Page 3 - Population

Lancet projects further fall in India's fertility rate, raises concern

Study projects India's fertility rate to fall to 1.29 children per woman by 2050

Empower our cities

As the economy grows, city governance must become a central part of our long-term development strategy

FMCG sector to see subdued growth till September quarter: Kantar report

With El-Nino impact expected to keep weather dry for the first half of the year, the agriculture outlook for 2024 is a mixed bag

Govt to set up committee to look into population growth challenges, says FM

The government will form a high-powered committee to look into the challenges arising from fast population growth and demographic changes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Presenting the interim Budget 2024-2025 in Parliament, she said the committee will be mandated to make recommendations for addressing these challenges comprehensively in relation to the goal of 'Viksit Bharat'. Sitharaman said various schemes for maternal and child healthcare will be brought under one comprehensive programme for synergy in implementation. "Upgradation of anganwadi centres under the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 will be expedited for improved nutrition delivery, early childhood care and development," she stated.

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Catch all the latest news updates from across the world

World population up 75 million this year, topping 8 billion by January 1

The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year's Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday. The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1 per cent. At the start of 2024, 4.3 births and two deaths are expected worldwide every second, according to the Census Bureau figures. The growth rate for the United States in the past year was 0.53 per cent, about half the worldwide figure. The US added 1.7 million people and will have a population on New Year's Day of 335.8 million people. If the current pace continues through the end of the decade, the 2020s could be the slowest-growing decade in US history, yielding a growth rate of less than 4 per cent over the 10-year-period from 2020 to 2030, said William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution. The slowest-growing decade currently was in the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s, when the growth rate

India's 2023 natural calamities: A wake-up call for climate action

Flash floods, cloudbursts, landslides, wildfires, earthquakes... 2023 kept reminding us that the climate clock is ticking for humans

Delhi's population projected to rise to 26.5 mn by 2036, says report

The national capital's population is projected to rise up to 2.65 crore, comprising 47.34 per cent women, by 2036, as per a Delhi government report. According to the report titled Women & Men in Delhi-2023', by 2036 the population of Delhi has been projected to be 2,65,91,000 1,25,89,000 females and 1,40,02,000 males. Women will account for 47.34 per cent of the city population in 2036, as compared to 48.78 per cent at the national level, it stated. Delhi is one of the fastest growing cities in the country due to the rapid pace of urbanisation. As per the Census 2011, Delhi's population was 1,67,87,941, 78,00615 females and 89,87,326 males, it said. Women's population in Delhi is 46.47 per cent of the city's total as per the 2011 Census, which is lower than the corresponding national figure of 48.53 per cent. Delhi's sex ratio is projected to rise from 868 (in Census 2011) to 899 in 2036 but would still be lower than the national sex ratio which is projected to increase from 943

One in four people in Asia, Pacific will be above 60 by 2050: UNFPA

One in four people in Asia and the Pacific will be above the age of 60 by 2050 and more than half of them will be women, UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Director Pio Smith said on Tuesday. Asia and the Pacific refer to a vast and diverse region that encompasses Asia and the Pacific Islands, which are scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean. Addressing a press briefing, Smith said along with ageing populations, countries are also witnessing low fertility rates as women are having fewer babies. "This means that while people are living longer, the working population is also shrinking," Smith said. By 2050, it is estimated that one in four people in Asia and the Pacific will be about the age of 60 and more than half of them will be women, he said. Smith said it is easy to hear alarm bells ring if the focus is only on the numbers. "We really do have to understand that population ageing and low fertility are not problems to be solved. They are demographic transitions that the human populati

Climate change likely impacted human populations 5,500 years ago: Study

Human populations in Europe fluctuated with changing climates between 5,500 and 3,500 years ago, according to a study. The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, examined Central European regions rich in archaeological remains and geologic sources of climate data. The researchers from Kiel University, Germany, used these resources to identify correlations between human population trends and climate change. The three areas examined were the Circumharz region of central Germany, the Czech Republic/Lower Austria region, and the Northern Alpine Foreland of southern Germany. "Between 5,500 and 3,500 years ago, climate was a major factor in population development in the regions around the Harz Mountains, in the northern Alpine foreland and in the region of what is now the Czech Republic and Austria," the authors of the study said. "However, not only the population size, but also the social structures changed with climate fluctuations," they said. The team compiled over 3,400 publ

Brands seeing increased opportunities to tap into Tier-2, Tier-3 cities

Reasons like the proliferation of smartphones and access to the internet in smaller towns have also helped push up demand

At 1.8 million, 5% Canadians have the Indian heritage: Census data

The total number of people of ethnic Indian origin in Canada was 1.8 million at the time of the last census in 2021

