Recent 6 months news in Reports

According to the 17th edition of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin for August 2026 released by the NSO under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the overall unemployment rate (UR) for individuals aged 15+ decreased to 5.0% in August 2026, compared to 5.1% in July 2026.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for the same age group increased to 55.6% in August 2026 (up from 55.4% in July 2026). The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) also rose to 52.8% from 52.5% in the previous month.

According to the 9th edition of the “Trade Watch Quarterly (TWQ) Thematic Analysis: Metals and Ores Trade” released by the NITI Aayog for the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2027 (April to June 2026), global goods trade reached $13.7 trillion in the first half of Calendar Year (CY) 2026, reflecting a 12.5% Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) growth.

The total merchandise and services trade of India expanded to $506.9 billion in Q1 FY27, registering a 15.5% Y-o-Y growth. During the same period, merchandise exports increased by 16% to $129.5 billion, while merchandise imports grew by 19.8% to reach $216.1 billion.

According to the 40th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 40) released by Z/Yen Partners, in collaboration with the China Development Institute (CDI), the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is ranked 37th globally.

New York is ranked top among the global financial centres, followed by London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

According to the 20th edition of the “Global Gender Gap Report 2026” released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India is ranked 131st out of 145 evaluated nations with a score of 0.645.

Iceland is ranked top for the 17th consecutive year with a score of 0.93, followed by Finland and Norway.

The PM Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMY) was launched in 2019 as a voluntary and contributory old-age pension scheme to provide social security to Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs). The scheme is implemented in collaboration with the LIC and has recently completed 7 years of operation.

The PM-KMY offers eligible landholding SMFs in the age group of 18 to 40 years with cultivable land up to 2 hectares a steady monthly pension starting from the age of 60.

Enrolled farmers are required to make monthly contributions ranging from ₹55 to ₹200, depending on their entry age. It is to be noted that as of February 2026, a total of 24.96 lakh farmers have enrolled in the scheme across the country.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the total combined exports (merchandise and services) of India in the first five months of FY27 (April-August 2026) reached $399.27 billion, representing a growth of 15.5%.

Merchandise exports for the period stood at $215.91 billion, compared to $183.21 billion in the same period of the previous year. Total imports for the April-August 2026 period are estimated at $459.65 billion, showing a growth of 18.01%.

MoC&I further stated that in August 2026, the total combined exports of India were estimated at $82.68 billion, registering a growth of 25.41%. Total combined imports for the month are estimated at $92.09 billion, marking a growth of 18.75%.

According to a dataset released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Karnataka has emerged as the leading state in semiconductor support under the ChipIN Centre initiative.

The state recorded the highest engagement under the initiative, featuring 81 organisations, 73 chip tape-outs, and 88 lakh hours of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool usage. The ChipIN Centre initiative was launched by MeitY in 2023 and is established at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The National Statistical Office (NSO) has released the inaugural report titled “Unincorporated Sector at the District Level: Insights from ASUSE 2025”. It provides granular data on enterprises across various districts for the first time.

The report highlights that the top 10 districts are concentrated within 4 states: Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The top 50 districts are distributed across 12 states.

According to the report titled “Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return” released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the global warming threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is highly likely to be temporarily breached (overshot) within the next few years.

It states that under an optimistic scenario, global surface temperatures are projected to peak at 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels, whereas current global policies are expected to result in a 2.6°C increase by 2100.

According to the 13th and 14th editions of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) released by the Department of Higher Education (DoHE) under the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the academic years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The number of universities increased by 69.6% from 760 to 1.28 thousand.

During this ten-year period, the number of colleges grew by 25.3% to 48.2 thousand, and standalone institutions increased by approximately 24% to 15.2 thousand. Total student enrollment in higher education rose by 31.5% from 3.42 crore to 4.50 crore between 2014-15 and 2023-24.

