🔆 Place in News: Seychelles 🇸🇨

📍 Why in News?
✅ The Prime Minister of India is on a three-day State Visit to Seychelles as the Guest of Honour for its Golden Jubilee National Day celebrations.

📍 About Seychelles
✅ Capital: Victoria (on Mahé Island).
✅ An island nation in the Western Indian Ocean.
✅ Located about 1,600 km east of Kenya and 1,100 km northeast of Madagascar.
✅ One of the smallest countries by land area, but with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

📍 Geographical Features
✅ Comprises 115 islands, divided into:
• Granitic Inner Islands – Ancient continental granite islands, including Mahé.
• Coralline Outer Islands – Low-lying coral atolls and reefs.
✅ Highest Peak: Morne Seychellois (905 m) on Mahé Island.

📍 Important Features
✅ Aldabra Atoll – UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world’s largest raised coral atolls.
✅ Home to the Aldabra Giant Tortoise.
✅ Coco de Mer Palm – Endemic to Seychelles; produces the world’s largest seed.

📍 Significance
✅ Strategically located in the Western Indian Ocean, making it important for maritime security, the Blue Economy, and India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision.

📍 UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ Capital: Victoria.
✅ Ocean: Indian Ocean.
✅ Highest Peak: Morne Seychellois.
✅ UNESCO Site: Aldabra Atoll.
✅ Endemic Species: Coco de Mer Palm & Aldabra Giant Tortoise.

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Q9. Consider the following statements regarding the Antarctic fur seal:
1. It is a pinniped species primarily found in sub-Antarctic islands and surrounding Southern Ocean waters.
2. It feeds mainly on krill, fish, and squid, playing an important role in the Antarctic marine ecosystem.
3. It is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to extensive hunting in recent decades.

🔆 Mount Erebus

📍 Why in News?
✅ Scientists have discovered that Mount Erebus emits volcanic gases containing microscopic crystals of pure gold.

📍 About Mount Erebus
✅ Location: Ross Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica.
✅ Type: Stratovolcano.
✅ World’s Southernmost Active Volcano.
✅ One of the few volcanoes on Earth with a permanent lava lake.
✅ Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the seismically active belt surrounding the Pacific Ocean.
✅ Emits volcanic gases containing microscopic gold crystals, which are dispersed into the atmosphere.
✅ Named after HMS Erebus, one of the ships used during Sir James Clark Ross’s Antarctic expedition (1841).

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🔆 Borjuli Wetland

📍 Why in News?
✅ Borjuli Wetland has been notified as a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).

📍 About Borjuli Wetland
✅ Location: Sonitpur district, Assam.
✅ Known for harbouring wild rice (Oryza rufipogon).
✅ Oryza rufipogon is the wild progenitor of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa).
✅ Possesses valuable traits such as disease and pest resistance, and tolerance to flooding and saline conditions.
✅ An important genetic resource for developing climate-resilient rice varieties.

📍 About Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)
✅ Unique and ecologically fragile ecosystems with rich biodiversity.
✅ May contain high endemism, threatened species, wild relatives of cultivated plants, or areas of cultural and ecological significance.
✅ Notified by: State Government in consultation with local bodies under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
✅ National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) advises State Governments on the selection and management of BHS.

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🔆 The Gandak River

📍Why in News?
✅ Due to heavy rainfall in Nepal’s catchment area, the Gandak River crossed the danger mark in Gopalganj district, Bihar.

📍About Gandak River
✅ Also known as Gandaki, Sapt Gandaki, and Narayani.
✅ A major transboundary river and one of the important left-bank tributaries of the Ganga.
✅ Source: Himalayan region of Nepal, with the Kali Gandaki forming a major headstream.

📍Course
✅ Nepal: Flows as Kali Gandaki through deep gorges and becomes the Narayani near Devghat.
✅ India: Enters near Triveni, briefly forms the Uttar Pradesh–Bihar boundary, and flows through northern Bihar.
✅ Joins the Ganga near Hajipur in Bihar.

📍Key Geographical Features
✅ Length: Nearly 640 km.
✅ Drainage Basin: About 46,300 sq km.
✅ Kali Gandaki Gorge: Located between the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountain massifs.
✅ Upper basin contains glacial lakes, creating potential Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risks.

📍Significance
✅ Connects the ecological landscapes of Chitwan National Park (Nepal) and Valmiki Tiger Reserve (India).
✅ Valmikinagar Barrage supports extensive irrigation in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

📍UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ The Gandak is a left-bank tributary of the Ganga.
✅ It is an important transboundary river shared by Nepal and India.

