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The government notified the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 due to force majeure arising from ongoing war in West Asia, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel told the Lok Sabha.
Under this order, fertiliser plants were designated as Priority Sector II, with gas supply assured at 70 per cent of their past six-month average consumption, subject to availability. Currently, supply has been maintained at around 65 per cent, with additional procurement of approximately 7.31 million metric standard cubic meters per day for the period March 18, 2026 to March 31, 2026 through the Empowered Pool Management Committee, increasing total availability to about 80 per cent of previous consumption levels.
The Government of India has taken note of reports regarding the commencement of a mega dam project by China on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo (upper reaches of the Brahmaputra) in Tibet, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The project was first made public in 1986, and preparations have been underway since then. The government said it is closely monitoring developments relating to the Brahmaputra river and is taking necessary preventive and corrective measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens in downstream areas.
As a lower riparian state with established user rights, India has consistently conveyed its concerns to China, emphasising transparency and consultation to ensure that downstream interests are not adversely affected.
Obesity is a major modifiable biological risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for an estimated 63 per cent of all deaths in the country, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav told the Lok Sabha.
This is based on the Operational Guidelines under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (2023-2030).
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to transform public health services in India, Jadhav told the Lok Sabha.
All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh have been designated as Centres of Excellence for AI to promote the development of AI-based healthcare solutions.
The ministry has collaborated with institutions including the Central Tuberculosis Division, National Centre for Disease Control, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing Mohali, Indian Council of Medical Research and Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, along with non-profit Wadhwani AI, to support implementation and technical development.
No specific study has been conducted to assess the growth in consumption of ultra-processed foods in India, though available evidence indicates increasing trends, Jadhav told the Lok Sabha. Data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (2022-23, 2023-24), the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations-World Health Organization 2023 report and scientific literature suggest rising consumption of processed and ultra-processed food items.
As of March 1, 2026, 6,645 public electric vehicle charging stations are operational out of 9,332 sanctioned under the Phase 2 of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles scheme across India, Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, Minister of State for Heavy Industries told the Rajya Sabha. These stations have been installed based on feasibility, demand and expected utilisation.
Bhashini Samudaye is a centralised digital platform aimed at building a multilingual AI ecosystem by bringing together contributors, startups, academic institutions and research organisations, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada told the Rajya Sabha.
The platform supports dataset creation, domain-specific glossaries and AI model development, with over 10,000 contributors onboarded. It also powers tools such as Shrutlekh, an AI-based real-time speech-to-text transcription and translation service across 22 Indian languages.