Notes:
Simlipal biosphere reserve comprises of the Simlipal national park cum tiger reserve along with its adjoining areas.
It is located in the eastern end of the Eastern Ghats, in Odisha. The name ‘Simlipal’ is derived from ‘Simul’ meaning silk cotton tree. Recently, there was a wildfire in the National Park and is raging for nearly a week.

Notes:
The US government funded NGO “Freedom House” published its annual report on global political rights and liberties recently.
The report titled “Freedom in the World 2021 – Democracy under Siege” published the report on political freedom across the world. It has downgraded India’s status from free to partly free, citing the country’s entry into authoritarianism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Notes:
Bengaluru emerged as the best city according to the “Ease of Living Index-2020”, released by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
The rankings were announced for cities for which the assessment exercise was conducted in the year 2020. Around 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise. Shimla topped the category of cities with population of less than million.

Notes:
Bao dhaan is a variety of red rice that is rich in iron. It is cultivated in the alluvial soil in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam.
Recently, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ was flagged off to the United States of America (USA). The unique feature of the rice is that it is grown without the use of any chemical fertilizer.

Notes:
The Centre recently published the Municipal Performance Index (MPI). In this index, Indore was ranked first in the category of Million-plus cities. It is followed by Surat and Bhopal.
While in the ‘less-than-million category’, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been ranked first and is followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.