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Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
India Shuts Down Schools Over Birth Rate Decline
Some parts of India have been forced to shut down schools amid the country's declining birth rates. Economist Sanjeev Sanyal, who was previously the principal economic adviser in India's finance ministry and a member of the Economic Advisory Council to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has spoken about this happening and called for it to occur "more routinely." "Our population is only growing now because we are living longer, we are not having enough babies," he told the Indian financial newspaper Mint on Monday. "So our problem is already the case that in parts of the country we have to shut down schools." "We should be shutting them down," he added. "We are doing them slowly. But we need to do them more routinely. Because whenever I mention that we need to shut down schools, people get very emotional about this issue." "But in fact, there are many parts of the country, in fact now it would be more than half of the country, where if you do not close and merge schools then they don't have enough cluster children," he continued. "They don't have critical mass." "So we need to begin to adjust to the fact that our birth rates have radically declined," he said. India is one of the many countries around the world that is struggling with an aging population, meaning that people will continue to live longer while fertility rates fall. The nation, the most populous country on Earth, had a fertility rate of 2 (the average number of children a woman has) in 2023, the most recent year for which the World Bank has fertility data. The rate has fallen drastically from 1950, when it was 5.7. On top of this, the number of people aged 65 or older is projected to double over the next two decades, increasing from 108 million in 2025 to 254 million by 2050, according to the United Nations (U.N.) Population Division. By then, older people will make up 15 percent of the population, surpassing the number of children under the age of 15 by 2056. Some 36 government primary schools were shut down in the two academic years leading up to 2024 in Goa, India's smallest state, according to the local daily newspaper The Goan Everyday. Last July, the state's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said at the Goa Legislative Assembly that the falling birth rate was partially to blame for this, along with the rise in parents sending their kids to aided schools, privately managed schools that receive financial assistance, or "aid," from the government or local authorities. Altone D'Costa, who is part of the Goa Legislative Assembly, added that the closure of government schools is problematic for several reasons, including that they often serve as community centers in rural areas. Multiple areas in the mountainous region of Uttarakhand have also shut down schools–although this is also because of large-scale migration out of hill districts, The Times of India reported in September 2024. In the Himalayan town of Pithoragarh, 21 schools shut down in the academic year 2023-24 while other schools have had to merge. District Education Officer Tarun Pant said this was because of "fewer children" along with "socio-economic factors" and "mass migration from villages." Similarly, in the city of Dehradun, in Uttarakhand, 24 schools were shut down in the 2023-24 academic year, after zero students enrolled, according to The Times of India. In the 2022-23 academic year, 15 schools closed. It is unclear whether India's national government, or its states governments, plan to shut schools down more "routinely" as Sanyal has called for. Newsweek has contacted the country's Ministry of Education, via email, for comment. In January, Newsweek reported on how India's aging population has led to stories about the elderly being abandoned by their children. Unique aspects of India's population problem include the fact that there is a disparity between states, meaning population shifts are not the same across the country, with population declining in some states and not others. Another component is gender inequality with Poonam Muttreja, the executive director of the Population Foundation of India, talking about how the burden of caregiving, whether for children or elderly family members, falls disproportionately on women. Policies "must enable women to balance work and caregiving effectively," she told Newsweek. Despite all this, India's working-age population has grown larger than its dependent population since 2018, and this "bulge in the working-age population" is expected to last until 2055, which offers a span of 37 years, the U.N. Population Division said. "During this period, countries experience a window of opportunity to accelerate economic gains," the division said. "Reaping this 'demographic dividend,' however, depends on sustained investments in education, health, and employment opportunities to enable productive and decent work for young people entering the workforce." Related Articles Indian Prime Minister Contradicts TrumpAir India Flight From Ahmedabad to London Canceled Days After Fatal CrashSeven Killed As Helicopter Crashes in India: What To KnowAir India Plane Crash Sole Survivor on How He Escaped 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Economic Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
World leaders, faithful bid farewell to Pope Francis
