The Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) has become the first institute in the state to secure an ‘A+’ grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

• It is a large inland sea located in southeastern Europe.
• Bordered by six countries, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Romania.
  • Acronym to recall is T-BURGR
• It is connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait.
• It covers an area of approx. 436,000 sq km.
• Danube, Dniepr and Dniestr are major rivers that drain into it.
• The Black Sea’s deeper waters have lower levels of oxygen due to its unique geological and hydrological conditions.

• Sat Pal Bhanoo has been appointed as the new Managing Director of LIC.
• He currently serves as the Additional Zonal Manager at LIC of India’s Zonal Office in Bhopal.

• Virat Kohli has recently become the 10^th cricketer to make 500 international appearances.
• He reached this remarkable feat during India’s second and final Test match against the West Indies.
• This includes 274 ODIs, 115 T20Is, and 111 Test matches.
• Only three other Indian cricketers– Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid, have achieved this feat.

• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of Twitter, announced the debut of a new AI company, xAI, with the goal to “understand the true nature of the universe.”
• xAI would seek to build a “good AGI,” as an alternative to Microsoft, Google and OpenAI.
• AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence and refers to AI that can solve problems like a human.
• The company will use public tweets to train its AI models and may also work with Tesla on AI software.

• The Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) project has achieved a new record of 153.97 lakh units in single-day power generation from its four units.
• The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has been operating all the four units.

ABOUT RANJIT SAGAR DAM (RSD)

• Ranjit Sagar Dam or Thein Dam is part of a hydroelectric project constructed by the Punjab Irrigation Department on the Ravi River on the border of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
• A large portion (up to 60%) of the reservoir falls within Jammu and Kashmir.
• The dam was constructed to harness the waters of the Ravi River and was completed in 2000.
• It is a concrete gravity dam with a height of about 162 meters and a length of approximately 518 meters.
• The reservoir (Ranjit Sagar Lake or Thein Lake) created by the dam has a storage capacity of around 0.97 billion cubic meters.
• The project is the largest hydroelectric dam in Punjab with a capacity of 600 megawatts.

• NITI Aayog released the India Climate Energy Dashboard (ICED) 3.0 recently.
• The ICED is the country’s one-stop platform for near real-time data on the energy sector, climate, and related economic datasets based on government published sources.
• Developed as a user-friendly platform, ICED 3.0 enables users to freely access and analyse datasets using an analytical engine.
• It will facilitate insights and enhance understanding about the energy and climate sectors while identifying the key challenges.
• The Portal will draw insights from the available data parameters and hence immensely useful in monitoring the progress of India’s clean energy transition journey.
• This dashboard offers more than 500 parameters, over 2000 infographics, and a number of interactive visualizations, allowing users to gain a holistic understanding of India’s energy sector.

• IMD has recently launched Heat Index on an experimental basis to provide general guidance for the regions within in India, where apparent temperatures are on higher side causing discomfort to the people.
• At present, heat index is derived using the heat index equation similar to what is used by National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA.
• Heat index provides information about the impact of humidity on the high temperatures and thus provides a feel like temperature for human beings which can be used as an indication for human discomfort.
• Color codes for Heat Index:
  • Green: – Experimental heat Index less than 35 deg C
  • Yellow: – Experimental heat Index in the range 36-45 deg C
  • Orange: – Experimental heat Index in the range 46-55 deg C
  • Red: – Experimental heat Index greater than 55 deg C

• ISRO has successfully tested Gaganyaan Service Module Propulsion System(SMPS).
• The service module of Gaganyaan is a regulated bi-propellant based propulsion system that caters to the requirements of the Orbital Module, performing orbit injection, circularisation, on-orbit control, de-boost manoeuvring, and SM-based abort (if any) during the ascent phase.
• This test involved five liquid apogee motor (LAM) engines with a thrust of 440 N, and 16 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters with a thrust of 100 N.
• The 440 N thrust LAM engines provide the main propulsive force during the ascending phase, while the RCS thrusters ensure precise altitude correction.

ABOUT GAGANYAAN MISSION

• The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission, and bringing them back safely to Earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
• As part of it, two unmanned missions and one manned mission are approved by the government.
• LVM3 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III) is identified as the launch vehicle for Gaganyaan mission. It is a three stage vehicle: solid, liquid and cryogenic.
• ISRO plans to carry out Gaganyaan’s first abort test in August.

• India is considering expanding its solar STAR-C initiative, run by the International Solar Alliance, to a number of Pacific Island countries.
• India’s efforts will primarily be focused on economic development, connectivity and climate change. The expansion of the STAR-C initiative will form a key part of that outreach.

ABOUT SOLAR TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION RESOURCE CENTRE [STAR C] INITIATIVE

• It is a project to build STAR centres which will act as hubs of technology, knowledge, and expertise on solar energy.
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with funding of the Government of France, are implementing the project.
• The overall objective of the STAR-C initiative is to create a strong network of institutional capacities within ISA Member States to enhance quality infrastructure (QI) for the uptake of solar energy product and service markets, particularly in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).
• The programme aims to boost solar power ecosystems in the poorest countries.
• In the Pacific, it currently runs in Tonga.