Places in news for CSE Prelims 2021

1. Duqm Port, Oman

India secured access to Duqm port on Oman’s south-eastern seaboard that is ideally situated between two other Chinese strategic jewels: Gwadar port on Pakistan’s Makran coast and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

2. Bougainville Island

- largest island of the Solomon Islands Archipelago.

- island has the world’s largest copper deposits.

- south Pacific Archipelago of Bougainville voted to become independent of Papua New Guinea.

4.Puerto Williamsin Chile has become world’s southernmost city after its status upgraded from hamlet to city. It took over the title from Ushuaia in Argentina which was world’s southernmost city till recently.

6. Feni River

The Feni river, which forms part of the India-Bangladesh border, originates in the South Tripura district, passes through Sabroom town on the Indian side, and meets the Bay of Bengal after it flows into Bangladesh.The dispute over the sharing of the river water has been long-standing.Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Dhaka, agreed to collect data and prepare water-sharing agreements for seven rivers — Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla, Dudhkumar, and Feni.

7.Etalin Hydropower Project:  Arunachal Pradesh- construction of two dams over the tributaries of Dibang: Dir and Tangon. JV with Jindal Power.

8.YettinaholeRiver Diversion project aims to divert water from four perennial streams of River Nethravati in the Western Ghats of Karnataka towards drought-hit districts in Karnataka.

10.Gulf of Alexandretta,also known as the Gulf of Issus or Gulf of İskenderun, forms the eastern most boundary of the Mediterranean Sea at the southern coast of Turkey near its border with Syria. It is a gulf or inlet of the Levantine Sea, the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin.

11. Thitu Island:known as Pag-asa (“Hope Island”) in the Tagalog language of the Filipinos who inhabit it – has become  increasingly contentious geopolitical dispute involving the Philippines, China and four of their Pacific Rim neighbors: Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

12.Masirah Islands- Oman - one of the largest nesting grounds of Loggerhead Turtles in the world - population trend of Loggerhead Turtles shows that there has been a 79 per cent decline in the nesting population on the Masirah island.

Five Sites are:

1. Rakhigari (Haryana)
2. Hastinapur (Uttar Pradesh)
3. Sivasagar (Assam)
4. Dholavira (Gujarat)
5. Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu) 
   

16.Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary - Bhutan

18. Shaksgam Valley: Shaksgam Valley or the Trans Karakoram Tract is part of Hunza-Gilgit region of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and is a disputed territory claimed by India but controlled by Pakistan. It borders Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the north, the Northern Areas of POK to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east. Shaksgam Valley was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963 when both countries signed a boundary agreement to settle their border differences. 

Nord Stream 2is a new export gas pipeline running from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea.

Port Antsiranana in Madagascar:INS Kesari gave COVID-19-related medical supplies. This is part of Mission Sagar under which the Indian government is providing assistance to friendly foreign countries in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Port Moroni, Comoros

Western Indian Ocean is emerging as key strategic partner in the region and Comoros backs India at various fora including OIC. The Covid pandemic brought two countries closer. A consignment of COVID-19 related essential medicine supplies from India arrived at the port of Moroni, Comoros in Western Indian Ocean onboard INS Kesari.

Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Amery Ice Shelf is one of the largest glacier drainage basins in the world, located on the east coast of Antarctica. Iceberg broke off and large ice chunks can pose a danger to ships that navigate through Antarctic waters.

Ambarnaya River & Lake Pyasino , Russia

Diesel fuel from a 21,000-ton oil spill in the Russian Arctic has reached a freshwater lake that serves as a gateway into the Arctic Ocean. Oil leaked into the Ambarnaya river that flows into the environmentally sensitive Arctic Ocean. This oil spill is believed to be the second largest in modern Russian history in terms of volume.

Myanmar Economic Corridors.

Skardu Airbase, PoK: Amid Sino-India border along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, Indian intelligence agencies have recently noticed activities of the Chinese Air Force at Skardu Airbase in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). For the Chinese Air Force, it will be easier to attack Indian bases, both Ladakh and Kashmir, from Skardu, which is around 100 km away from Leh, while Kargil is around 75 km. 

Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), in Ishfan, Central Iran,is the country’s main uranium enrichment site. The Natanz facility is mostly underground and one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog. On July 2, 2020, fire broke out at the Natanz nuclear facility causing explosions that damaged a building that housed centrifuge machines.

The landlocked mountainous region ofNagorno-Karabakhis the subject of an unresolved dispute between Azerbaijan, in which it lies, and its ethnic Armenian majority, backed by neighbouring Armenia.

Hope this helps. 

Hindu Kush Himalayas, a region called “theThird Pole” because its glaciers and permafrost contain the largest freshwater resources outside Antarctica and the Arctic.

In the middle of the Sea of Japan, almost equidistant between Japan and Korea -Dokdo Islands or TakeshimaIslands depending on who is asking—are at the center of a diplomatic dispute between the two countries that goes back more than 300 years.

what, didn't understand?

• Proposed to be constructed on Kaveri and Arkavathi
• Proposed reservoir site is Ontigondlu, Karnataka
• Threatens to submerge more than 60% of Kaveri Wildlife Sanctuary

@Haryana This thread can be utilised

Yes. 

Philippine president has approved the lifting of a ban on oil and gas exploration in or near disputed areas of the South China Sea that was imposed six years ago because of escalating territorial tensions with China. 

Companies awarded contracts to explore for oil and gas in three sprawling areas off the western Philippines have been asked to resume their search operations, including in a potentially oil- and gas-rich region calledReed Bank.

India to buildShatoot Dam in Afghanistan on Kabul River. 

700-km-long Kabul River originates in the Hindu Kush Mountains in central Afghanistan. It flows eastward past the Afghan cities of Kabul, Surobhi, and Jalalabad. East of Jalalabad, it is joined by its main tributary, the Kunar River, which originates in Pakistan, where it is known as the River Chitral. Afghanistan and Pakistan are thus upstream and downstream basin states with regard to the Kabul River.

Lakshadweep 

Andaman & Nicobar Islands