Myanmar’s electricity generation has dropped to about half the normal figure, as rebels have damaged critical transmission networks, causing lengthy blackouts in wide swathes of the South Asian nation, state media said on Friday. Natural gas shortages in the war-torn nation have also helped take production down to just 2,200 MW a day, from the usual figure of 4,000 megawatt (MW), they added. It was a rare admission of the junta’s inability to manage critical infrastructure nearly four years after the powerful military ousted an elected civilian government, triggering a civil war that has engulfed the impoverished nation. “Currently, electricity is being supplied to Yangon region at 48%, Mandalay region at 17% and the rest, including Naypyidaw, at 35%,” the Global New Light Of Myanmar newspaper said, referring to the two main urban areas and the capital. Power cuts have worsened this year in the commercial capital of Yangon, with supply limited to four-hour blocks, followed by eight-hour shutdowns, in a plan the power ministry unveiled last week. “We need to schedule cooking and washing …