The controversy around Bhoota Kola ritual depicted in Kantara

• Bhoota Kola is an annual ritual performance where local spirits or deities are worshipped.
• It is believed that a person performing the ritual has temporarily become a god himself.
• This performer is both feared and respected in the community and is believed to give answers to people’s problems, on behalf of the god.
• There are several ‘Bhootas’ who are worshipped in the Tulu-speaking belt of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka.
• It is usually performed in small local communities and rural areas.

India successfully test fires Agni Prime ballistic missile off Odisha coast

• The ''Agni Prime'' is a two-stage canisterised solid-propellant missile with dual redundant navigation and guidance system.
• The nuclear-capable missile has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 1000 to 2000 km.
• The Agni Prime missile, the smallest and lightest among the entire Agni series of ballistic missiles.
• It weighs 50 per cent less than the Agni 3 missile and has new guidance and propulsion systems.
• In addition, since it is canisterised, it can be launched from rail or road, be stored for longer periods and can be transported as per operational requirements.

List of Agni missiles:

• Agni-I
  • The Agni-I is a short to medium-range ballistic missile.
  • Range: 700-800 Km
• Agni-II
  • The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile equipped with two solid fuel stages.
  • Range: 2000 Km
• Agni-III
  • The Agni-III is an intermediate-range ballistic missile equipped with two solid fuel stages.
  • Range: 3000 Km
• Agni-IV
  • The Agni-IV is an intermediate-range ballistic missile equipped with two solid fuel stages.
  • Range: 4000 Km
• Agni-V
  • The Agni-V is an intercontinental range ballistic missile with three solid fuel stages.
  • Range: 5000 Km

Eknath Shinde govt restores CBI’s general consent to probe cases in Maharashtra

• CBI is governed by The Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, and it must mandatorily obtain the consent of the state government concerned before beginning to investigate a crime in a state.
• Section 6 of The DSPE Act (“Consent of State Government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction”) says: “Nothing contained in section 5 (titled “Extension of powers and jurisdiction of special police establishment to other areas”) shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union territory or railway area, without the consent of the Government of that State”.
• The CBI’s position is in this respect different from that of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by The NIA Act, 2008, and has jurisdiction all over the country.
• The consent of the state government to CBI can be either case-specific or “general”.
• General consent is normally given by states to help the CBI in the seamless investigation of cases of corruption against central government employees in their states.
• This is essentially consent by default, which means CBI may begin investigations taking consent as having been already given.
• In the absence of general consent, CBI would have to apply to the state government for its consent in every individual case, and before taking even small actions.

Partial solar eclipse happening today. Where and when to watch in India

• An eclipse happens when the moon while orbiting the Earth, comes in between the sun and the Earth, due to which the moon blocks the sun’s light from reaching the Earth, causing an eclipse of the sun or a solar eclipse.
• There are three types of eclipses.
• Total solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are in a direct line. The dark silhouette of the Moon completely covers the intense bright light of the Sun. Only the much fainter solar corona is visible during a total eclipse which is known as a Totality.
• Partial solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up.
  • The shadow of the moon appears on a small part of the sun.
• Annular solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the moon is farthest from the Earth, which is why it seems smaller.
  • In this type of an eclipse, the moon does not block the sun completely, but looks like a “dark disk on top of a larger sun-colored disk” forming a “ring of fire”.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana significantly reduced patients’ out-of-pocket expenditure: Mansukh Mandaviya

• To make available quality medicines, consumables and surgical items at affordable prices for all and reduce out of pocket expenditure of consumers/patients.
• To popularize generic medicines among the masses and eliminate the notion that low priced generic medicines are of inferior quality or are less effective.
• Generate employment by engaging individual entrepreneurs in the opening of JanaushadhiKendras.
• Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) is the implementing agency of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).
• PMBI was established in December, 2008 under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India.
• Jan Aushadhi Scheme was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in 2008 across the country.
• In 2015, the Jan Aushadhi Scheme was revamped as Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY).
• In 2016, it was again renamed as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).

