News in Short

• At the current rate of growth, India's population is likely to peak by 2047 at about 1.61 billion and then decline to 1.03 billion by 2100.
• However, were it to meet UN Sustainable Goal Development targets, the peak would be earlier and see a population decline to 929 million.
• India will, however, remain the most populous country. The five largest countries in 2100 (are projected) to be India, Nigeria, China, the U.S., and Pakistan.

• The launch of a United Arab Emirates Mars orbiter, already delayed two days, has been postponed further due to bad weather at the Japanese launch site.
• The orbiter named Amal, or Hope, is the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. The launch, initially scheduled for Wednesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
• Two other Mars missions are planned in coming days by the U.S. and China. Japan has its own Martian moon mission planned in 2024.

• The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the first fully indigenously developed conjugate vaccine for pneumonia developed by the Serum Institute of India Pvt, Pune.
• The Serum Institute first obtained the DGCI approval to conduct Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical trials of Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine in India. It has also conducted clinical trials in the Gambia.
• This vaccine is used for active immunisation against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by “streptococcus pneumonia” in infants. The vaccine is administered intramuscularly.

• Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh has presented his resignation to President after the biggest party in his coalition began pushing for a vote of no confidence in the government.
• The President now has a week to nominate a replacement as prime minister, who will have two months to form a new government and pass it through parliament.
• Fakhfakh, who is under investigation over allegations of conflict of interest, has had strained relations with Ennahdha, the biggest party in parliament, since October legislative elections.

• A series of high-profile Twitter accounts were hijacked including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality television show star Kim Kardashian, former U.S. President Barack Obama, billionaire Elon Musk, and rapper Kanye West.
• The unusual scope of the problem suggests hackers may have gained access at the system level, rather than through individual accounts.
• Shares in the social media company tumbled almost 5% in trading after the market close before paring their losses.
• Publicly available blockchain records show that the apparent scammers have already received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency.