Important Facts for Prelims (July 13, 2018) | 13 Jul 2018

In the State of Odisha, ‘Bengei Nacha’ or ‘frog dance’ is a traditionally performed ritual to appease the rain gods.
As per belief, the croaking sounds made by frogs during the ritual would alert rain god ‘Indra Devata’ to the lack of precipitation in a village.
Amid much fanfare, villagers catch a frog and put it inside a pitcher partly filled with water which is carried by two people at the head of a procession.
Monsoon rains are vital for Indian agriculture, which is a major source of employment in the country.
Rituals devoted to rain gods vary from State to State depending upon local customs and traditions.

Scientists from New Zealand performed the first ever 3D color X-Ray on a human being using a technique that could improve the field of medical diagnostics.
The new device, named Medipix, is based on the traditional black-and-white X-Ray but has incorporated a particle-tracking technology developed by CERN for its Large Hadron Collider.
The color X-ray imaging technique could produce clearer and more accurate pictures and help doctors give their patients more accurate diagnoses.

The Buddha seated in a meditative posture is an iconic 7th-century sculpture and is considered one of the largest rock sculptures in South Asia.
The Buddha sits in Jehanabad, the epicenter of Swat's Buddhist heritage, a beautiful valley in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The holy figure, depicted in a lotus position at the base of a granite cliff in northern Pakistan, was severely damaged by Islamists insurgents.
Swat was for centuries a pilgrimage site for the Buddhist faithful, especially from the Himalayas.
The Vajrayana school even consider it a "holy land", from where their faith originated.
They continued to visit right up until the 20th century when borders hardened with the independence of British India and creation of Pakistan in 1947.