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Mission Poshan 2.0 targets reduction in malnutrition through community engagement and behavioural change
India ranked third globally in AI competitiveness; Rs 10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission underway
Coastal erosion assessment finds 58% of Valsad and 60% of Navsari coastlines affected
Roadmap aims to scale nuclear capacity from 8.78 GW to 22 GW by 2031–32
India’s innovation ecosystem shows strong academic research output in artificial intelligence (AI) and related deep technologies, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha. In the Stanford Global AI Vibrancy 2025 report, India was ranked third globally for AI competitiveness and ecosystem vibrancy. India is also the second-largest contributor to GitHub AI projects.
In March 2024, the Government of India launched the IndiaAI Mission with an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore to develop the country’s AI ecosystem. Within 24 months, the mission has laid the foundation for AI ecosystem development.
Under Mission Poshan 2.0, a new strategy has been developed to reduce malnutrition and improve health, wellness and immunity through community engagement, outreach, behavioural change and advocacy, Minister of State in the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur told the Rajya Sabha.
The mission focuses on maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding norms, treatment of severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition, and wellness through AYUSH practices, with the aim of reducing the prevalence of wasting, stunting, anaemia and underweight children.
The Department of Fisheries has initiated measures to promote the use of drone technology in fisheries and aquaculture. This is described as a first-of-its-kind initiative in the sector, introducing drone applications in fish and shrimp transportation, surveillance, disease monitoring and feed spraying, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
To raise awareness about drone applications, demonstrations were organised in Kolkata and the Sundarbans (West Bengal), Kochi (Kerala), Patna (Bihar), and at the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) in Hyderabad.
The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, conducted an updated assessment of shoreline changes along the coastal districts of Valsad and Navsari in Gujarat using remote-sensing data for the period 1990-2022, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The findings show that about 58 per cent (36.62 kilometre) of the Valsad coastline experienced erosion of varying intensity, including 2.5 km under high erosion, 3.24 km under moderate erosion and 30.88 km under low erosion. Similarly, around 60 per cent (24.64 km) of the Navsari coastline was found to be undergoing erosion, comprising 3.86 km under high erosion, 4.6 km under moderate erosion and 16.18 km under low erosion categories.
There are currently 24 nuclear power plants (excluding RAPS-1) in commercial operation in India, with a total installed capacity of 8,780 MW, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The government has drawn up a roadmap to achieve 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission. According to this roadmap, existing capacity of 8.78 GW (excluding RAPS-1) is expected to increase to about 22 GW by 2031-32 as projects under implementation are progressively completed.
Using radiation-induced mutagenesis alongside cross-breeding, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, a constituent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, has developed 72 crop varieties in oilseeds (groundnut, mustard, soybean and sunflower), pulses (urdbean, mungbean, pigeonpea and cowpea), rice, jute and banana, Singh told the Lok Sabha. These have been released and notified for commercial cultivation nationwide.
Of these, 32 Trombay crop varieties have been released for cultivation in Odisha, Haryana and Maharashtra. The varieties possess desirable traits such as higher yield, early maturity, improved lodging resistance and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, benefiting farmers.
India has developed its first indigenously discovered antibiotic, Nafithromycin, by the Wockhardt Group. It is a novel macrolide designed for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The Phase III clinical study in India was partly supported by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, a not-for-profit Section 8 public sector enterprise under the Department of Biotechnology. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has granted marketing authorisation for Nafithromycin 400 milligramme tablets for the treatment of adults (18 years and above) with CABP, to Wockhardt Limited.