U.N. SAYS WORLD POPULATION HAS HIT 8BN MARK

UNITED NATIONS/NEW DELHI: A baby born somewhere on Tuesday will be the world’s eight billionth person, according to a projection by the United Nations Population Division.

“The milestone is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet,” UN secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The UN attributes the growth to human development, with people living longer thanks to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of higher fertility rates, particularly in the world’s poorest countries - most of which are in sub-saharan Africa - putting their development goals at risk.

At the same time, India, formerly a powerful driver of the number of people on the planet, is experiencing a marked slowdown.