• For the first time in the history of Bangladesh women outnumber men in its total population.
• The preliminary result of the 6th population census of Bangladesh recorded 8.33 crore women, 8.17 crore men, and 12,629 hijras in the total population.
• Releasing the summary data of the 6th Population and Housing Census 2022 conducted last month, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) revealed that the total population of the country increased from 14.4 crore in 2011 to 16.51 crore in 2022.
• Bangladesh recorded an average annual population growth rate of 1.22 percent., down from the average annual population growth rate of 1.37 percent recorded in 2011.

Other Key Findings of Census:

• The population census also revealed that the percentage of minorities in the total population declined between 2011-2022. The percentage of Hindus declined from 8.54 percent in 2011 to 7.95 percent in 2022. The Buddhist population fell from 0.62 percent in 2011 to 0.61 percent of the total in 2022. The Christian population also fell from 0.31 percent to 0.30 percent of the total during this period. However, the Muslim population increased from 90.39 percent in 2011 to 91.4 percent in 2022.
• The percentage of literacy in the country showed a sharp rise between 2011-2022.  From 51.77 percent in 2011, literacy in Bangladesh now stands at 74.66 percent marking a rise of over 22.89 percent.
• Close to 56 percent of Bangladeshis use mobile phones in 2022 while 30.68 percent of the population is using the internet.
• Dhaka division has the largest population in the country at 4.4 crore people reflecting a population growth rate of 1.94 percent per year.

• According to the Union Government that India is rapidly emerging as a preferred country for foreign investments in the manufacturing sector.
• According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry FDI Equity inflow in manufacturing sectors have increased by 76 per cent in last financial year compared to 2020-21.
• Karnataka with over 37 per cent and Maharashtra with over 26 per cent are the top two states in receiving highest FDI Equity Inflow.
• According to the Ministry, Singapore and USA have emerged as top two sourcing nations in FDI equity flows into India in 2021-22 followed by Mauritius, Netherland and Switzerland.

• Indian Navy took the delivery of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier ‘Vikrant’ from Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in Kochi.
• Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping (MoS).
• The 262-meter-long aircraft carrier is the largest ever warship to be built in the country. The vessel, which has a displacement of 45,000 tonnes, has been built at an overall cost of close to 20,000 crore rupees.
• The IAC is capable of operating 30 aircraft comprising MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, and MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters and Light Combat Aircraft.
• The vessel is powered by four Gas Turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots.
• The vessel is scheduled to be commissioned and inducted into the services of the Indian Navy by next month.
• With an overall indigenous content of 76%, IAC is a perfect example of the nation’s quest for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and provides thrust to Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
• The name of India’s first Aircraft Carrier was also INS Vikrant which played a vital role in the 1971 war.
• The Aircraft Carrier was decommissioned on 3Ist January 1997, after 36 years of glorious service to the Navy.

• Recently, A trilateral meeting of India, France and the United Arab Emirates was held.
• The three sides exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific region and explored the potential areas of trilateral cooperation including Maritime Security, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, Blue Economy, Regional Connectivity, Cooperation in Multilateral Fora, Energy and Food Security, Innovation and Startups, Supply Chain Resilience and Cultural and People-to-People Cooperation. They also discussed the next steps to be taken for further trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region

• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the eleventh agricultural census to collect data on various parameters, including operational holdings.
• For the first time, the data will be collected through smartphones and tablets.
• According to the agriculture ministry, the fieldwork of the Eleventh Agricultural Census (2021-22) will start in August 2022.
• Agriculture Census is conducted every 5 years.
• The ministry is implementing an agriculture census scheme from 1970-71. The tenth edition of the census was conducted with the reference year 2015-16.
• The agricultural census is the main source of information on a variety of parameters, such as the number and area of ​​operational holdings, their size, class-wise distribution, land use, tenancy and cropping pattern, etc.
• Most of the states have digitised their land records and surveys, which will further accelerate the collection of agricultural census data.
• The use of digitised land records and the use of mobile apps for data collection will enable the creation of a database of operational holdings in the country.
• According to the, Agriculture Minister this computation will bring huge benefits in a vast and agricultural country like India.
• Agricultural computations can also contribute to the mapping of crops so that the country gets its benefits, further it can help in increasing farmers’ income.

