INDIA IS NOW THE WORLD'S MOST POPULOUS NATION

India has surpassed China to become the world's most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, UN data showed.

China has a population of 142.57 crore, according to the UN world population dashboard.

According to a new UNFPA report, 25 per cent of India's population is in the age group of 0-14 years, 18 per cent in the 10 to 19 age group, 26 per cent in the age bracket of 10 to 24 years, 68 per cent in 15 to 64 years age group, and 7 per cent above 65 years.

Estimates by different agencies have suggested that India's population is expected to keep rising for nearly three decades before it peaks at 165 crore and then would start declining.

The population demographics of India vary from state to state. Kerala and Punjab have an ageing population while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have a young population, experts have said.

Andrea Wojnar, the representative for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) India and the country director for Bhutan, said that "India's 1.4 billion people must be seen as 1.4 billion opportunities." "As the country with the largest youth cohort -- its 254 million youth (15-24 years) -- can be a source of innovation, new thinking and lasting solutions.

China sought to downplay the report, saying that it still has a “quality” workforce of close to 900 million people to provide a strong impetus for development.

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NO DATA FROM GOVT THAT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS AN ELITIST IDEA: CJI

The Supreme Court Wednesday said there was no data from the govt to back its contention that “what is presented before” it by the petitioners seeking legal recognition of same sex marriages “is…mere urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance”.

“No data is forthcoming from the govt to indicate this is urban or anything, no data at all,” said Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud heading a five-judge Constitution bench hearing a clutch of petitions.

In its second affidavit filed in response to the petitions, the Centre, while urging the court to leave the matter to Parliament, had said: “What is presented before this Hon’ble Court is mere urban elitist views for the purpose of social acceptance” and “the competent legislature will have to take into account broader views and voice of all rural, semi-rural and urban population, views of religious denominations keeping in mind personal laws as well as and customs governing the field of marriage together with its inevitable cascading effects on several other statutes”.

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Without referring to the affidavit, the CJI responded: “The principle is very simple, the state cannot discriminate against an individual on the basis of a characteristic over which the person has no control…” He added, “and when you say that this is an innate characteristic, it’s also an argument in response to the contention that this is very elitist or urban or has a certain class bias. Something which is innate can’t have a class bias…It may be more urban in its manifestations because more people in urban areas are coming out of the closet”.

Hearing arguments for the second day on the petitions, the CJI also sought to answer apprehensions about gay couples adopting saying that, as the law stands, even a single person can adopt.

HELP SECURE RELEASE OF INDIANS STUCK IN SUDAN, EAM URGES KEY NATIONS

India has approached the UN and the quartet countries that have a key role in Sudan—Saudi Arabia, UAE, US and UK—to secure the release of Indian nationals stranded in the African country where a power struggle between the army and a paramilitary force has led to violent clashes.

Foreign minister S Jaishankar has spoken to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia and UAE to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals, official sources said, adding that India is working closely with various countries. The quartet countries have been leading efforts for a political agreement in Sudan that can help establish a civilian-led transitional govt.

There are about 2,400 Indians living in the country. According to the govt, the situation on the streets is very tense and movement is very risky at this stage, and India’s priority is the safety and well-being of individuals wherever they are located. With intense fighting reported from near the airport in Khartoum, most countries have been forced to halt evacuation missions.

GO AFTER TRAFFICKERS, NOT CONSUMERS: AMIT SHAH TO DRUGS AGENCY

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) should focus on cracking down on drug traffickers and cartels, rather than targeting consumers, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference of anti-narcotics task forces from states and union territories, Shah said that drug users were victims who needed rehabilitation, not criminalisation. He also warned of the threat of narco-terrorism and its impact on the country's economy and security.

"There should not be any mistake in the approach and our goal should be clear that one who consumes drugs is a victim and one who deals in drugs is a criminal, and they need to be dealt with firmly. We should help them in rehabilitation. The focus of investigation should be traffickers and cartels behind the drug trade," Mr Shah said.

The Home Minister's remarks follow a controversy over the NCB's handling of a high-profile case involving Aryan Khan, who was arrested in October 2021 during a raid on a cruise party. The case sparked allegations of corruption, extortion and political interference within the NCB, leading to an internal inquiry by a special investigation team that found several lapses and "suspicious behaviour" by the team probing the case and recommended action against them. In a huge embarrassment for the agency, Aryan Khan was cleared of all charges.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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85 KILLED, HUNDREDS INJURED IN STAMPEDE DURING YEMEN CHARITY EVENT

More than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush at a charity distribution event in war-torn Yemen on Thursday, Huthi officials said, one of the deadliest stampedes in a decade.

