India will be a global automobile manufacturing hub

The Myanmar Army Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said that the issue of the citizenship of Rohingya is solely a matter of domestic law. He said that the citizenship process in Myanmar is subject to the 1982 citizenship law which identifies only 135 indigenous ethnic groups and Bengalis or Rohingya are not among these.He further said that Myanmar does not object to the Rohingya living inside the Myanmar territory. However, the issue of citizenship, definition of indigenous people and their rights are matters of domestic law. Refusing to accept international intervention, he said Myanmar is proceeding according to its own domestic law on this issue.General Hlaing criticised the international community for putting pressure on Myanmar for political reasons. He said that for a multi party democratic system to fully work, political stability and security of the union is required. General Hlaing said that Myanmar’s unique situation of armed conflict, ongoing peace negotiations with armed groups and the fact that the systems were still not fully mature required reservation of seats for Tatmadaw in the Parliament.

-Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said the government is working towards making India a global automobile manufacturing hub in the next five years. He said, the government is already making policies to support the industry. Addressing the virtual ‘Electric Mobility Conference 2020’, Gadkari said  India has the potential to become the largest Electric Vehicle (EV) market in the world with the government's push for EV adoption. The Union Minister also  called upon the automobile industry to reduce cost of the Electric Vehicles so that the sale number goes up. He stressed that the quality of the vehicles should also be maintained. Gadkari also said the government is working towards making e-Highway on  Delhi and Mumbai Expressway where e-buses and trucks would run.  He said, the government is going ahead with a pilot project and the Delhi-Mumbai corridor will become the lifeline of India. The Minister said, mass rapid transport on electricity is the most important solution for the country as electricity as a fuel is available. 

-Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has invited OPEC member countries to invest in India, especially in the efforts to transform the country into a manufacturing hub which will be at the heart of the global value chain. The minister co-chaired the 4th high-level meeting of the India-OPEC Energy Dialogue yesterday along with Secretary-General of OPEC Secretariat Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo.Talking to the virtual meeting, Pradhan urged OPEC countries to take a deep look at the rapidly changing global oil and gas sector due to COVID-19 and revisit the ongoing exchanges so that energy challenges, particularly in the oil sector, can be jointly addressed. He expressed confidence that OPEC and India will continue working closely for mutual benefit and shared prosperity.

-Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has said that the Central Government is working on all fronts to mitigate air pollution.He said, the government will continue to strive hard to bring an end to the issue of air pollution and encourage all possible technological interventions in this regard. Javadekar expressed concern over the pollution level in the northern parts of the country, especially in Delhi.Speaking at the virtual inauguration of country's first demonstration plant in Pune, Javadekar said, stubble burning is another cause of concern and expressed hope that technologies like these will help alleviate the problem. The plant produces compressed biogas from biomass. Javadekar  also informed that the Central government’s PUSA institute has demonstrated a decomposer technology which converts stubble to manure and is being experimented on a pilot basis in five states including Delhi.

-In Bihar, elaborate security arrangements have been made for the third and last phase of assembly elections. In all, 78 constituencies spread over 15 districts including Kishanganj, Katihar, Madhepura and Supaul will go to polls in this phase tomorrow. Polling for By-Election to Valmiki Nagar Parliamentary seat, will also be held simultaneously. Seven candidates are in fray for this Lok Sabha seat.Over 2.35 crore electorates will decide the fate of 1,204 candidates including 110 women in this phase. Polling will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Chief Electoral Officer H. R. Srinivasa said, polling will be held upto 4 p.m. in four Naxal-affected constituencies of Valmiki Nagar, Ramnagar, Simri Bakhtiarpur and Mahishi. Out of 33 thousand 782 Polling Stations 4,999 are considered as vulnerable.