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🔆 South China Sea

📍Why in News?
✅ China reiterated its rejection of the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling on its South China Sea claims, calling it “illegal and invalid”.

📍About South China Sea
✅ A marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean and one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
✅ Location: South of China, east of Vietnam, west of the Philippines, and north of Borneo and Sumatra.
✅ Connected through the Taiwan Strait, Luzon Strait, and Strait of Malacca.
✅ Bordering Countries: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.

📍Key Features
✅ Nine-Dash Line: China’s claim over nearly 90% of the South China Sea.
✅ Spratly Islands: Claimed by China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
✅ Paracel Islands: Controlled by China; claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
✅ Scarborough Shoal: Disputed between China and the Philippines.
✅ Rich in oil, natural gas, and one of the world’s most productive fishing grounds.

📍Significance
✅ Carries over one-third of global maritime trade.
✅ Critical for energy security, global supply chains, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics.
✅ Militarization of artificial islands has heightened regional tensions.

📍UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague, ruled that China’s Nine-Dash Line has no legal basis under UNCLOS.
✅ India supports freedom of navigation, peaceful dispute resolution, and adherence to UNCLOS 1982 in the South China Sea.

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🔆 Place in News: South Sudan (Capital: Juba)

📍 Why in News
✅ Violence escalated in Jonglei State, highlighting ongoing instability and humanitarian concerns.

📍 Political Features
✅ Location: Landlocked country in East Africa.
✅ Bordering Countries:
• Sudan (North)
• Ethiopia (East)
• Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (South)
• Central African Republic (West)

📍 Conflict-Prone Regions
✅ Abyei Region – Disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan.
✅ Equatoria Region – Ethnic tensions and armed clashes.
✅ Upper Nile Region – Strategic oil-producing area with recurring violence.
✅ Warrap & Lakes States – Inter-communal conflicts and cattle-raiding violence.

📍 Geographical Features (Quick Facts)
✅ Dominated by vast swamps (Sudd wetlands) and savannah grasslands.
✅ White Nile River flows through the country, shaping agriculture and settlements.

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🔆 Vietnam

📍Why in News?
✅ 15 Indian tourists were killed after a speedboat capsized near Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.

📍Political Features
✅ Capital: Hanoi
✅ Located in mainland Southeast Asia.
✅ Land Borders: China (North), Laos & Cambodia (West).
✅ Maritime Boundaries: South China Sea (East & South) and Gulf of Thailand (Southwest).
✅ Became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976 after reunification in 1975.
✅ Political System: One-party Communist State.

📍Geographical Features
✅ Major Rivers: Mekong River and Red (Hong) River.
✅ Both form fertile deltas before draining into the South China Sea.
✅ Major Mountain Range: Annam (Annamite) Cordillera.
✅ Major Plateaus: Dac Lac, Kontum, and Di Linh.
✅ Rich in anthracite coal, limestone, phosphates, and offshore oil reserves.

📍UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ Phu Quoc Island lies in the Gulf of Thailand.
✅ Vietnam shares maritime boundaries with the South China Sea, a strategically significant region in the Indo-Pacific.

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🔆 New Zealand

📍Why in News?
✅ Prime Minister of India visited New Zealand on a two-day State Visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

📍Political Features
✅ Capital: Wellington
✅ Largest City: Auckland
✅ An island nation in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean.
✅ Surrounded by the Tasman Sea (West) and the Pacific Ocean (East).
✅ A Constitutional Monarchy with a Parliamentary Democracy.
✅ Head of State: King Charles III, represented by the Governor-General.
✅ Indigenous Māori name: Aotearoa.

📍Geographical Features
✅ Comprises North Island and South Island.
✅ Southern Alps dominate the South Island; highest peak is Aoraki/Mount Cook.
✅ Lake Taupō is the country’s largest lake and a supervolcanic caldera.
✅ Lies on the boundary of the Pacific Plate and Australian Plate, making it prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
✅ Major mountain ranges: Southern Alps.
✅ Fertile Canterbury Plains support agriculture.

📍Significance
✅ Serves as India’s gateway to the Pacific Island Region.
✅ Cooperation in maritime security, climate resilience, Blue Economy, and Indo-Pacific.
✅ Ongoing efforts to strengthen India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

📍UPSC Prelims Facts
✅ Treaty of Waitangi (1840) is regarded as the founding document of New Zealand.
✅ New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, characterized by frequent earthquakes and volcanism.

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