Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 22, 2023

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: A

• 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

ANSWER: B

• 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.

ANSWER: D

• 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.

ANSWER: B

• 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.

ANSWER: D

• 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.

ANSWER: C

• 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.

ANSWER: B

• 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.

ANSWER: C

• 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).