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Presidents, royalty and simple mourners bade farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday at a solemn funeral ceremony, where a cardinal appealed for the pontiff's legacy of caring for migrants, the downtrodden and the environment to be kept Francis was buried inside his favourite Rome church after the funeral mass in St Peter's Square, the Vatican said on Saturday. Francis was laid to rest during a 30-minute ceremony which started at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in the Italian President Donald Trump, who had clashed with the pope on those issues, sat with the rows of foreign dignitaries on one side of Francis' coffin in the vast St. Peter's the other side sat cardinals who will pick Francis' successor at a conclave next month, deciding if the new pope should continue with the late pontiff's push for a more open Church or cede to conservatives who want to return to a more traditional papacy. The Argentine pope, who reigned for 12 years, died at the age of 88 on Monday after suffering a stroke. "Rich in human warmth and deeply sensitive to today's challenges, Pope Francis truly shared the anxieties, sufferings and hopes of this time," said Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who presided over the funeral Vatican estimated more than 250,000 people attended the ceremony, cramming the square and the roads around. They broke into applause when Re spoke of Francis' care for immigrants, his constant pleas for peace, the need for negotiations to end wars and the importance of addressing climate Droupadi Murmu on Saturday attended the funeral Mass of Pope Francis at St Peter's Square minister for Parliamentary affairs and minority affairs Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for minority affairs George Kurian, and deputy speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly Joshua De Souza, who are part of the official Indian delegation led by the President, also attended the ceremony.
The Hindu
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
President Murmu attends funeral Mass of Pope Francis
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday (April 26, 2025) attended the funeral Mass of Pope Francis at St Peter's Square here. Pope Francis, who was the first non-European Pope in nearly 1,300 years, died on Monday. He was 88. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Minority Affairs, George Kurian and Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Joshua De Souza, who are part of the official Indian delegation led by the President, also attended the ceremony. 'President Droupadi Murmu attended the funeral Mass of His Holiness Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City,' her office said in a post on X. Ms. Murmu reached Vatican City on Friday on a two-day visit to offer condolences on behalf of the Government and people of India. Soon after, she paid homage to Pope Francis at the Basilica of St Peter in Vatican City. India had declared a three-day state mourning on the passing of Pope Francis. World leaders and a large number of Catholic followers attended Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday.
Mint
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Pope Francis funeral schedule: From St Peter's Square opening time to Argentine pontiff's burial - List of events here
Pope Francis funeral date April 26, Saturday, was decided by cardinals meeting in a so-called 'general congregation,' which marks the first of a series of meetings. A new pope will be elected following a series of meetings which culminate in a conclave within three weeks of the death of Catholic Church's head. The funeral ceremony of Argentine pontiff will be attended by notable dignitaries, including President Droupadi Murmu, US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju; Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, George Kurian; and Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Joshua De Souza will be the other delegates from India who will be paying their last respects to Pope Francis. Other dignitaries who will be present at the funeral are: US First lady Melania Trump Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska French President Emmanuel Macron British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Prince William Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia Hungarian President Viktor Orbán Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Sil According to the Vatican, 130 delegations are confirmed to converge for the funeral of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 (Easter Monday) after suffering a stroke at the age of 88, in the Vatican's St Peter's Square. This includes 50 Heads of State and 10 reigning Sovereigns. Pope Francis' coffin was placed in Vatican's St Peter's Basilica ahead of his scheduled funeral on Saturday evening. The coffin of the head of the Catholic Church will be presented to the poor and needy who will par their respects after it arrives at St Mary Major basilica for burial on Saturday. News agency AFP listed out the official programme of the ceremonies for the late pontiff, which is as follows- 5:30 AM (9:00 AM IST)- St Peter's Square opens. 10:00 AM (1:30 PM IST)- The funeral mass, which will commence at 1:30 pm, will be presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re. Given below are the proceedings of the day in chronological order: Reading of liturgical texts A homily by Cardinal Re A universal prayer in several languages The consecration of the bread and wine Participants exchanging a sign of peace or handshake The Eucharist A moment of silence The sprinkling of holy water on the coffin 13:00 PM (4:30 PM IST) Pope Francis' coffin will be brought inside St Peter's Basilica at the end of the mass. About 13:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) the coffin arrives at Santa Maria Maggiore, where it will be welcomed by a group of the 'poor and needy'. First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 10:34 AM IST
