months, we planned well and we were able to execute it not just in terms of hardware." "A lot of people tell me how special it is that we had drone light show. I would tell them it is even more special that each drone is built in-house at IIT Delhi and that is a bigger deal than the entire show," said the BotLab Dynamics co-founder. Speaking about her team, Sarita said, "There is Tanmay, Anuj and I. We are three co-founders of this startup. We are united by one mission that we want to build hardware in India. India is known for software base solutions-- Flipkart, Swiggy-- all these are software service solutions but there are not many examples of hardware-based solutions. Our passion is to build hardware in India and I have presented in this domain good quality hardware solutions." "Initially when we started it was just three of us, now we have a total of 42 people. Most of them are engineers so our entire team is technical in nature and that enables us to solve this problem." "In future, if we connect 3,000 drones to single users, then we will become the second country in the world to have that capability and if we get enough resources, then connecting 7,500 drones will make our country first in the world to do so. Our plan is to scale this up and built capability," said Sarita. Talking about her future plans, she said, "Second thing we are working on is to use a smaller number of drones let say 20 or 50 and have them more capable use them for defence so that we have surveillance, logistic, disaster management. In Defence, if such capabilities are deployed, we will be able to save costs and save lives." "After 29 Jan, we had several meetings with big corporate firms, mid-level corporates as we are now looking for partners so that we can scale up to international level." IIT Delhi alumni Tanmay Bunkar, co-founder of BotLab Dynamics said, "We have stated this startup to decrease our dependence on hardware and software especially when it comes to drone technology. Most of the hardware that we operate as of now is imported." Speaking about his team, Bunkar said, "Anuj was my roommate and also my batchmate during our graduation. We use to discuss how everything is imported and how can we do something about it so after graduation we started this." "The plane in the sky, the phone in our hand everything has been made somewhere else not here in India. That is the only thing that resonated-- Let's do something about it, let's make something in India." "Short term plan is to scale our fleet, scale the number of drones as of now. We have 1,200 drones with us. Objective is to get to 5,000 by end of this year. The stretched goal is to fly 75,000 drones as soon as possible that will make India the first country in the world to demonstrate such a large fleet. Long term vision is to have network zone flying everywhere for civil and defence applications," said Tanmay Bunkar. Source: ANI  

Indian Union Minister of Dr Jitendra Singh has launched a drone based vaccine delivery service in Indian administrated Jammu. Singh said, "Launched Drone based Vaccine/Emergency Medicine Delivery service close to International Border near Jammu. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this is CSIR initiative under Ministry of Science and Technology, contributing to Har Ghar Dastak campaign." Speaking to reporters after the event, Singh said, "This is the difference between India and other countries. India makes use of science and technology to safeguard the interests of humanity." Several other dignitaries were present at the launch. Source: ANI