Campaign to run down electric vehicles sad: Goyal
New Delhi, Sep 7 : Some companies in India are engaged in a campaign to run down electric vehicles in order to promote their hybrid cars in the country, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, adding that it is sad that hybrid cars are being promoted at the expense of electric cars.
Addressing the Global Mobility Summit here, the Minister said that the companies pushing hybrid vehicles are actually promoting technology that is "second best".
"We saw the progression from petrol cars to hybrid cars, and it is extremely sad that there is a campaign to promote hybrid cars at the expense of electric cars. I urge those companies to quickly make electric cars instead of hawking the market with intermediate products," Goyal said.
"The sad part is that the campaign is being run by companies which don't make electric cars. To sell their hybrid cars they are willing to compromise with the best. They want us to settle for the second best just because they don't make electric cars.
"Gone are the days that India will settle for anything which is second best. We want nothing but the best," he added.
Declaring that he is the owner of two hybrid cars, the Minister said these brought "no savings whatsoever".
"So let's look for the best and move out of the psychology and psyche of subsidies and grants and government handholding everything," he said.
The Minister said that considering the cost dynamics in the country and that people deserve the best at affordable prices, the effort should be to make technology the driver of programming, "so that India moves to be a 100 per cent producer of electric vehicles by 2030".
Goyal also said the Centre has decided to bring all the logistics in the government under a common framework to enable more integrated planning under the Commerce Ministry.
"All of us, railways, road, transport, shipping and aviation are working in our own individual areas, but planning for logistics sector in a holistic manner, particularly, with the view to bring down the cost to 7-8 per cent from 12-14 per cent," he said.
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5-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped, killed by man in Hubballi, sparks outrage
Hubballi, Apr 13 (PTI): A 5-year-old girl child was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a man here on Sunday, police said.
The incident occurred at the Ashok Nagar police station limits here and the body was found in an abandoned building, they said.
Though there are reports of sexual assault, police have not confirmed it, and have said that medical examination and investigations are underway.
Outraged by the incident, a large number of residents from the locality gathered in front of Ashok Nagar police station and staged a protest, demanding justice.
"The complaint is being taken from the parents of a girl and necessary legal action will follow," Police Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad N Shashi Kumar told reporters here.
Victim's family hails from Koppal district. Her mother worked as a house maid and as an assistant at a beauty parlor while her father worked as a painter, he said.
"The mother had taken her daughter for work, as she was working at the houses in the locality. An unidentified man had taken the girl from there. On searching, the girl was found in the bathroom of a small sheet roofed building in front of the House from where she had gone missing. She was immediately shifted to hospital, where she was declared brought dead," he said.
The Commissioner said, the culprit will be nabbed at the earliest and necessary legal action will be taken.
Responding to a question on the accused, he said, CCTV footage is being checked, once the identity of the accused is established, his whereabouts and other details can be ascertained and necessary action will be taken.
Asked was there any rape attempt or sexual assault, he said, "No information for now. Cause of death, was there any kind of assault on the girl child will all be verified," he said.
Police have requested agitators to maintain peace and allow police to do their job and take necessary action.