Five new varieties to expand India''s Basmati platter

• Three of the five varieties can resist two common diseases of paddy.
  • Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) and blast (leaf and collar) diseases caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

New Varieties:

• New varieties are
  • Pusa Basmati 1847,
  • Pusa Basmati 1885 and
  • Pusa Basmati 1886.
• All these varieties have two genes to resist BLB and two genes to resist blast disease.
• The other two can save 35% of the water now required as the seeds can be directly sown, obviating the need for transplanting seedlings.
• These two seeds are resistant to herbicides too, helping the farmers control weeds more efficiently.
• In the next three years, all of the five seeds will have the combined qualities of disease and herbicide resistance.
• India is known for its Basmati rice, with the produce from seven States — Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — earmarked for Geographical Indication.
• Basmati, known for its mouthfeel, aroma, length of the grain when cooked and taste, has a market abroad and brings about ₹30,000 crore in foreign exchange every year.
• While 75% of the export is to West Asian countries, European Union countries also import Indian Basmati.
• However, recently, the export to EU countries faced certain hurdles due to the increase in the pesticide residue levels in the rice from India.
• Pesticides and fungicides used against these diseases increased the residue levels permitted in developed countries.

Invisible killer threatens India''s sandalwood forests

• It is caused by phytoplasma — bacterial parasites of plant tissues — which are transmitted by insect vectors.
• The disease was first reported in Kodagu in 1899.
• It is being classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1998.
• Presently, there is no option but to cut down and remove the infected tree to prevent the spread of the disease.
• Between 1 and 5% of sandalwood trees lost every year due to the disease.
• SSD has been one of the major causes for the decline in sandalwood production in the country for over a century.

ISRO''s heaviest rocket successfully places 36 satellites in orbit

• This mission is being undertaken as part of the commercial arrangement between New Space India Limited (NSIL) and m/s Network Access Associates Limited (m/s OneWeb Ltd), a U.K. based company.
• OneWeb is a joint venture between India’s Bharti Enterprises and the U.K. government.
• This is OneWeb’s 14th launch, bringing the constellation to 462 satellites. This launch represents more than 70% of its planned 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity worldwide.
• The 43.5 metre LVM3 weighing around 644 tonne carried 36 satellites weighing 5,796 kg or about 5.7 tonne.

Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3) -M2:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has renamed the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark -III as Launch Vehicle Mark-III, mainly to identify its task of placing satellites into a variety of orbits.
• Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3) -M2 is the dedicated commercial satellite mission of New Space India Limited (NSIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Space, Government of India.
• The LVM3 rocket (earlier called the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV-MK3) can carry up to 8 tonnes into low earth orbit (LEO-up to 1,200 km above the Earth).
• The rocket is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of two solid propellant S200 strap-ons on its sides and core stage comprising L110 liquid stage and C25 cryogenic stage.
• The PSLV is much lighter and can carry between 1.4 and 1.75-tonne payloads.

Plant spotted in Palakkad is second species of the genus Allmania, say researchers

• It is named Allmania multiflora.
• The species is quite special from both the botanical and conservation points of view.
• Allmania multiflora is only the second species of this genus identified so far anywhere.
• It is an annual herb that grows to a height of about 60 cm, erect, with branches arising from the base.
• The stem is red to violet at the base and green above.
• Found at heights ranging between 1,000 to 1,250 metres.
• Shorter tepals and wider gynoecium (parts of the flower), shorter bracts and in the diameter of the seeds are among the characteristics that distinguishes it from Allmania nodiflora.
• Flowering and fruiting occurs from May to September.
• Allmania multiflora has been so named for having a higher number of florets within an inflorescence.
• Given its small population, the researchers have assessed it as Critically Endangered, applying IUCN Red List criteria.

Allmania nodiflora:

• It is distinct from Allmania nodiflora, which so far had been accepted as the lone Allmania species.
• The first species, Allmania nodiflora, was originally published under the genus Celosia as Celosia nodiflora in 1753.
• Specimens found in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) were first described as Allmania nodiflora in 1834.

Odisha Government has started working on Sukapaika River revival plan

• This is probably the first serious attempt being made to restore a river to its original shape in Odisha.
• The problem has started in 1952, when the state government blocked the starting point of the Sukapaika with an embankment to save the villages around it from floods.
• Subsequently, in 1957, two major projects — Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur district and Naraj barrage at Cuttack — were built upstream on the Mahanadi, ostensibly to control floods in it.
• The river dried up due to the development of the Taladanda Canal System, a major canal of the State.

Sukapaika River:

• Sukapaika is one of the several distributaries of the mighty Mahanadi river in Odisha.
• It branches away from the Mahanadi at Ayatpur village in Cuttack district and flows for about 40 kilometres (km) before rejoining its parent river at Tarapur in the same district.
• In the process, it drains a large landmass comprising over 425 villages under 26 gram panchayats in three blocks — Cuttack Sadar, Nischintakoili and Raghunathpur.