7 billionth babie

India and Philippines welcome 'symbolic' India and Philippines welcome 'symbolic' 7 billionth babies


The world's population touched another milestone on Monday as India and the Philippines welcomed "symbolic" seventh-billionth babies. A baby girl, born to 23-year-old Vinita and Ajay at a local community health centre at 7.20am in Mall on the outskirts of Lucknow, was welcomed as the seventh-billionth baby, Bhagyeshwari, executive director of NGO Plan India, which is conducting the exercise, said. The girl has been named Nargis, she said.

|The Philippines also welcomed a seven-billionth baby at a government hospital in Manila. Danica May Camacho was born just after midnight. As the world's population touched the landmark seven billion mark, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for "unity of purpose" among people across nations to address problems of climate change, economic crisis and inequality.

Meanwhile, Russia also announced that the seven-billionth person was born in the country's Far East in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city. "A boy named Alexander was born in a maternity ward in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the night of Oct 31. A certificate of the seven-billionth inhabitant on Earth was given to the mother of the newborn, Marina Bogdanova," the press service of the Russian presidential envoy's office in the Far East said today.

According to the governor of Kamchatka, Alexander's parents will be given a certificate for a new apartment in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

"Of course, there are many contenders for the title of the seven-billionth baby on the planet. But our country is known to start from Kamchatka. Therefore, we believe that this child was the seven-billionth child and born in Kamchatka, Russia," the governor said.

The six-billionth person born on the planet was in 1999 in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo.

(with Agency inputs)

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