oppn parties India Will Be Most Populous Nation In The World In 2023 But There Is No Need To Be Alarmed

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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India Will Be Most Populous Nation In The World In 2023 But There Is No Need To Be Alarmed

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-12 09:04:42

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

India was expected to be the most populous country in the world by 202. But the Population Division of the United Nations (UNPD) has now said that India will overtake China to become so next year, four years earlier than expected. Ordinarily, this should have sent alarm bells ringing and a rush to devise policies for population control. But with all indicators like fertility rates and population growth showing that population in India is likely to plateau and start declining in the near future, there is no need to panic.

Unlike China, India has, barring the Emergency when there was forced sterilization for some time, always used  persuasion and education as the means to control population. It has been extremely successful in bringing the sustained total fertility rate from 6 in 1951 to 2 now (as per the National Family Health Survey-5) which is less than the 2.1 that the UNPD prescribes for attaining population stability. While China had forced the one-child policy on its people and was successful in controlling growth of population, the ill-effects - an ageing population and a skewed gender ratio, among others - of the policy has now forced it to abandon it. As India has reached the replacement level fertility rate, there is no need for special coercive policies to control the growth of population. Persuasion and education, coupled with rising aspirations which induces couples to have only as many children as they can bring up well, will work fine.

Instead, the need for the government is to turn this perceived liability into an asset. India needs to provide the best of healthcare, nutrition and education facilities for its burgeoning population and skill them to make them productive so that they can rise up the value-generation curve. It needs to rapidly develop the country so that these educated and skilled people get jobs and are productive. India is blessed with a young population. It only needs to make them partners in progress by allowing them to be healthy, educated and skilled in a manner in which they can contribute to building the nation.

Picture courtesy: downtoearth.org.in (caption ours)