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AI talent projected to more than double to 12.5 lakh by 2027
Punjab’s groundwater extraction stands at 156.36% of extractable resources
Forest and tree cover in the North East declines by 301.57 sq km
Urban waste processing capacity rises to 81.65% nationwide
Road fatalities increase to 1,77,177 in 2024
According to the NASSCOM report Advancing India’s AI Skills, published in August 2024, AI talent in India is expected to grow from 600,000-650,000 professionals to more than 1.25 million by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje told the Rajya Sabha.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) may lead to job creation in areas such as data science and data curation. So far, 865,000 candidates have enrolled or been trained in various courses, including 320,000 in AI and Big Data Analytics technologies.
According to information received from the Kerala government, the state has launched a special intensive drive, ‘Mission Solar Fencing’, to repair and maintain dysfunctional solar-powered fences along forest boundaries and to identify locations where new fences are required to manage human-wildlife conflicts, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
Launched in November 2024, the drive has repaired and made fully functional 1,955 km of solar fencing. A further 740 km of new solar fencing is at various stages of completion. Steps have also been taken to identify locations where physical barriers are required.
According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, the total forest and tree cover in the North East region, including West Bengal, is 194,165.15 square kilometres, compared with 194,466.72 square kilometres in ISFR 2021, Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
The assessment indicates a decrease of 301.57 square kilometres in forest and tree cover in the region.
As per the 2025 assessment report, the total annual groundwater recharge in Punjab is 18.6 billion cubic metres (BCM), while annual extractable groundwater resources are estimated at 16.8 BCM, Union Minister of Jal Shakti C R Paatil told the Lok Sabha.
Total annual groundwater extraction in 2025 has been assessed at 26.27 BCM. The Stage of Groundwater Extraction — which measures annual extraction for irrigation, industrial and domestic use as a proportion of annual extractable resources — stands at 156.36 per cent for the state.
Of 153 blocks in Punjab, 111 (72.55 per cent) are categorised as ‘over-exploited’, where annual extraction exceeds available resources. A further 10 blocks are categorised as critical, 15 as semi-critical and 17 as safe.
According to data reported by states and Union Territories on the Swachhattam portal, 97 per cent of wards have achieved 100 per cent door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste, and 88 per cent have achieved 100 per cent segregation, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal told the Lok Sabha.
Urban India generates 1,62,293 tonnes per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste, of which 1,32,514 TPD is processed. Waste processing capacity has increased from 16 per cent in 2014 to 81.65 per cent, through facilities such as Material Recovery Facilities (MRF), transfer stations, composting plants, Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste plants, waste-to-energy plants and bio-methanation units.
The government has published the report Road Accidents in India, based on data received from states and Union Territories, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari told the Lok Sabha. According to the report, total road accident fatalities across all categories of roads were 1,72,890 in 2023 and 1,77,177 in 2024.
The Madhya Pradesh government informed that on December 28, 2025, incidents of vomiting and diarrhoea were reported in the Bhagirathpura area, Ward No. 11, Zone-4, Indore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu told the Lok Sabha.
Upon receiving information, the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC), along with the Health Department and the Public Health Engineering Department, initiated a joint response.
As of December 31, 2025, there are 200 coal- and lignite-based thermal power plants operated by central generation companies (GENCOs), state GENCOs and Independent Power Producers, with a total installed capacity of approximately 226.23 gigawatts, Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik told the Lok Sabha.
Between April 2025 and December 2025, these plants generated around 9,42,542.70 million units of electricity.