About Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
• It represents the northeastern limits of the Eastern Ghats.
• It was declared primarily to preserve wild elephants and elephant habitats.
• The Kumarkhunti reservoir is the only water reservoir inside the sanctuary that sustains wildlife during the summer.
• Vegetation: Flora is moderately diverse with an intimate mixture of evergreen and deciduous elements.
• Flora: Main tree species are Kochila, Kalicha, Belo, Kangada, Giringa, Sunari, Sal, Kumbhi, Jamu, Karanja, Teak, and Sidha.
• Fauna:
  • Elephants, Chital, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Rhesus Monkey, Pangolin, Sloth Bear, Indian Wolf, Hyena, and other mammals.
  • A variety of snakes, like the Python and the monitor lizard, can also be sighted there.
  • Prominent birds of the sanctuary are peafowl, red junglefowl, crested serpent eagle, great horned owl, black headed oriole, paradise flycatcher, coucal and stone curlew.

About Exosomes:

• They are small extracellular vesicles secreted by cells.
• They are enclosed by a lipid bilayer membrane, similar to the cell membrane.
• They are naturally produced by almost all cells in the body and are packed with a cargo of proteins, lipids, RNAs, and various signalling molecules.
• In many ways, they reflect the status of their parent cell, passing on that "information" to nearby cells.
• They mediate the exchange of substances between cells, thereby affecting the biological properties and activities of recipient cells.
• They play significant roles in intercellular communication, immune response modulation, and the transfer of genetic materials.

About Five New Species of Flowering Plants:

• They were discovered within the misty, rain-soaked peaks of the Western Ghats in Kerala.
• They belong to the genus Impatiens, a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the Balsaminaceae family.
• Impatiens berchmansiensis:
  • It is a delicate balsam with bright yellow flowers.
  • It was found beside the cold highland streams of Vagamon, Idukki District.
• Impatiens ninanii:
  • It is a resilient herb with beautiful violet petals and deep purple-speckled stems.
  • It was found in the quiet wilderness of Mankulam Viripara, Idukki District.
• Impatiens filcyii:
  • It has a striking pinkish-purple flower, bearing a vibrant splash of yellow and purple at its heart.
  • It was found deep in the open grasslands of Mamalakkandam, Ernakulam District.
• Impatiens xanthopetala:
  • Its name literally means 'yellow-petalled', clings precariously to the sheer, rocky cliffs, showing off deep golden petals marked with dark brown spots like a solitary drop of sunshine.
  • It was found in Pambanar, Idukki District.
• Impatiens flavispicata:
  • It bears pure white flowers with a hidden yellow spur.
  • It was found in the dense pockets of Mamalakkandam, Ernakulam District.

About Taal Volcano:

• It is a stratovolcano located in Batangas province about 70 kilometers south of Manila, Philippines.
• It is classified as a “complex” volcano by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
• It does not rise from the ground as a distinct, singular dome but consists of multiple stratovolcanoes, conical hills, and craters of all shapes and sizes.
• It is one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines and part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”.
• It has a massive caldera which presently holds Taal Lake and contains a prominent rock formation known as Vulcan Point.

What is a Phreatomagmatic eruption?

• It is a type of volcanic eruption that results from the explosive interaction between magma and water.
• When magma touches groundwater, surface water, or water-rich rocks, it rapidly converts water into steam.
• The explosive release of steam and the fragmentation of magma and surrounding rocks produce a mix of ash and other pyroclastic materials and fragments of overlying and adjacent rocks.

About PaleoIndia Portal:

• It is a digital initiative developed jointly by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, using dynamic geological maps provided by the GSI.
• The digital platform documents fossil fauna across all 28 states and 8 Union Territories.
• It currently hosts information on many fossil specimens spanning mammals, reptiles, birds, fishes, amphibians, molluscs, arthropods, foraminifera, echinoderms, and ichnofossils.
• It features a real-time data upload system to enable field-based and citizen science contributions for safeguarding India’s paleontological heritage.

Key Facts about National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM):

• It was established by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in 2011 as an autonomous institution to support the protection, conservation, rehabilitation, management, and policy advice of the coast.
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Aims and Objectives:
  • Strive for being a world-class knowledge institution related to coastal zones, environment, resources, and processes.
  • To promote integrated and sustainable management of the coastal and marine areas in India for the benefit and well-being of the traditional coastal and island communities.
  • Advise the Union and State Governments and other associated stakeholder(s) on policy and scientific matters related to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM).

