DRDO test flies Rustom unmanned aircraft

The DRDO successfully flown in "RUSTOM", the medium altitude long endurance Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) maiden flight here on Saturday.

The aircraft flown exactly as planned, up to a height of 3000 feet and remained airborne for 30 minutes and completed all mission requirements. It took off and landed (among the most challenging maneuvers for a UAV), using a runway at an air field owned by Taneja Aerospace, Bangalore, like a normal aircraft with the ground based pilot in full control monitoring every maneuver of the aircraft and auto mode remaining on.

Rustom is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) being developed by DRDO for the three services, Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force of the Indian Armed Forces. Rustom is derived from the NAL's LCRA (Light Canard Research Aircraft) developed by a team under the leadership of late Prof. Rustom B. Damania in the 1980s. The UAV will have structural changes and a new engine.Rustom will replace/supplement the Heron UAVs in service with the Indian armed forces. Rustom UAV will be able to execute surveillance of the enemy territory up to a distance of 250 kilometers and carry a variety of cameras and radar for surveillance.

According to the ADE, the Rustom UAV will be better in its capabilities than the imported Israeli UAV Heron used by the Indian Army and will eventually supplement it. It will also be different from other Indian indigenous UAVs like “Lakshya” and “Nishant” and have many structural changes and a better customized engine.

12% Hike in Delhi and NCR Housing Rentals

House rentals on an average in Delhi and NCR have gone up by 12 per cent in the April-June period this year in comparison to the same period last year as per the real estate portal 99 acres.com on Tuesday said in a report. The report, which took 3 BHK flats into consideration, said the highest appreciation during the period in South Delhi was seen in the Saket area, where rentals increased by 31 per cent followed by South Extension, Safdarjung and Malviya Nagar by 24 per cent, 22 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

Home & Auto loans to be costlier

Many of the banks have raised their lending rate by 75 basis points. This makes the home and auto loans for the existing borrowers dearer. This increase is due to the RBI policy following which the lenders hiked interest rates. The RBI, had in its monetary review on July 27, raised the short-term borrowing (reverse repo) rate by 50 basis points and lending (repo) rate by 25 basis points.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), raised its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 75 basis points to 11.75 per cent.

Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce increased it by 50 basis points each to 12.50 per cent.

Union Bank upped their BPLR by 50 basis points to 12.25 per cent.

IDBI upped their BPLR by 50 basis points to 13.25 per cent.

SBI, has so far not hiked its BPLR .