• According to Laxmidhar Behera, (IIT) Director, IIT- Mandi in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam, Shimla, has conducted a school camp on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (PRAYAS 1)
• It was a 22-day event and was organised from July 1 to 22.
• According to the Director, “One hundred students out of more than 1,200 from Himachal were selected for the camp,”.
• According to the Director, IIT-Mandi to have at least 50 per cent students from Himachal. The Institute aims at encouraging school students to develop skills at an early stage. The Institute also plan to call teachers from schools and ITIs to get hands-on experience with the IIT-Mandi faculty.

• According to, Deputy Commissioner DC Rana, The NITI Aayog has given a Rs 3 crore award to Chamba district for its outstanding performance under the Aspirational District Programme.
• According to Rana, the money would be spent on works related to financial inclusion and skill development in the district.
• Even before this, the district had also received Rs 8 crore for achieving a high ranking of prescribed indicators of developments from the NITI Aayog under the Aspirational District Programme of the Central Government.
• According to DC, a plan had been prepared for financial inclusion and skill development of the youth.
• Training programmes would be organised for their skill development in various tourism activities, creating jobs.

• India may consider setting up a fusion reactor for generating clear energy in future, being part of the 35-nation International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.
• India is one of the partner countries in ITER project. India has contributed significantly in the international collaborative effort.
• To help in speedy implementation of the project, NPCIL has ordered long-delivery items and equipment.
• NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India) has also worked on standardising the design of indigenous 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor, to help in faster project implementation.
• To augment additional electricity generation through nuclear power plants, work has been initiated at the Kudankulam site for completion of KKNPP 3, 4, 5 and 6 plants, each with a capacity of 1,000 MWe, in collaboration with the Russian Federation.
• The Department of Atomic Energy’s R&D institutes Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research are carrying out considerable research in development for thorium-based fuel cycle technology.

What are fusion and ITER?

• Fusion is the nuclear reaction that powers the sun and the stars, is a potential source of safe, non-carbon-emitting and virtually limitless energy.
• International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a collaboration of 35 nations launched in
• The ITER members include China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
• It is located in France.
• Harnessing fusion’s power is the goal of ITER, which has been designed as the key experimental step between today’s fusion research machines and tomorrow’s fusion power plants.

• James Webb Telescope, the world’s most powerful telescope, has discovered the oldest galaxy in the universe.
• The telescope spotted galaxy candidates that existed when the universe was just 300 million years old.
• After analysing the data, a team of researchers spotted two candidates to be the oldest galaxies in the universe -GLASS-z11 and GLASS-z13.
• The light from GLASS-z13 galaxy took about 13.4 billion years to hit the mirrors of the spacecraft, which is almost 15,00,000 km away from Earth.

• The Bhupendra Patel-led Gujarat government announced a dedicated ‘Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-27’ with a view to generate at least 2,00,000 new employment opportunities during a period of five years.
• With this, Gujarat has become the first state in the country to have dedicated semiconductor policy. In the new policy the state government has decided to give heavy subsidies on power, land and water tariffs for entrepreneurs interested in investing in semiconductors or display fabrication manufacturing in the state.
• According to a state government, the main objective of the policy is to make Gujarat a pioneer in developing the Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem.
• The policy will facilitate effective and timely execution of the eligible projects for setting up a robust semiconductor and display fabrication ecosystem.
• The central government has recently announced the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and it has already come out with four policies providing support to semiconductor and display fab projects.
• The Gujarat policy focuses on guiding a significant portion of investments made under these ISM policies towards Gujarat. The state government is aiming to develop a ‘Semicon City’ which would be part of Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR).
• Under the policy Gujarat will provide additional capital assistance at 40 % of the capex assistance extended by the Centre for the projects approved under ISM.
• As per the policy one project each of semiconductor and display fabrication will get support. In case of multiple applications, the State-appointed high-powered committee will make recommendations on the basis of credentials of projects.
• According to the state government, the projects approved under the Design-linked Incentive scheme of the Government of India will not be eligible for availing the benefits under the new policy, Eligible projects will get 75% subsidy on procurement of first 200 acres of land in the SIR, while additional land for upstream or downstream projects will get 50 % subsidy on land cost.
• Moreover, one-time reimbursement of 100% stamp-duty and registration fees paid to the government, fixed water tariff at Rs 12 per cubic meter for five years and a capital subsidy of 50% for desalination plants are the fiscal benefits under the new policy. Under the policy, the approved project will get an electric subsidy of 2 per unit.