Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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India resumed importing Tur dal from Mozambique’s Nacala Port after a disruption. Mozambique is a Southeast African country with a long Indian Ocean coastline, separated from Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel. It borders Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Eswatini. Major rivers include the Zambezi and Limpopo, and its highest peak is Mount Binga. Mozambique is rich in resources like gold, emeralds, copper, iron ore, and bauxite.

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Climbers from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling recently scaled Uhuru Peak, the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s tallest mountain and the world’s largest free-standing mountain.
It is located in northeastern Tanzania near the Kenya border. Kilimanjaro has three volcanic cones: Kibo (dormant), Mawenzi, and Shira (both extinct). Uhuru Peak is on Kibo and is Africa’s highest free-standing peak. The mountain is famous for its snow-capped summit and has five vegetation zones. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

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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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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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The Arbaat Dam in eastern Sudan collapsed after heavy rainfall, leading to severe flooding. Sudan, located in northeastern Africa, was Africa’s largest country before South Sudan’s secession in 2011. It is now the third largest. The country is bordered by Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Red Sea.
Sudan is home to the River Nile, the longest river in the world, with the White and Blue Niles meeting in Khartoum, the capital, and flowing to the Mediterranean Sea via Egypt.

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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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Hurricane Francine recently led to a shutdown of 42% of crude oil and 53% of natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked sea on the southeastern edge of North America. It is the world’s largest gulf and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the Yucatán and Veracruz regions of Mexico to the west, the United States to the north, the Caribbean and Cuba to the east, and the Mexican mainland to the south. The Gulf connects to the Caribbean Sea through the Yucatán Channel and to the Atlantic Ocean via the Straits of Florida.

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The Giant Crystal Cave, discovered in 2000, in the Naica Mines. It contains some of the largest crystals on Earth, reaching lengths of up to 39 feet and weighing up to 55 tons. It is located in Mexico. This cave is off-limits to tourists due to extreme temperatures that can reach 59 degrees Celsius and high humidity. Only scientists with special permits can study this remarkable natural phenomenon, ensuring its preservation for future generations.