Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Indian Navy’s Survey Vessel Large (SVL) INS Sandhayak made its first visit to Port Klang, Malaysia from July 16 to 19, 2025. The visit aimed to enhance hydrographic cooperation between India and Malaysia. Port Klang is located in Malaysia. t serves as Malaysia’s largest and busiest port and is a crucial hub for international trade. It reflects India’s commitment to regional hydrographic capacity building under the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department (INHD) and National Hydrographic Office. INS Sandhayak was commissioned in February 2024 with full coastal and deep-sea survey capacity, ocean data collection, Search and Rescue (SAR), and humanitarian aid functions.

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Recently, the Noon River in Rampur Narua village, Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, was revived under the “One District, One River” campaign launched during the Saryu Mahotsav on June 5 by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The 48.5 km-long Noon River flows through 34 gram panchayats and originates from Kanhaiya Lake, ending at the Ganga near Bithoor. It had dried up mainly due to jal kumbhi (water hyacinth) infestation, waste dumping, and boulders from nearby construction sites. The revival work began on February 22, 2024, and was completed using old satellite images, drone mapping, and technical support from institutes like IIT Kanpur, BHU, BBAU, and the Remote Sensing Application Centre.

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Recently, glaciers of Mount Cilo in southeastern Turkey have lost nearly 50% of their ice cover in 40 years due to climate change and rising heatwaves. Mount Cilo is the second-highest mountain in Turkey, reaching 4,135 meters at its summit called Reşko or Gelyaşin or Uludoruk. The mountain stretches 30 kilometers and forms the western arm of Cilo-Sat Mountains National Park, declared in 2020. The terrain features sharp ridges, limestone cliffs, gorges, and glacial valleys.

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Recently, the Klyuchevskoy volcano erupted following a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia’s eastern coast on July 30, 2025. Klyuchevskoy is a stratovolcano located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. It is considered the tallest active volcano in Eurasia and a key part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Kamchatka Peninsula is home to nearly 300 volcanoes, with 29 classified as active. It is one of the most seismically active volcanic zones, known as the “land of fire and ice.”

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Krasheninnikov volcano erupted on 2 August 2025 in Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It was the first recorded eruption of the volcano in modern times. The eruption occurred three days after a nearby magnitude 8.8 earthquake. Ash emissions from the volcano reached an altitude of 20,000 feet. Krasheninnikov is an active stratovolcano located in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It lies within a 9 km wide caldera formed by a massive eruption 39,600 years ago. The volcano is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has two eruptive cones.

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Recently, the Great Barrier Reef recorded its steepest decline in hard coral cover in nearly 40 years due to climate change-induced heat stress, cyclones, and coral-eating starfish outbreaks. It is located in the Coral Sea, off northeastern Australia. It is the world’s longest and largest reef complex and the largest living structure on Earth. It stretches over 2,000 km, covering around 350,000 sq. km, and forms about 10% of global coral reef ecosystems. It consists of about 2,100 individual reefs and 800 fringing reefs, with 400 coral types, 1,500 fish species, and 4,000 mollusk species.

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Pacific microstate Nauru launched its “climate resilience citizenship” programme in February 2025 to sell passports for funding climate action. Since early this year, it had approved only six applicants under the scheme. Each “golden passport” costs $105,000, aiming to raise over $5 million in the first year, equal to 66 passports. So far, only six applications have been approved. Nauru Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean. Specifically, it is situated within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania. It was a raised fossilized coral atoll with a central phosphate plateau and coral cliffs.

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Scientists recently warned of faster melting in Argentina’s Perito Moreno Glacier due to rising temperatures. Perito Moreno Glacier, also called the ‘White Giant,’ is located near El Calafate in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is part of Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The glacier is 30 km long and lies in the Andes mountain range. It formed around 18,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.

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A Ukrainian drone attack recently caused a short-lived fire at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia. Kursk region is located in the European part of Russia, bordering Ukraine to the west. It is historically famous for the Battle of Kursk in 1943, the largest tank battle in history and a turning point in World War II. The region lies within the basins of the Dnieper and Don rivers. Kursk hosts the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, the world’s largest magnetic anomaly and one of the richest iron ore deposits. The incident raised concerns over nuclear safety in a strategically important region.

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The Pong Dam, also called the Beas Dam, recently saw water levels breaching the danger mark in Himachal Pradesh. It is an earth-fill embankment dam built on the Beas River in the Shivalik hills of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. The dam was constructed between 1961 and 1974 and was the tallest of its type in India at that time. It serves purposes of irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. The dam created an artificial lake named Maharana Pratap Sagar.