About Smog Eating Photocatalytic Coatings:

• It is designed to neutralise harmful gases like nitrogen dioxide and volatile hydrocarbons that contribute to toxic air.
• It usually uses titanium dioxide as a coating which has advantages for being low-cost and chemically stable.
  • Titanium dioxide is also known for its compatibility with traditional construction materials.
• Photocatalytic activity helps fight pollution by breaking down harmful substances and organic waste into less toxic or harmless matters using light energy, thereby making air and water cleaner.

What is Smog?

• Smog is used to refer to a type of air pollution caused by a combination of smoke (and other pollutants) and fog.
• Smog encompasses a broad category of air pollutants created through a multitude of processes that relate specifically to the atmospheric conditions of the formation region. 
• Two distinct types of smog are recognized: 
  • Sulfurous smog: It results from a high concentration of sulfur oxides in the air and is caused by the use of sulfur-bearing fossil fuels, particularly coal.
  • Photochemical smog: It occurs most prominently in urban areas that have large numbers of automobiles.

About Tropical Forests Forever Facility:

• It is an innovative multilateral global permanent fund dedicated to supporting tropical forest conservation over the long-term.
• It is a global initiative led by the Government of Brazil.
• The idea for the fund was presented by the Brazilian government in 2023, at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.
• Goal: The TFFF is a blended finance structure that seeks to mobilize US$125 billion in capital from public and private sector sources.
• The fund would be used to pay the tropical forest countries (TFC) a fixed amount of money per hectare of standing forest.
• Financial Mechanism:
  • It aims to raise capital from two main sources, sponsors and market investors through financial markets by issuing debt instruments such as bonds.
    • Sponsors: Sponsors would be the ‘high income’ countries as classified by the World Bank, along with philanthropies. (account for 20 per cent of the total corpus)
    • Market Investors: Institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments (account for 80 per cent of the total corpus) investing through debt instruments.
    • Fund Management: Funds are managed via a Multilateral Development Bank (MDB), e.g., World Bank.

About Adi Yuva Fellowship:

• It is supported by United Nations India.
• It is a first-of-its-kind programme designed to empower tribal youth through structured learning, mentorship, and career development.
• Features of Adi Yuva Fellowship:
  • Under this initiative selected tribal youth will undertake a 12-month paid Fellowship, with a tailored learning plan that balances knowledge-building, on-the-job experience, and reflective practice.
  • Allowances: Fellows will receive monthly allowances, comprehensive health and life insurance, and access to high-quality UN and commercial learning platforms.
  • This programme will link Fellows to national skilling and employability schemes such as PMKVY 4.0, NAPS, and PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana.
  • Selection process: The fellows will be selected through a competitive process and placed with UN agencies at the national, state, and district levels.

About Adi Karmayogi Volunteers Programme:

• It is supported by UNFPA.
• Objective: It will equip tribal youth to act as catalysts for grassroots change and strengthen last-mile service delivery in tribal regions.
• 82 UN Community Volunteers as Adi karmayogi Volunteers have been deployed across 82 blocks in 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthanfor an intensive two-month grassroots engagement.
• Under this, volunteers will support Village Vision 2030 planning, awareness drives, outreach, and improved access to schemes and services.

About Impatiens selvasinghii:

• It is a new species of flowering plant.
• It was discovered in the Kudremukh range of the Western Ghats in Karnataka.
• It is one of the smallest flowered balsams from the Western Ghats.
• It has an exceptionally small flower size and prominently-lobed wing petals, which makes it unique.
• In India, the genus Impatiens is represented by more than 280 taxa, chiefly distributed in the Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats.
  • Over 210 taxa are endemic to India, of which 130 are endemic to the Western Ghats, and 80% of taxa in the Western Ghats are categorized as endangered.

About Barren Island:

• It is a volcanic island located in the Andaman Sea.
• Popularly known as a submarine emergent volcano, the island is a part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• It lies about 138 kilometers northeast of the territory’s capital, Port Blair.
• It lies above the subduction zone of India and Burmese plates.
• It is the only active volcano in the Indian subcontinent.
• It is a stratovolcano composed of lava, rock fragments, and volcanic ash.

About Sarcophagus:

• Used to bury leaders and wealthy residents in ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece, a sarcophagus is a coffin or a container to hold a coffin.
• They were intended to be displayed above ground, but they were sometimes entombed or placed in burial chambers.
• The word "sarcophagus" comes from ancient Greek words. Sarx means "flesh," and phagein means "to eat." So, "sarcophagus" literally means "flesh-eating."
• This name came from a special type of limestone that people believed could help bodies decompose quickly.
• First used in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, the sarcophagus gradually became popular throughout the ancient world.
  • The earliest stone sarcophagi were used by Egyptian pharaohs of the 3rd dynasty, which reigned from about 2686 to 2613 B.C.E.
• Example: The most famous Egyptian sarcophagus is perhaps the golden sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun.

About Paradip Port:

• It is one of the major ports of India.
• It is the only major port in the State of Odisha, situated 210 nautical miles south of Kolkata and 260 nautical miles north of Visakhapatnam.
• It is situated on the Bay of Bengal on the delta of the Mahanadi River at the mouth of one of its branches.
• It is strategically situated so as to serve a vast hinterland spreading over the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.
• The Port of Paradip, an autonomous body under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, functioning under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, is administered by a Board of Trustees set up by the Government of India headed by the Chairman.
  • The Trustees of the Trust Board are nominated by the Government of India from various users of the Port such as shippers, ship owners, Government Departments concerned and also port labour.
• Paradip Port achieved a milestone by joining the 150 million metric tonne (MMT) club and maintaining its top position in cargo handling among India’s major ports by recording 150.41 MMT cargo in 2024-25.