
Telangana Water Board to scale up robotic inspection of pipelines
The board receives 450–500 water pollution complaints daily, particularly from slum areas where ageing pipelines and narrow lanes complicate repairs. While the Annual Maintenance System (AMS) was introduced earlier to streamline maintenance, it struggled to deliver due to technical limitations.
A recent pilot project using robotic technology for pipeline assessment proved successful, prompting the Water Board to scale up the initiative. Advanced robotic systems will now be deployed to inspect pipelines ranging from 70 mm to 900 mm in diameter. These will be supported by an AI-enabled dashboard for data analysis, asset mapping, and fault reporting, operated by an external agency on a hire basis.

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Hindustan Times
a minute ago
- Hindustan Times
Officials look to make A.I. summit bigger than G20
Preparations are in full swing as the government gets ready to host the India Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit next year in New Delhi, with people aware of the matter saying that the government wants it to be 'bigger than the G20 Summit.' The AI Summit will be held from 19 to 20 February, 2026, following similar high-profile meetings in Paris (2025), Seoul (2024) and Bletchley Park (2023).(Representational) The Summit will be held from 19 to 20 February, 2026, following similar high-profile meetings in Paris (2025), Seoul (2024) and Bletchley Park (2023). 'This will be a grand event, built around the model of G20. All global CEOs, along with heads of state have been invited,' said a government official at the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), which is the ministry leading the preparations of the Summit. 'Lots of moving parts right now. The government is still working around the programme schedule, smaller pre-events, and slowly sending out invitations.' Based on the central theme of 'People, Planet, and Progress,' the Summit's invitation, sent to a select few last month, read, 'The event will bring together world leaders, policymakers, innovators, and experts to discuss AI's role in driving equitable development, improving public services, and tackling global challenges while prioritizing ethics, safety, and inclusivity.' People familiar with the planning told HT that the Prime Minister's Office is closely involved, with clear instructions to make it a landmark global event bigger than the G20. At the G7 Summit held in Kananaskis, Canada in June 2025, PM Narendra Modi invited all G7 leaders to India's AI Summit. Ahead of the summit, MeitY has issued a call for proposals inviting government agencies, academia, intergovernmental organisations, private firms and non-profits from all over the world to host pre-Summit events between August 11, 2025 and 31 January 2026. These pre-events can be in the form of workshops, panels, hackathons, conferences, etc, and must be held in-person or hybrid, but not fully virtual. 'By hosting Pre-Summit Events, organisations can play an active role in shaping the Summit's deliberations and outcomes. Selected events will receive official co-branding and visibility as part of the Summit's global programme,' said MeitY. The pre-events must align with the seven smaller summit themes, namely human capital, inclusion, safe and trusted AI, resilience, science, democratising AI resources, and social good. Selected events will receive official co-branding. In the run up to the preparations, MeitY also held five virtual stakeholder consultations from June 6 to 8, chaired by ministry's additional secretary Abhishek Singh. These consultations included representatives from international organisations, industry, startups, academia, and civil society. The ministry also opened a public consultation forum from June 6 to 30, inviting citizens to share their suggestions on shaping the Summit's agenda. The previous AI Summit was held in Paris in February 2025, where 58 countries, including India, endorsed a joint statement on 'Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet.' The United States and the United Kingdom did not sign the declaration, which emphasised making AI more accessible while ensuring trust and safety in its deployment.


Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
MCG & MCM now take AI route to boost property tax collection
Gurgaon: MCG and MCM have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to boost revenue from property tax. MCG has so far generated a revenue of Rs 200 crore, which is around 72% of its target set for FY26, and MCM's has already crossed the Rs 29 crore-mark, the revenue it generated in the last fiscal year. Using AI, residents with outstanding dues are being identified and approached and their queries resolved. AI also assists them in paying their property tax dues. "We are using AI to boost our property tax collection. We have so far collected a revenue of Rs 200 crore in this financial year so far. Using AI, we generated a revenue of Rs 95 crore in July alone," MCG additional commissioner Yash Jaluka told TOI. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon "We took the data of self-certified properties with the highest dues and used generative AI, which is a bot, to call the owners. This bot answers in real time. If you did not pay property tax, it will ask you what difficulties you faced and subsequently address your concerns. Before reaching out to people, we segregated the data into categories of those who promised to pay or refused to pay the taxes and those who faced difficulties in paying them. Most of the people contacted ended up paying the taxes," he added. Using AI for property tax collection was started as a pilot project in Yamunanagar, where Sinha served as the civic body commissioner before heading MCM. "We were successful in replicating the AI model here in Manesar and Gurgaon. We have collected Rs 29 crore so far, which is our income from property tax for the entire last fiscal," Sinha said. Meanwhile, residents pointed out that since MCG was generating so much revenue, it should invest money in the city's development. "The city is clearly lacking the kind of manpower and machinery it needs to function. MCG should learn from other municipal corporations and invest in the right kind of machinery," said Gauri Sarin, convener of the group Making Model Gurugram.


Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Is Google's AI revolution a threat to website traffic for digital publishers? Here are strategies to stay ahead
Is Google's AI Overviews Causing a Drop in Website Traffic? News Outlets and Media Feel the Pressure From Google Search Changes Live Events Traffic Shifts: Who's Gaining and Who's Losing Valuable Clicks: Why AI Responses Still Drive Engagement AI Mode Launch: Changing How We Search FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Google is pushing back against recent reports that its AI-powered search features are hurting website traffic, as per a report. The tech giant published a blog post on Wednesday, which was written by VP and Head of Google Search, that said click volume across the platform has remained 'relatively stable' compared with the same time last year, though some types of websites are seeing gains while others are seeing comments come just weeks after asuggested that users are 'less likely' to click on links when presented with, known as, which appear at the top of search results, as reported by The Verge. Google disputes those findings, arguing that many third-party studies rely on 'flawed methodologies,' according to the READ: Candace Owens bets $300,000 Brigitte Macron is male — even lawsuit can't stop her claim The findings matter because changes to Google Search have already sent ripples through the, as per the Verge report. A Wall Street Journal report detailed how outlets like Business Insider, The Washington Post, and HuffPost have seenfollowing the rise of AI features such aswhich has forced some media organisations to reduce staff, as per the report. Independent websites have also struggled to maintain visibility in search results due to Google's algorithms, according to The Verge READ: New driving rule could cost you big — what every American motorist must know before September 1 According to Reid, AI is changing how users search, but not necessarily reducing engagement, reported The Verge. She pointed out that there are 'decreased traffic to some sites and increased traffic to others,' while "websites with forums, videos, podcasts, and authentic voices benefitting the most," as per the per The Verge report, users are also more likely to visit websites that contain in-depth reviews, original posts, or thoughtful READ: As the July jobs report paints a grim picture, 114 companies plan layoffs in August - is yours on the list? Reid highlighted that, 'We continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day and believe that Search's value exchange with the web remains strong,' as quoted in The Verge also noted that while some users might not click on citations in AI Overviews, those who do tend to spend more time on the site exploring a topic in depth, according to the report. She explained that, 'An AI response might provide the lay of the land, but people click to dive deeper and learn more, and when they do, these clicks are more valuable,' as quoted by The tech giant's comments come as Google rolled out AI Mode to all users in the United States, a feature that functions like a chatbot within search, according to the report. Despite concerns from digital publishers, Google is pressing ahead, testing new AI-curated search results pages that aim to reshape how people discover information online, as per The Verge Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results to provide quick media organizations like Business Insider, The Washington Post, and HuffPost have seen declines in traffic, partly due to AI-driven changes in search, as per The Verge report.