Current affairs 14 July 2024

India's Population to Peak in Early 2060s: UN.

• Peak Population: India's population will peak at 1.7 billion in the early 2060s before declining by 12%.
• Global Standing: Despite the decline, India will remain the world's most populous country throughout the century.
• Global Trends: The world population, currently 8.2 billion, is expected to reach 10.3 billion by the mid-2080s before gradually declining to 10.2 billion by 2100.

India generated 125 million jobs between FY14 & FY23, says SBI Report.

• India created 125 million jobs between FY14 and FY23, which is 4.3 times more than the 29 million jobs created in the preceding decade (FY04-FY14).
• Excluding agriculture, 89 million jobs were created in manufacturing and services during FY14-FY23, compared to 66 million in FY04-FY14.
• Employment in MSMEs has surpassed 200 million as of July 2024, reflecting a 66% increase from the last year.

Kerala: 1st state to record Biodiversity with local communities' help.

• Kerala has become the first state to prepare Peoples Biodiversity Registers (PBR) for each local self-government (LSG) body with the help of local communities.
• PBR includes information on wild, aquatic, urban, and agro biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and current utilization patterns.
• The state achieved the task before the NGT's deadline with 1,037 out of 1,040 LSGs completing the PBRs.

Invasive Species and Illegal Trade pushing Reptiles towards Extinction.

• As per the latest IUCN Red List update, Ibiza wall lizard reclassified as endangered, Gran Canaria giant lizard, and Gran Canaria skink also moved to endangered due to invasive snake species.
• 82% of Copiapoa cacti species are now critically endangered, up from 55% in 2013, due to illegal trade and climate change.
• It highlighted need for international collaboration to prevent such happenings.

Government to launch "AgriSURE" fund to boost Agri Start-Ups.

• The government will soon launch the Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises (AgriSURE) to support start-ups and agripreneurs.
• A Rs 750 crore Category-II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) will be set up.
• Rs 250 crores each from Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare & NABARD, and Rs 250 crores from financial institutions, NABVENTURES, a subsidiary of NABARD, will manage the fund.