• Its work includes coastal vulnerability assessments, coastal environmental impact studies, mapping of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs), and creating Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) plans.
• The Six Research Divisions of the NCSCM are:
  • Geospatial Sciences, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • Integrated Social Sciences & Economics
  • Coastal environmental impact assessment
  • Conservation of Coastal & Marine Resources
  • Knowledge, Governance and Policy
  • Futuristic Research and Integrated Island Management Unit.

About National Rainfed Area Authority:

• It was established in 2006 as an advisory body under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
• It aims to promote sustainable agriculture in rainfed regions, enhance productivity, and improve the livelihoods of the farming communities.
• Mandate: It is wider than mere water conservation and covers all aspects of sustainable and holistic development of rainfed areas, including appropriate farming and livelihood system approaches.
• Governance Structure:
  • Governing Board: It provides necessary leadership and appropriate coordination in implementation of programmes.
  • The Governing Board is chaired by the Union Agriculture Minister and co-chaired by the Union Minister of Rural Development.
  • Executive Committee: It consists of technical experts and representatives from stakeholder Ministries.
  • The Executive Committee would be headed by a full time Chief Executive Officer who should be a recognized expert on the subject.
  • The CEO will be supported by five full-time technical experts.
• Headquarters: It is located in New Delhi.

About SHE-LEAPS Platform:

• SHE-LEAPS stands for ‘Self-Help Entrepreneur-Livelihoods and Enterprise Application for Prosperity and Sustainability’.
• It is a digital platform for empowering women associated with Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across rural India for enterprise creation, monitoring and performance tracking.
• It is designed to strengthen women-led rural enterprises and accelerate the Lakhpati Didi initiative through data-driven entrepreneurship.
• Implemented by: The SHE-LEAPS mobile application is developed by the Digital India Corporation and implemented under the LokOS platform.
• Objectives:
  • Empowering rural SHG women entrepreneurs nationwide.
  • Creating and strengthening women-led enterprises in rural areas.
  • Integrating rural producers with formal value chains
  • Enhancing the financial inclusion of SHG households
  • Enabling data-driven rural entrepreneurship
• Outreach: The nationwide rollout of SHE-LEAPS will cover 34 States and Union Territories, supporting State Rural Livelihood Missions in strengthening women-led enterprises.
• Key Features:
  • It captures real-time operational data across sectors and tracks the complete livelihood journey.
  • It supports both farm and non-farm rural enterprises, aiming to build a stronger and more sustainable rural economy.
  • It further strengthens digital monitoring, improves governance, and enables better planning, intervention, and informed policy decisions.

About Transcaspian marinka:

• It is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Schizothorax in the family Cyprinidae.
• Distribution: It is mainly found in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
• Habitat: It inhabits freshwater rivers, streams, springs, and qanats, where it occupies a benthopelagic niche.
• It is locally known as Ngarsing in the Nyishi language in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Least Concern
• Key Facts about Ray-Finned Fishes:
  • Actinopterygians, or ‘ray-finned fishes,’ are the largest and most successful group of fishes and make up half of all living vertebrates.
  • Habitat: Ray-finned fishes inhabit a variety of extreme environments. These include high altitude lakes and streams, desert springs and subterranean caves.
  • Behaviour: Many ray-finned fishes exhibit migratory behavior.
  • Communication: It perceives the external environment in five major ways – vision, mechanoreception, chemoreception, electroreception and magnetic reception.

About Greece:

• Location: It is located on the southern edge of the Balkan Peninsula.
• Bordering Countries: It shares its border with North Macedonia and Bulgaria in the north, Albania in the northwest, and Turkey in the northeast.
• Maritime Borders: It is also bounded by the Aegean Sea in the east, Ionian Sea in the west and the Mediterranean Sea in the south.
• Capital: Athens
• Geographical features of Greece:
  • Terrain: It is predominantly mountainous, with approximately 80% of its terrain consisting of mountains or hills, making it one of the most mountainous countries in Europe.
  • Climate: The climate of Greece is typically Mediterranean.
  • Major Mountain: Pindus mountain range
    • Highest Peak: The highest Greek mountain is Mount Olympus
  • Major Rivers: Maritsa, Struma and Vardar etc.
  • Natural Resources: It mainly consists of petroleum, magnetite, lignite, bauxite, hydropower, and marble.