1) World’s First Dengue Vaccine.
- Sanofi-Pasteur, the vaccines global business unit of Sanofi, announced that the dengue vaccines have received approval in 14 countries.
- Recent approvals for Dengvaxia granted by health authorities are those from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
- Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore have already granted it the approval.
- Sanofi-Pasteur - a unit of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi manufactures this vaccine for dengue.
- In the clinical study population nine years old and older, the dengue vaccine has been documented to prevent two-thirds of dengue cases due to all four serotypes of dengue.
2) World`s highest energy density EV battery unveiled.
- California-based electric vehicle (EV) company Faraday Future, in collaboration with LG Chemical, has unveiled what it claims to be the `world`s highest energy density` EV battery.
- Elon Musk`s Tesla and Panasonic currently have the highest energy density batteries, at 60 kWh and larger. Earlier, the company had revealed plans for a $1 billion EV factory in Nevada.
- Like Mercedes and Volkswagen, Faraday has developed an EV platform it wants to use with a number of different vehicles. Called the "Variable Platform Architecture" (VPA), it can be lengthened or shortened to support vehicles with different sizes, powertrains and battery configurations.
3) ISRO successfully launches GSAT-18 from Kourou in French Guiana.
- India`s latest communication satellite GSAT-18 was successfully launched by a heavy duty Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana, located in northeastern coast of South America. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), aims at providing telecommunications services.
- GSAT-18 is the 20th satellite from ISRO to be launched by the European space agency and GSAT-18 will add to India’s fleet of 14 operational telecommunication satellites.
- GSAT-18 Weighing 3,404 kg at lift-off, it carries 48 communication transponders to provide services in Normal C-band, Upper Extended C-band and Ku-bands of the frequency spectrum.
4) Scientists discover largest dinosaur in Brazil.
- Brazilian scientists have announced the discovery of the largest dinosaurs ever found in the country, an animal that was 25 meters long.
- The dinosaur, named "Austroposeidon magnificus``, belonged to the group of titanosaurs, which were herbivorous dinosaurs, according to scientists at Rio de Janeiro`s Earth Sciences Museum, Xinhua news agency reported. These dinosaurs lived during the Cretaceous Period (145-66 million years ago).
- Fossilized vertebrae of the dinosaur was found by Brazilian paleontologist Llewellyn Ivor.
5) New frog species discovered in Australia.
- A new frog species that closely resembles the Graceful tree frog scientifically known as Litoria Bella, was discovered in Australia’s largest virgin forest in Queensland.The frog discovered in Queensland’s Cape York.
6) Govt integrates 250 mandis in 10 states with e-agriculture market in first phase.
- The government has integrated 250 mandis in ten states with the electronic national agriculture market (e-NAM) in the first phase.
- He also launched mobile App to access information related to prices of commodities traded on the e-NAM.
- The e-NAM platform is launched in 250 markets across 10 states as on September 30.
- In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the e-NAM on a pilot basis with 22 mandis in eight states. The target was to integrate 200 mandis by September this year and total 585 by March 2018.
- 1,53,992 tonnes of agriculture produce worth Rs. 421 crore has been transacted on e-NAM platform, 1,60,229 farmers, 46,688 traders and 25,970 commission agents have been registered on the e-NAM at present.
- About 69 agricultural and horticultural commodities including fruits and vegetables are notified for trading on e-NAM platform.
7) TajMahal to undergo `mud-pack therapy` for yellowness.
- The main dome of Agra`s Taj Mahal will get a mud-pack therapy so that the white marble can get rid of the yellowness it has got over time.