Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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The Panama Canal is working to regain trade in liquefied natural gas and food commodities after a historic drought disrupted traffic last year. It connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Isthmus of Panama, serving as a key maritime trade route. Construction began in 1881 by France but failed due to financial and health issues. The U.S. completed the canal in 1914 and managed it until 1999, when Panama took full control under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

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Russian forces attacked port infrastructure in Odessa, injuring two people, including a port employee and a grain carrier driver. The attack involved a ballistic missile. Ukraine’s port infrastructure has faced frequent Russian attacks since Russia withdrew from a U.N.-brokered grain shipment deal. Kyiv has since created its own maritime corridor for shipments.

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A British man set a new Guinness World Record for the highest altitude ski BASE jump, leaping from 18,753 feet on Mera Peak in Nepal. Mera Peak is located in the Khumbu region of Nepal, standing at 6,476m above sea level, making it the highest trekking peak in the country. The peak dominates the area between the Hinku and Hongu Drangkas valleys and is considered the gateway to Everest. Trekkers usually climb Mera Central, although Mera North Peak is the highest. Mera Peak was first climbed in 1953 by Col. Jimmy Roberts and Sen Tenzing.

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Researchers from the University of Chile found that Chile’s Atacama Salt Flat is sinking due to lithium brine extraction. The Atacama Salt Flat, or Salar de Atacama, is the largest salt deposit in Chile. It features a white surface with a large salt lake beneath it. The lake under the salt flat holds one of the world’s largest lithium reserves. Located in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, the northern part of the basin includes the San Pedro River delta.

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Five-year-old Teghbir Singh from Ropar, Punjab, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. He started the trek on August 18 and reached the Uhuru peak on August 23. Mount Kilimanjaro stands at over 19,340 feet (5895 meters) in Tanzania. The trek posed challenges like low oxygen and altitude sickness, with temperatures dropping to -10°C. Teghbir received a Mountain Climbing Certificate from Tanzania National Parks. He matched the world record set by a Serbian boy for summiting Kilimanjaro at age five. Teghbir is now the youngest Asian and Indian to achieve this feat.

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China’s natural resource ministry released its first survey report on the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea.
Sabina Shoal, also known as Xianbin Reef, is an oceanic coral atoll located in the eastern part of the Spratlys Islands in the South China Sea. It is situated 75 nautical miles from the Philippine province of Palawan and lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under UNCLOS. China claims the shoal and much of the South China Sea as its territory and maintains a presence there, though it is 630 nautical miles from China. Sabina Shoal is 23 km long, composed of two main parts connected by a narrow section, with central lagoons surrounded by a coral ring.

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Oceanographers found a new seamount on the Nazca Ridge, 900 miles off Chile’s coast. Nazca Ridge is a submarine ridge in the southeastern Pacific Ocean near South America. It is around 1,100 kilometers long and varies in width. The ridge starts at the Nazca Plate off Peru and extends southwest towards Easter Island, Chile. It was created by volcanic activity from a hotspot in the Earth’s mantle. The ridge consists of unusually thick basaltic ocean crust.
It is tectonically active, subducting beneath the South American Plate at the Peru-Chile Trench.

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The central government has designated the international trans-shipment hub at Galathea Bay in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a ‘Major Port.’ It is located on Great Nicobar Island and is being developed as an International Container Transshipment Port (ICTP). The project will receive central funding and be developed under a public-private partnership model. Phase 1 is set to begin in 2028 with a handling capacity of 4 million TEUs, growing to 16 million TEUs by 2058. The port’s strategic location near international trade routes and its deep water depth make it significant for capturing transshipment cargo from other ports.

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A bathymetric study is being conducted around Pallikaranai marshland to measure the amount of sludge that can be removed.
This study, essential for wetland restoration and flood management, is a response to the increasing pressures from encroachments and sewage discharge. The marsh is a freshwater and partly saline wetland located 20 km south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It acts as a flood buffer for the Chennai and Chengalpattu districts. The marsh includes 65 wetlands connected to the Bay of Bengal through Okkiyam Madavu and Kovalam Creek. Pallikaranai is a Ramsar site in India.

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Researchers discovered that the Falkland Islands, known as the Malvinas Islands, once had a lush rainforest up to 30 million years ago. This discovery was made after scientists found preserved tree remains and pollen at a construction site in Port Stanley. The findings reveal that the South Atlantic archipelago had a climate suitable for diverse ecosystems, similar to present-day rainforests in Tierra del Fuego. The islands are an overseas territory of the UK, located about 500 km from South America in the South Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago includes two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, along with several smaller ones.