Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Kirakira in the Solomon Islands. It is located in the south-western Pacific Ocean. The Solomon Islands lie southeast of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. The country consists of two parallel chains of volcanic islands and small coral atolls. It includes about 1,000 islands, with 6 large main islands and more than 900 smaller ones, of which around 147 are inhabited. The capital city, Honiara, is located on Guadalcanal, the largest island.

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Raisen Fort is a historic hilltop fort where police recently arrested youths after a cannon-firing video surfaced on social media. The fort is located on a sandstone hill in Raisen town, Madhya Pradesh and is among the largest forts in Central India. Built in the 11th century, it witnessed rule of local Hindu chiefs, Mandu Sultans, Mughals under Akbar, and later Nawabs of Bhopal. Around 1760, Fiaz Mohammad Khan occupied it and was recognised by Alamgir II as Faujdar. The fort has massive stone walls with nine gateways and panoramic views.

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Illegal earth cutting is reported near Deepor Beel in Guwahati, despite restrictions by the Gauhati High Court and district administration. Deepor Beel is a permanent freshwater lake on the outskirts of Guwahati in Assam. It lies in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River; “Beel” means lake in Assamese. The wetland covers about 4.1 sq km and is among the largest lakes in the Brahmaputra Valley of Lower Assam. Main inflow rivers are Kalmani River and Basistha River, while outflow occurs through Khandajan rivulet joining the Brahmaputra. It functions as the main stormwater storage basin for Guwahati city.

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Iranian drone strikes on Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have raised concerns over disruption of global energy supply routes. Fujairah is the only UAE emirate located on the eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman and has no coastline on the Persian Gulf. It is separated from the rest of the UAE by the Hajar Mountains. The Port of Fujairah is the world’s fourth-largest bunkering (marine fuel supply) hub after Singapore, Rotterdam, and Zhoushan.

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Cross-border trade between India and China through the Lipulekh Pass in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand is set to resume from June, marking an important development in border trade. Lipulekh Pass is a high-altitude Himalayan mountain pass located in Uttarakhand. It connects India with the Tibet region of China, serving as a strategic and historic gateway to the Himalayan region. It was the first Indian border post opened for trade with China, later followed by Shipki La Pass (Himachal Pradesh) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).

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Researchers at the University of Utah discovered that freshwater saturates the rock and sediment beneath the Great Salt Lake to depths of up to 13,000 feet. The Great Salt Lake is a saline, endorheic lake located in northern Utah, United States, and it is the largest inland saltwater body in the Western Hemisphere. It is fed by the Bear River, Weber River, and Jordan River, but has no outlet, so water leaves primarily through evaporation. The lake’s salinity is higher than that of the oceans due to high evaporation rates and limited inflow, and it exists in an arid environment similar to the Dead Sea.

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A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Indonesia’s Northern Molucca Sea, causing damage, one death, tsunami waves, and multiple aftershocks. Molucca Sea is located in the western Pacific Ocean within the Indonesian archipelago. It is bounded by Sulawesi to the west, Halmahera to the east, the Sula Islands to the south, and connects northward to the Philippine Sea. The sea lies over the Molucca Sea Plate, which experiences Divergent Double Subduction — subducting westwards under the Eurasian (Sangihe) Plate and eastwards under the Philippine Sea (Halmahera) Plate. It is a highly active seismic region with frequent earthquakes and crustal movements.

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More than 1,000 Roman artefacts were discovered in Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland, providing insights into life during the Roman Empire. Lake Neuchâtel is the largest lake entirely within Switzerland and lies at the base of the Jura Mountains. It was formed during the last Ice Age (period of extensive glaciation about 15,000 years ago) due to melting glaciers carving valleys. The lake is about 38.3 kilometres (km) long and 8.2 km wide, covering 212.33 square kilometres (sq km).

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Sakurajima Volcano is located on the southern tip of Kyushu Island near Kagoshima city in Japan. It is one of Japan’s most active stratovolcanoes, with frequent eruptions of varying intensity. It is an andesitic volcano with high viscosity magma and high gas content, leading to explosive eruptions. It lies on a convergent plate boundary and forms part of the Aira Caldera system. The volcano consists of two main peaks: Kitadake (north) and Minamidake (south). Recent eruptions have sent large ash plumes, impacting nearby regions.

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The Veli–Akkulam Estuary is located along the coast of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. It is a small, shallow, bar-built estuary forming part of the Kerala backwater system adjoining the Lakshadweep Sea. The estuary is divided by a man-made bund into two parts: Veli (west) and Akkulam (northeast). Its connection to the sea is intermittent, opening mainly during the monsoon through sandbar breaching. It is currently facing degradation due to invasive species, pollution, urban runoff, and encroachment, impacting biodiversity.