Female enrollment witnessed a growth of 42.2% over the decade, rising from 1.57 crore to 2.24 crore. It is to be noted that this resulted in a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.08 for the academic year 2023-24.

According to a report titled “Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@ 2047” released by the NITI Aayog, 8.7 crore youth aged between 15 and 29 years are not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

The report also highlights a employability gap, noting that only 8.25% of graduates are employed in roles that align with their specific qualifications.

The Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has released the “National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)” to assess marine resources.

The publication was edited by Dr VN Sanjeevan (former Director of CMLRE) and Dr Baban Ingole (retired Scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO)), under the leadership of Dr RS Maheshkumar (Head of CMLRE).

The assessment studies were largely supported by the flagship research vessel of India, the Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel (FORV) 'Sagar Sampada'.

According to a report titled “Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub” released by NITI Aayog, which provides a data-driven assessment of the manufacturing sector in India, 12 manufacturing sectors have been identified to accelerate the transition of India into a global manufacturing hub.

Among the 12 key sectors, four high-potential sectors identified to drive manufacturing growth and strengthen the position of India in global value chains are chemicals, textiles, telecom and networking equipment, and solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing. The study conducted for the report followed a 4-phase methodology.

The NITI Aayog has released the third report under its Services Thematic series, titled “India’s Services Sector: Insights on Regulatory Regime in Professional Services”.

According to the report, professional services account for 25% (nearly one-fourth) of the total services exports of India. The report proposes a four-pronged strategy to enhance the sector, which includes harnessing emerging trends, elevating professional services in the wider value chain, adopting global best practices, and promoting continuous professional development.

According to the Quarterly Bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for April-June 2026 released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 5.4% in the April-June 2026 quarter.

The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for individuals aged 15 years and above decreased to 54.6% compared to 55.5% in the preceding quarter. The rural LFPR declined to 56.9% from 58.2% in the previous quarter, while the urban LFPR remained unchanged at 50.2%.

According to the 3rd edition of the “2026 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Most Valuable Family Businesses List” released by Hurun India, in partnership with Barclays Private Bank India, the Ambani family, led by Mukesh Ambani, emerged as the richest business family in India for the 3rd consecutive year with a net worth of ₹25.8 lakh crore.

The 1st-generation category was led by the Adani family, headed by Gautam Adani, with a total valuation of ₹19.6 lakh crore. Hindustan Zinc, led by Priya Agarwal Hebbar, emerged as the most-valuable women-led business in India.

According to the international benchmarking data released by the Community of Metros (COMET), the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) recorded a train punctuality rate of 99.95%.

It outperformed several major global transit networks in punctuality, including the New York Subway, Paris Metro, and Hong Kong MTR. It is to be noted that COMET is an international consortium comprising 45 major global transit systems.

According to the 11th edition of the report titled “Kroll Celebrity Brand Valuation 2025” released by the US-based Kroll, Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood actor, has emerged as the most valuable celebrity in India, with a brand value of $177.9 million.

He is followed in the rankings by Ranveer Singh, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and MS Dhoni. Actress Alia Bhatt secured the sixth position, emerging as the most valued female celebrity in the country.

According to a report titled “Reimagining Care: Strategies for Empowering Caregivers in Viksit Bharat@2047” released by NITI Aayog in New Delhi, a comprehensive roadmap has been outlined to establish an organized, professional, and future-ready caregiving ecosystem.

The report recommends the formulation of a National Policy on Caregiving (NPC) and the establishment of a National Caregiver Council (NCC) to regulate training, accreditation, certification, and quality standards. It also suggests maintaining a National Caregiver Registry to streamline professional development and institutional support across the country.

According to the “Environmental Performance Index (EPI 2026)” released by the Yale University, India is ranked at 176th out of 177 countries with a score of 22.46.

Estonia is ranked first with a score of 74.7, followed by Luxembourg, the United Kingdom (UK), Finland, and the Netherlands. Laos is ranked lowest in the index with a score of 21.78.