The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister approved MoU for cooperation in the field of geology and mineral resources between Geological Survey of India, Ministry of Mines, the Government of the Republic of India and Geological Survey of Finland (Geologiantutkimuskeskus), Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Government of Finland. The MoU facilitates cooperation in the field of geology, training, mineral prognostication and suitability analysis, 3/4D modelling, Seismic and other Geophysical surveys finalised with the intent of reinforcing and strengthening scientific links between the two Organisations.

The national transporter has stated that it is eyeing over $4 billion investments with private passenger train services. Recently, the government has announced two major initiatives of seeking private investment, one is the running of passenger trains by private operators on the Indian Railways network and the other is the redevelopment of railway stations across the country. According to Indian Railways, these projects have the potential of bringing an investment of over $7.5 billion in the next five years. The national transporter has stated that it is eyeing over $4 billion investments with private passenger train services. Railway Ministry has invited both domestic as well as global investors to actively participate in the bidding process for these initiatives.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade will realign itself along the lines of Prime Minister’s Make in India and will push for production of items domestically to cut down imports. The organisation is “focusing on creating more capacities within the country to produce items that can cut down imports and accelerate exports from the electronics and hardware sector, including ventilators,” Director General Amit Yadav said at an event organized by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC). He also said that the government-run agency is also taking suggestions from the industry and others as to the areas which promise new capacities to reduce import and accelerate exports.

The Govt. of India is encouraging investments in the manufacturing of batteries and Niti Ayog is exploring to incentivize the production per kW. India will be moving fast with various favourable policies and schemes to implement efficient energy storage and electric mobility in the country, point out experts. Niti Aayog is working on inviting investments for cell manufacturing and is proposing direct incentives. The critical opportunity is to integrate energy storage, batteries and vehicle manufacturing for a viable commercial market.

The industry needs to cut a dependence on lithium-ion battery imports from China, according to Nitin Gadkari, who said the government is looking to support research into alternative technologies. India can become an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub within five years, according to road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who urged the industry to grab opportunities as global companies seek alternatives to Chinese supply chains in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

India’s Road Transport and Highways Ministry announced its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle feasibility draft and is seeking comments and suggestions from stakeholders which include the general public. The primary focus is to be on the evaluation of the safety of using H2 powered vehicles. The ministry’s draft on hydrogen fuel cell vehicle feasibility was first revealed on July 10. Furthermore, the H2 specifications for fuel cell vehicles will align with ISO 14687 until appropriate notification takes place as per the requirements of the Bureau of Indian Standard Act of 2016, said the release.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) vide GSR 457 (E) dated 20th July 2020, has made following amendments in CMVR 1989. The specification for the Tyre pressure monitoring system ( TPMS) for vehicles up to maximum mass of 3.5 Tonnes which monitors the inflation pressure of the tyre or its variation, while the vehicle is running and transmits the information to the driver, thereby providing advance information to the driver and enhancing road safety has been provided if fitted in the Vehicle.

MoRTH has allowed registration of electric vehicles without pre-fitted batteries. In a letter to Transport Secretaries of all the States and UTs, the ministry has clarified that vehicles without batteries can be sold and registered based on the type approval certificate issued by the Test Agency. Further, that there is no need to specify the Make/Type or any other details of the Battery for the purpose of Registration. However, the prototype of the electrical vehicle, and the battery (regular battery or the swappable battery) is required to be type approved by the test Agencies specified under Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

TSDSI, as an organizational partner of 3GPP has transposed 3GPP standards (same as Recommendations ITU-R  M.2012-4) totaling 402 in numbers and had provided to TEC for adoption as national standards by TEC. These radio interface standards detail the features and parameters of IMT-Advanced like compatibility, international roaming, and access to high-speed data services.   These standards have been processed for adoption as per the “Standardization Guide – A policy document for adoption of the domestic/international standards into national standards”. Now, these standards [TSDSI transposed 3GPP standards (402 Nos.)] have been approved for adoption into national standards.

TSDSI, as a partner type 1 of oneM2M has transposed oneM2M (release2) specifications totaling 27 documents in numbers and had provided to TEC for adoption as national standards by TEC. These specifications address the need for common M2M service layer that can be readily embedded within various hardware and software and relied upon to connect the myriad of devices in the field with M2M application servers worldwide. These transposed documents cover oneM2M functional architecture, requirements, Service layer control protocols, Management enablement etc.  These specifications have been processed for adoption as per the “Standardization Guide – A policy document for adoption of the domestic/international standards into national standards. Now, these standards [TSDSI transposed oneM2M (release2) specifications] have been approved for adoption into national standards.