Notes:
Recently, the Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) has published the combined report of the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
This report evaluates the performance of the school education system at the District level by establishing an index for thorough analysis. It graded 742 districts during 2020-21 and 748 districts during 2021-22 across India.

Notes:
A significant granite formation was found beneath an ancient lunar volcano known as Compton-Belkovich.
Hence, a new evidence has emerged supporting the notion that volcanic activity once occurred on the far side of the moon. This discovery strengthens the understanding of past volcanic eruptions on the moon’s far side.

Notes:
Scientists recently discovered two fossils in New Zealand, unveiling the remains of the smallest known extinct penguin species called Wilson’s little penguin (Eudyptula wilsonae).
These fossils were found in the southern Taranaki region of New Zealand’s North Island by Karl Raubenheimer and detailed in a study published in the Journal of Paleontology.

Notes:
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified an active supermassive black hole, marking it as the farthest one discovered to date.
The galaxy hosting this black hole, CEERS 1019, has survived for over 570 million years since the big bang, and the black hole itself is smaller in mass than any other found in the early universe.

Notes:
The scarcity of loose hydrogen on Earth leads to the formation of phosphine, suggesting that its existence in other planets could be a potential indicator of life.
A team of scientists at Cardiff University in Wales, announced a new development in the search for life on Venus. They have now detected phosphine in the planet’s atmosphere at a deeper level than their previous findings, which were reported in September 2020 and indicated the potential presence of life.