The launch of AgniKul ‘Agnibaan SOrTeD’ has been postponed again.

Agnibaan SOrTeD:

• Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD) is a single-stage launch vehicle powered by AgniKul’s patented Agnilet engine.
• It is an entirely 3D-printed, single-piece, 6 kilonewton (kN) semi-cryogenic engine.
• It is the world’s first single piece 3D printedsemi-cryogenic rocket engine.
• It will be launched from India''s first private launchpad, ALP-01,located inside the Indian space agency ISRO’s Sriharikota spaceport.

Features:

• It is India’s first ever vehicle equipped with a semicryogenic engine, the Agnilet, a subcooled liquidoxygen-based propulsion system developed indigenously.
• The rocket engine will burn kerosene in liquid oxygen and can be directly used in the rocket.
• It stands 18 meters tall and is 1.3 meters in diameter.
• It has the capability to carry a 100-kg payload up to a height of 700 km with a lift of mass of 14,000 Kgs.
• It can access both low- and high-inclination orbits and is completely mobile.
• It will also have the first ever Ethernet-based avionics architecture and fully in-house developed autopilot software from India.
• The rocket is also designed for launch from more than 10 different launch ports.
• To ensure its compatibility with multiple launch ports, AgniKul has built a launch pedestal named ''Dhanush'' that will support the rocket''s mobility across all its configurations.

Facts:

• AgniKul Cosmos is an IIT Madras incubated space start up based in Chennai.
• It was established in 2017.
• It became the first company in the country to sign an agreement with ISRO under the IN-SPACe initiative to have access to the space agency’s expertise and its facilities to build Agnibaan in December 2020.
• In 2022, Agnikul inaugurated India’s first private launchpad and mission control centre at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe):

• It is a single-window, independent, nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS). It is formed following the Space sector reforms to enable and facilitate the participation of private players. The agency acts as an interface between ISRO and Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) and assesses how to utilize India''s space resources better and increase space-based activities.

Bollywood actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut recently stirred up a storm after she claimed that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the first prime minister of India.

Azad Hind Government:

• In 1943, on October 21, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose announced the formation of the ‘Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind’ or the provincial government of free Indiain Singapore and declared war on the British Empire.
• Under the provisional Government, Bose was the Head of State, Prime Minister, and Minister of War.
• Captain Lakshmi headed the women’s organisation while SA Ayer headed the publicity wing in the newly formed government.
• Revolutionary leader Rash Behari Bose was designated as the supreme adviser by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
• The government was supported by the Axis powers of Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, the Italian Social Republic, and their allies.

Significance of the Azad Hind government:

• Soon after the formation of the government, the Azad Hind government proclaimed authority over Indian civilian and military personnel in Southeast Asian British colonial territory and prospective authority over Indian territory to fall to the Japanese forces and the Indian National Army during the Second World War.
• The provisional government not only enabled Bose to negotiate with the Japanese on an equal footing but also allowed him to mobilise Indians living in East Asia to join and support the Indian National Army (INA).
• The Indian National Army drew ex-prisoners and thousands of civilian volunteers from the Indian expatriate population in Malaya (present-day Malaysia) and Burma (now Myanmar).
• The provisional government was also formed in the Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands were reoccupied by the British in 1945.
• The Azad Hind government under Bose had in fact started its own bank, currency, civil code, and stamps.
• Bose had even formed the first women’s regiment of the INA, the Rani Jhansi Regiment, thus laying the foundation for equal opportunity for women in armed forces.

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and Leh Apex Body called off the border march aimed at highlighting the Changpa nomadic tribes'' plight.

Changpa Tribe:

• The Changpa, or Champa, are semi-nomadic people found mainly in the Changtang plateau of southeastern Ladakh.
• A smaller number resides in the western regions of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China.
• They share linguistic and cultural affinities with Tibetans.
• They are high-altitude pastoralists, raising mainly yaks and goats. They live at an average altitude of 4,500 metres above sea level.
• Religion: All Changpa families profess Tibetan Buddhism as their religion.
• They can be identified by their conical yak-skin tents called reboo.
• Each reboo invariably accommodates the family deity, and a picture of their spiritual head, in most cases, the Dalai Lama.

Semi-nomadic Lifestyle:

• The Changpa who live nomadic lives are known as Phalpa, while those who have settled down in fixed locations are called Fangpa.
• For many Changpas, rearing of animals and consuming and selling their produce (milk and its products, hair, and meat) is the only means of livelihood.
• They rear the highly pedigreed and prized Changra goats (Capra Hircus) that yield the rare Pashmina (Cashmere) fibre. It is the finest fibre of all goat hair.
• Their Buddhist belief does not allow them to kill animals for meat. It is only when animals die a natural death that the carcasses can be used for meat and hide, which the Changpas use to line their huts and make garments.
• In 1989, the Changpa were granted official status in India as a scheduled tribe.

An earthen pot containing lead coins from Ikshvaku period unearthed in Phanigiri, Suryapet.

Phanigiri

• It is a famous Buddhist site located 110 km away from Hyderabad.
• This site derived its name from the shape of the hillock, which appears to be like a snake hood. The word Phani in Sanskrit means snake and Giri means hillock.
• It is believed to be one of the important Buddhist monasteries strategically located on the ancient trade route (Dakshinapatha) connecting the west and the east coast of the Deccan.

Other findings of the excavation:

• Coins: Lead coins with elephant symbol on one side and Ujjain symbol on the other side are found.
• According to the archaeologists, the coins belong to the Ikshvaku period dated between 3rd century and 4th century Common Era.
• Also stone beads, glass beads, shell bangle fragments, stucco motifs, broken limestone sculptures, a wheel of a toy cart, final nails and pottery are excavated.
• Mahastupa, apsidal Chaityagrihas, Votive stupas, pillared congregation halls, Viharas, platforms with staircases at various levels, octagonal stupa chaitya, 24-pillared mandapam, circular chaitya, and cultural materials that included terracotta beads, semi-precious beads, iron objects, Brahmi label inscriptions and holy relic casket are also excavated.
• All the cultural material is datable from the 1st century BCE to 4th century CE.

The toranas discovered at Phanigiri show that Mahayana and Hinayana schools coexist here.

Other Important Sites In Region:

• Vardhamanukota, Gajula Banda, Tirumalagiri, Nagaram, Singaram, Aravapalli, Ayyavaripalli, Arlagaddagudem, and Yeleswaram.

Ikshvaku Period:

• The Ikshvaku dynasty (c. 225-340 A.D) was a feudatory tribe under the patronage of the great Satavahana Empire that ruled the Andhra region, the delta of the Krishna and Godavari rivers on the east coast, situating their capital at Dharanikota (present-day Amravati).