At least "85 were killed and more than 322 were injured" after the stampede in the Bab al-Yemen district of the capital, a Huthi security official said.

Hundreds of people in the poverty-hit country had gathered to receive handouts, according to witnesses.

More than eight years of civil war in Yemen has unleashed what the United Nations describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian tragedies. The conflict began in 2014 when Iran-backed Huthi rebels seized Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year to prop up the internationally recognised govt. Fighting has eased dramatically since the six-month, UN-brokered truce last year, even after it expired in October.

But more than two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN, including govt employees in Huthi-controlled areas who have not been paid in years.

US DELIVERS PATRIOT GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEMS TO UKRAINE

Ukraine’s defence minister said Wednesday his country has received US-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile systems it has long craved and which Kyiv hopes will help shield it from Russian strikes during the war. “Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine,” defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet.

Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems, which Washington agreed to send last October, would be a major boost to the war against Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The Patriot can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-rangeballistic missiles. Russia has used that weaponry to bombard Ukraine, including residential areas and civilian infrastructure, especially the power supply over the winter.

Reznikov thanked the people of the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, without saying how many systems had been delivered nor when. German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed the delivery of a Patriot system to lawmakers in Berlin on Wednesday.

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SHETTAR AMONG CONG'S STAR CAMPAIGNERS IN KARNATAKA

Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress this week after quitting the BJP, figures in the Congress' list of star campaigners for the Karnataka assembly polls that also includes party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor.

The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 40 leaders who would be the party's star campaigners for the May 10 assembly elections.

Shettar has been given the party ticket from the Hubli-Dharwad-Central Assembly segment that he currently represents.

A staunch RSS man, Shettar was part of the Jan Sangh and BJP for several decades before severing his ties with the party upon his candidature being overlooked for the May 10 election and joined Congress on Monday.

CBI BOOKS OXFAM INDIA FOR FCRA VIOLATION, SEARCHES ITS OFFICE

The CBI registered an FIR against Oxfam India and its office-bearers for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and carried out searches at its office in New Delhi, officials said on Wednesday.

The FIR against the Indian arm of the global NGO Oxfam was registered based on a complaint from the ministry of home affairs. The complaint, which is now part of the FIR, has alleged that though Oxfam India's FCRA registration ceased, it planned to circumvent the law by taking other routes to channelise funds.

'Email communication found during IT (income tax) survey by the CBDT shows that Oxfam India has been planning to pressure Indian govt for renewal of FCRA through foreign govts and foreign institutions,' it alleged. 'The Oxfam India has the reach and influence to request multilateral foreign organisations to intervene on its behalf with the Govt of India,' it alleged.

The complaint alleged that this exposed Oxfam India as 'a probable instrument of foreign policy of foreign organisations or entities' which have funded it liberally over the years.

It alleged that Oxfam India routed funds of its foreign affiliates such as Oxfam Australia and Oxfam Great Britain to certain NGOs and exercised control over the project.

'From the email found during IT survey by the CBDT it appears that Oxfam India is providing funds to the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) through its associates/ employees in the form of commission.

5 POLICEMEN SUSPENDED FOR NEGLIGENCE IN ATIQ KILLING

Five police personnel were suspended on Wednesday for negligence in connection with the killing of mafia-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, a senior officer said in Prayagraj.

Shahganj police station in-charge Ashwani Kumar Singh was among those suspended. The remaining are a sub-inspector and three constables.

Ahmed and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night when police personnel were escorting them to a hospital in the Shahganj police station area in Prayagraj for a checkup.

The senior police officer said the five personnel were suspended after a special investigation team (SIT) charged them with negligence in discharging their duties.

IN TMC OR IN BJP? MUKUL ROY ‘ATTEMPTS’ TO CLARIFY

Veteran Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, who has expressed his desire to work for the BJP in future, on Wednesday said he is a soldier of the saffron camp, and there is no question of resigning from the TMC as he was never "mentally" with the party even after rejoining it in 2021.

The founding member of the TMC switched to the BJP in 2017. He won as a saffron party candidate in the 2021 West Bengal assembly election. Roy, however, returned to the TMC soon after the assembly election results, complaining of ill-treatment by the saffron camp leadership. He did not resign from the House and is technically still a BJP MLA.

"I am a BJP MLA and have come here to be with the party. I want to work for my party BJP. I was never mentally with the TMC after I left it," the 69-year-old politician said.

When asked about his post-2021 stint with the TMC, Mr Roy said, "I was not well at that point of time and was never mentally part of it." Since his return to the TMC, Roy has remained away from the public glare citing ill health.

