The central government has said that India has emerged as the 3rd largest aviation market in the world with a passenger traffic of over 10 crore reported for 2016-17. This was stated by minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha at a media event on the achievements of the ministry of civil aviation on the completion of three years of the NDA government.

The construction of the world’s largest optical telescope has started in northern Chile, which is expected to begin operating in 2024. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is being built by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and will have a main mirror that is 39m in diameter. The telescope will be positioned on top of Cerro Armazones – a 3046-metre long mountain Chile. It will tackle a wide range of scientific challenges, including probing Earth-like exoplanets for signs of life, studying the nature of dark energy and dark matter, and observing the universe’s early stages to explore humans’ origins.

Residents of Vadodara, the 10th cleanest city in the country has created a new Guinness world record with maximum number of people sweeping the ‘floor’ (single venue). Vadodara municipal corporation commissioner Vinod Rao said around 5,058 people came together to sweep the venue – a bridge connecting Akota with Dandia bazaar – spread over one kilometre. The record was achieved by participants who swept the place in groups of 50.

Mumbai has been ranked the world's second most densely populated city with 31,700 people per sq km, by the World Economic Forum (WEF) citing UN Habitat Data. Bangladesh's capital Dhaka topped the list with 44,500 people per sq km. Rajasthan's Kota has been ranked the world's seventh most densely populated city with 12,100 people per sq km.

The capital of Bangladesh “Dhaka” is the world’s most crowded city with a population density of 44,500 people per square kilometre, released by World Economic Forum (WEF), citing UN Habitat data. According to UN Habitat data, of the top 10 most densely populated cities in the world, six are in Asia, three are in Africa and one is in South America. India’s financial capital Mumbai, home to 31,700 people per square kilometre has acquired second place, where as Kota in Rajasthan with 12,100 people per square kilometre was ranked seventh. Others in the list include Medellin in Columbia (3rd), Manila in Philippines (4th, 14,800), Casablanca in Morocco (5th, 14,200), Lagos in Nigeria (6th, 13,300), Singapore (8th, 10,200) and Jakarta in Indonesia (9th, 9,600).

Iconic attraction of India Taj Mahal has emerged as the 5th most popular landmark in the world and 2nd in Asia, according to the online travel portal TripAdvisor’s ‘Travellers’ Choice Awards for Landmarks. Globally, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center in Abu Dhabi, Mezquita Cathedral de Cordoba in Spain, and St Peter’s Basilica in Italy, bagged the first four ranks respectively. Whereas, the top 10 landmarks in Asia has been topped by Angkor Wat, followed by Taj Mahal on the second place. Apart from this, Taj Mahal has also ranked first in the list of popular landmarks in India, followed by AmberFort, Jaipur; Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Delhi, etc.

An Indian boy has won the world’s largest pre-college science competition in the US in the environmental engineering category for his project on biodegradation of pesticides. Prashant Ranganathan, a 12th grader from Jamshedpur, alongwith over 20 high school students from various parts of India, participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.