Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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West Bengal Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a 5-km bridge over the Muriganga River to connect Sagar Island with the mainland. Sagar Island, also called Gangasagar or Sagardwip, is in the Ganges delta, West Bengal, about 100 km south of Kolkata. It is part of South 24 Parganas district and comprises 43 villages. The island lies at the mouth of the Hooghly River, separated from the mainland to the east. Sagar Island is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage site where thousands visit during the Gangasagar Fair in mid-January.

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Scientists used first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory to discover the fastest-spinning asteroid of its size, named 2025 MN45. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is located on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes at 8,684 feet altitude. It is named after astronomer Vera C. Rubin, who provided early evidence for dark matter. It is jointly funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Energy (DoE). Its goals include studying dark matter and dark energy, mapping the Milky Way, tracking asteroids and comets, and observing changing cosmic objects.

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A magnitude 5.5 earthquake recently struck the North Island region of New Zealand. The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. It is separated from the South Island by the Cook Strait. The island covers about 113,729 square kilometres, making it the 14th largest island in the world. It is smaller than the South Island but has a much larger population.

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Recently, Kruger National Park was temporarily closed to day visitors due to severe flooding after prolonged heavy rainfall. Kruger National Park is South Africa’s largest and oldest national park, globally famous for wildlife conservation. It is located in northeastern South Africa across Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, bordering Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The park was first proclaimed as Sabi Game Reserve in 1898 and became a national park in 1926.

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Southbound ship traffic will resume in Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait after a tanker recently had engine failure. The Dardanelles Strait is a narrow but very important waterway in northwestern Turkey. It links the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea) to the Sea of Marmara. It separates Asia (east) from Europe (west). It is named after the ancient city of Dardanus, it was once called Hellespont, meaning “Helle’s sea”.

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Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula is facing record-breaking snowfall due to powerful winter storms. It is located between the Sea of Okhotsk to the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea to the east. Kamchatka is part of Kamchatka Krai in Russia. It is one of the world’s largest peninsulas and a major zone of geothermal activity. The region lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire and has over 150 volcanoes, including 29 active ones. The “Volcanoes of Kamchatka” is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

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Researchers found the world’s oldest known rock art, a painted human hand outline, inside a cave on Muna Island, Indonesia, dated to at least 67,800 years ago. Muna Island is located in Southeast Sulawesi province of Indonesia and covers about 1,704 square kilometres. The island has a hilly landscape rising up to about 445 metres, with teak forests in the north and northeast. Muna Island is known for rich culture, natural beauty, forests, and clean beaches

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Nine workers and engineers were rescued after their boat malfunctioned while working on a bridge across Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad. The rescue operation was carried out by the Hyderabad Disaster Management and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA). Mir Alam Tank is a historic reservoir located in Hyderabad, Telangana, situated to the south of the Musi River. Before the construction of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, it served as the main source of drinking water for Hyderabad. The tank is named after Mir Alam Bahadur, Prime Minister during the reign of Asaf Jah III, the third Nizam of Hyderabad.

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Indian mountaineer Kabak Yano from Arunachal Pradesh successfully summited Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. The climb is part of her ambitious 7-Summit Mountaineering Expedition. Mt Aconcagua, located in the Andes of Argentina, is the highest peak in South America and outside Asia, standing at 6,962 meters. The mountain is of volcanic origin but is not currently active.

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The Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, known as the Dragon Hole, is a massive underwater sinkhole in the South China Sea studied for over a decade. Blue holes are deep, steep underwater cavities formed in limestone areas and later filled by rising sea levels. Dragon Hole is the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world at about 301.19 meters, deeper than Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. It lies around 25 kilometers from Discovery Reef and is called the “eye” of the South China Sea by local fishermen. The hole is almost vertical, with 130 meters width at the surface and 36 meters at the bottom.