GOVT GREEN FLAGS NATIONAL QUANTUM MISSION TO AID R&D IN QUANTUM TECH

The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in a bid to aid scientific and industrial research and development in quantum technology.

The mission involves a cost of Rs 6,003 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, and aims to put India among the top six leading nations involved in the research and development in quantum technologies.

NQM will mainly work towards strengthening India’s research and development in the quantum arena alongside indigenously building quantum-based (physical qubit) computers which are far more powerful and are able to perform the most complex problems in a highly secure manner.

APPLE CEO TIM COOK MEETS PM MODI, COMMITS TO GROWTH AND INVESTMENT

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday committed to growth and investment across India in meeting with the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi.

Cook is on a visit to India this week and inaugurated the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country on Tuesday in Mumbai. Apple will also open a retail store in New Delhi today.

"We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India's future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we're committed to growing and investing across the country," Cook wrote on Twitter and shared a picture of him shaking hands with Modi.

In response, the PM tweeted that it was an "absolute delight" to meet Cook. "Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India," Modi said.

UK THINK-TANK WARNS OF ANTI-HINDU HATE IN SCHOOLS

Incidents such as Hindu pupils being bullied to convert to Islam and beef being thrown at another are among some illustrative examples recorded in a new report by a UK-based think-tank released on Wednesday, warning against the prevalence of anti-Hindu hate in schools in Britain.

'Anti-Hindu Hate in Schools', by the counter-terrorism think-tank Henry Jackson Society, found that 51 per cent of Hindu parents surveyed reported that their child has suffered anti-Hindu hate at school.

'The findings underscore the urgent need for greater awareness and understanding of the Hindu experience in schools and further research into other lesser known types of prejudices that may be manifesting in Britain's classrooms. It highlights the need for more specific and accurate reporting mechanisms to capture such incidents,' it notes.

JAMTARA FRAUD: OVER 2,500 PERSONS FROM ACROSS INDIA DUPED

The Delhi Police has arrested six persons from Jharkhand’s Jamtara for allegedly duping more than 2,500 persons from across the country of money worth over Rs 1 crore through a purported customer care centre, police said. The accused allegedly used mirroring applications to get access to registered mobile numbers of victims to siphon off money, officers said.

Police said that the accused were posing as customer care of many reputed banks and online shopping sites on Google. Officials said that they recovered 12,500 pre-activated SIM cards provided to fraudsters in Jamtara from Murshidabad for over a year.

Police said the accused would post their mobile numbers as customer care numbers of most of the banks; people searching for customer number of banks or online shopping sites would stumble upon the given numbers. “During the call, the accused would pose as customer care official. They would get a sharing or mirroring application installed in the victim’s device with the prefix coinciding with the bank name such as SBI ANYDESK, and once they got the application installed, they would siphon off the money.”

JLR RAISES EV DRIVE BILL TO £15 BN TO CATCH UP WITH PEERS

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the British brand known for its luxury cars and sports utility vehicles, said on Wednesday it would invest £15 billion (nearly $19 billion) over the next five years as part of its strategy to reposition itself as an electric-first and modern carmaker.

According to international news agency Reuters, JLR had previously said it would invest £2.5 billion a year on electrification. The company has been ceding market share to its German rivals, Mercedes and BMW, and the investments are part of the efforts to catch up with its peers in the electric vehicles race.

Tata Motors has owned JLR since buying it from Ford in 2008.

Adran Mardell, JLR’s CEO revealed that JLR would be the anchor customer of the Tata Group's proposed Gigafactory, an announcement related to which was “hopefully imminent”. “JLR will not be building a Gigafactory; that is not within our plans. Tata will be building a Gigafactory. We are clear it is going to be in Europe. A final destination hasn't yet been chosen," Mardell told reporters.

IPL MATCH 26: LSG WIN OVER HIGH-FLYING ROYALS

The pitch was far from conducive for batting, but the bowlers still had a job to do, and the ones at Lucknow Super Giants did that with aplomb for a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Chasing 155, RR were stopped at 144 for six as their return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium after four years ended in disappointment, despite a creditable outing with the ball earlier in the evening.

RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal knew that playing strokes wouldn't be easy on this track, but they managed to keep pace with the required run rate.

Both these teams have now played 6 matches each and have 4 wins each.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true. - James Branch Cabell

OFF TRACK

A father grew increasingly displeased as his teenage daughter and her boyfriend studied in her room late one evening. Finally losing patience shortly after midnight, he knocked sharply on her door. Her boyfriend immediately opened it and asked if something was wrong. "I have to ask you to move your bike," he told the youngster.

"Oh, sure. Is it in someone's way?"

"No," the father replied, "it's at the wrong address."