Govt asks SC to order 13 Himalayan states for assessing carrying capacity

The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to direct 13 Himalayan states of the country to assess their 'carrying capacity' and proposed setting up of an expert panel to evaluate the action plans submitted by each of them. Carrying capacity is the maximum population size that an ecosystem can sustain without getting degraded. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change filed the affidavit in a PIL by Ashok Kumar Raghav after the top court had on August 21 asked the Centre and the petitioner to discuss and suggest a way forward to enable the court to pass directions on the carrying capacity of Himalayan states and towns. Raghav's plea sought an assessment of the carrying capacity and master plans for the Indian Himalayan Region spanning 13 states and union territories. The ministry told the apex court that it has in the past circulated guidelines for assessing carrying capacity of hill stations including cities and eco-sensitive zones to all 13 Himalayan states by its letter

Brics+6 to control 30% of global GDP, 46% population: Research paper

The addition of six new members to the BRICS grouping will see it controlling 46 per cent of the world's population and 30 per cent of its economic output, according to a research paper. At the latest BRICS summit in Johannesburg last week, the present members -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- decided to add Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as new members of the grouping. The new members will become part of BRICS effective January 1, 2024. The acronym BRICS was originally coined in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economists led by Jim O'Neill. Later in December 2010, South Africa was added as the fifth member. Currently, the five-member grouping is home to 40 per cent of the world's population which controls 26 per cent of the global GDP. But with the six new members (BRICS+6), their GDP share will jump to 30 per cent and share of population will go up to 46 per cent, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, the Chief Economic Adviser to State Bank of

Ageing with no successors: Japan's population sees steepest fall since 1968

On the other hand, there was a 10.7 per cent jump in foreign residents with addresses registered in Japan

Population of Japanese citizens falls in all 47 prefectures for first time

While number of registered foreign residents ticked up by about 300,000 to almost 3 million, it was not enough to make up for the shortfall in Japanese nationals. The overall population shrank by 0.4%

India's projected population, as on July 1, is 1,390 mn: Govt to Lok Sabha

The projected population of India, as on July 1, 2023, is 139 crore according to a report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said as per the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, population division online publication, World Population Prospectus 2022, the total projected population of China as on July 1, 2023 is 142,56,71,000. "The projected population of India as on July 1, 2023, as per the report of the technical group on population projections published by the National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is 139,23,29,000," he said replying to a written question. Rai said the intent of the central government for conducting census 2021 was notified in Gazette of India on March 28, 2019, but due to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the census 2021 and the related field activities have been postponed.

Projected population of Muslims in 2023 to stand at 197.5 mn: Govt in LS

The projected population of Muslims in India in 2023 would stand at 19.75 crore, the government has informed the Lok Sabha. In a written reply to a question by TMC MP Mala Roy in Lok Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani said as per the Census 2011, Muslim population is 17.22 crore, which constitutes 14.2 per cent of the total population of the country. "As per the report of the Technical Group on Population Projections, July 2020, National Commission on Population, country's projected population in 2023 stands at 138.82 crore. Accordingly, applying the same proportion of 14.2 per cent, as was there in Census 2011, projected population of Muslims in 2023 would stand at 19.75 crore," Irani said. As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2021-22 conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, literacy rate of Muslims aged seven and above stands at 77.7 per cent and the labour force participation rate for all ages as per usual status stands at 35.1 pe

2.4 billion people didn't have constant access to food last year, says UN

The U.N. delivered grim news on global food security Wednesday: 2.4 billion people didn't have constant access to food last year, as many as 783 million faced hunger, and 148 million children suffered from stunted growth. Five U.N. agencies said in the 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition report that while global hunger numbers stalled between 2021 and 2022 many places are facing deepening food crises. They pointed to Western Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa where 20 per cent of the continent's population is experiencing hunger, more than twice the global average. "Recovery from the global pandemic has been uneven, and the war in Ukraine has affected the nutritious food and healthy diets," Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement. "This is the 'new normal' where climate change, conflict, and economic instability are pushing those on the margins even further from safety." According to the report, people's access to healthy diets has

India home to 2nd largest population of Muslims in world: President Murmu

India, as a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, celebrates unity in diversity and its over 200 million Muslims make the country the second largest population of the community in the world, President Droupadi Murmu said on Wednesday. Welcoming Muslim World League Secretary General Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, who had called on the president at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Murmu said India appreciates the role and objectives of the Muslim World League in promoting tolerant values, moderation of consciousness and inter-faith dialogue. She stated that India, as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, celebrates unity in diversity, a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. "Our more than 200 million Indian Muslim brothers and sisters make us the country with the second largest population of Muslims in the world," the president said. Murmu said India attaches great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia. She said both the ...