Notes:
The Central Government has set up a high-level panel to strengthen the assessment and accreditation of higher educational institutions.
The committee has been formed under the chairmanship of K Radhakrishnan, chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur. He is also the chairperson of IIT Council Standing Committee.

Notes:
‘Permacrisis’, a term that describes ‘an extended period of instability and insecurity’, has been named Word of the Year 2022 by Collins dictionary
The word relates to the challenges posed by climate change, the war in Europe, a cost-of-living crisis and political chaos. It was first used in academic contexts in the 1970s. In 2020, Collins picked “lockdown” as its word of the year and last year, it opted for “NFT- Non-fungible token”.

Notes:
China has released plans to further expand the global reach of its home-grown Beidou satellite navigation system.
It is named as the country’s alternative to America’s Global Positioning System (GPS). Beidou set up a first of three Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) for its network in Thailand in the year 2013.

Notes:
Switzerland has launched the world’s longest passenger train with 100 coaches, 4,550 seats, measuring 1910 metres.
Rhaetian Railway, a Swiss transport company, has set a world record for the longest passenger train, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland’s first railway. The record-breaking train was formed of 25 new ‘Capricorn’ electric trains, which passed through the landscape in the Swiss Alps.

Notes:
SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, sending several U.S. military satellites into orbit. This is the most powerful launched ever from the Earth.
This was SpaceX’s 50th launch of 2022 as SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has launched 49 missions so far this year. The present pace of the space company is a launch every 6.10 days.