Kara Sea:
✅It is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located to the north of Siberia, Russia.
✅It covers an area of 880,000 sq.km.
It has been named after the Kara River.
✅It is situated between the Franz Josef Land, the Novaya Zemlya islands, and the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago.
✅The Kara Strait and the Novaya Zemlya archipelago separate the Kara Sea from the Barents Sea in the west.
✅In the east, the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago separates the Kara Sea from the Laptev Sea.
✅In the north, the Kara Sea is also connected with the Arctic Basin.
✅It is regarded as one of the world’s coldest seas and remains covered with ice from September to May.
✅Different rivers, including the Kara, Ob, Pyasina and Yenisei drain into the Kara Sea.
✅The significant islands that are found here include Bely, Dikson, Kamennyye, Oleni and Taymyr.
✅The Nordenskiold Archipelago, which is composed of more than 90 islands and five large island subgroups, is the largest island group in the Kara Sea.

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Last date for applying for CSE and IFoS 2025 has been extended till 18-02-2025.
Correction window will be active from 19.02.2025 to 25.02.2025.”

Cgpsc prelims today paper

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🔆 Darien Gap: A Dangerous Migration Route

📍 What is the Darien Gap?
✅ The Darien Gap is a 97-km stretch of dense rainforest, swamps, and mountains, marking the only break in the Pan-American Highway, which otherwise runs from Alaska to Argentina.
✅ Due to its harsh terrain, hot & humid climate, and lack of infrastructure, the region has remained largely impenetrable.
✅ However, it has now become a major migration route, with thousands attempting to cross it to reach North America.

📍 Geographical Features
✅ Location: Border between Panama & Colombia.
✅ Terrain: Steep mountains, muddy swamps, fast-flowing rivers, and dense rainforests.
✅ Climate: Hot, humid, and rainy, with limited food & water resources.

📍 Geo-Political Significance
✅ Migration Crisis: Over 520,000 migrants crossed in 2023, and 300,000+ crossings in early 2024.
✅ ‘Donkey Route’: Migrants from India, Venezuela, Haiti, Pakistan, and others use this path via Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala before reaching Mexico.
✅ Criminal Activity: Controlled by smuggling networks, drug cartels, and armed groups who exploit migrants through violence, robbery, and extortion.
✅ Humanitarian Concerns: Reports of sexual assaults, deaths, and disappearances are rising, with overcrowded shelters and severe shortages of food, water, and medical aid.

🔆Tidal Flooding

✅Tidal flooding, also known as “nuisance flooding” or “sunny day flooding,” happens when high tides cause water levels to rise and flood low-lying coastal areas. 
✅Causes: Changes in prevailing winds, shifts in ocean currents, and strong tidal forces (which occur during full or new moon) can all cause high tide flooding.
✅High tide flooding falls into three levels of severity: minor, moderate, and major. 

📍Concerns:
✅Tidal flooding disrupts daily life by flooding roads and services, damages infrastructure, and causes economic losses for businesses. 
✅It accelerates coastal erosion, harms habitats, and contaminates freshwater supplies with saltwater. 
✅Repeated flooding forces communities to relocate. 
✅Over time, rising sea levels due to climate change will make tidal flooding more frequent and severe.


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 Bhil Tribe:

✅Bhils are considered as one of the oldest tribes in India.
✅They are the most widely distributed tribal groups in India.
✅The name 'Bhil' is derived from the word villu or billu, which according to the Dravidian language is known as Bow.
✅They could be identified as one of the Dravidian racial tribes of Western India and belong to the Australoid group of tribes.
Distribution:
✅They are mainly divided into two main groups: the Central and Eastern or Rajput Bhils.
✅The Central Bhils are found in the mountain regions in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
✅Bhils are also found in the north eastern parts of Tripura.
✅Occupation: Nearly all of the Bhil engage in agriculture, some using the slash-and-burn (jhum) method but most employing the ploughs.
✅Language: They speak Bhili, which is an Indo Aryan language.


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🔆 Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

📍 Context
✅ A Positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) or Indian Nino is set to re-emerge for the second consecutive year in the latter half of 2024, marking the first time this event has occurred back-to-back since 1960.

📍 About Indian Ocean Dipole
✅ IOD is a climate phenomenon in the Indian Ocean, similar to El Niño and La Niña in the Pacific Ocean.
✅ It refers to the difference in sea surface temperatures (SST) between the western (near Somalia) and eastern (near Indonesia and Malaysia) parts of the Indian Ocean.
Positive IOD: Cooler SST in the east and warmer SST in the west.
Negative IOD: Warmer SST in the east and cooler SST in the west.
✅ Positive IOD often coincides with El Niño, while Negative IOD is sometimes linked to La Niña.

📍 Mechanism
✅ Normal Year: Warm waters from the western Pacific move into the Indian Ocean, slightly warming it, promoting rising air and enhanced air circulation.
✅ Negative IOD: Intensified circulation pushes warm water from the African coast towards Indonesia, warming the eastern Indian Ocean.
✅ Positive IOD: Warmer waters in the west and cooler waters in the east shift winds, bringing more rainfall to Eastern Africa and the Indian subcontinent, while Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia receive less rainfall.

📍 Impact on Global Weather Patterns
✅ Positive IOD: Increases rainfall in Eastern Africa and the Indian subcontinent, but suppresses rainfall in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
✅ Negative IOD: Reverses the effects, reducing rainfall in India and increasing precipitation in Southeast Asia and Australia.

📍 IOD Discovery
✅ Identified as a distinct climate phenomenon in 1999.

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(PRELIMINARY) EXAMINATION, 2025

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🔆 Little Prespa Lake Drying Up

📍 Context
✅ Little Prespa Lake, on the Albanian-Greek border, is slowly drying up, turning into swamps or dried land.

📍 Causes of Drying
✅ Climate Change: Rising temperatures, reduced snowfall, and decreased precipitation.
✅ Water Diversion: Devoll River was diverted for irrigation in the 1970s, leading to significant water loss.

📍 About Lake Prespa
✅ One of the oldest tectonic lakes in Europe.
✅ Highest tectonic lake in the Balkan Peninsula (Altitude: 853m).
✅ Composed of two lakes:
Great Prespa Lake: Borders Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia.
Small Prespa Lake: Located in Greece.

📍 Surrounding National Parks
✅ Prespa National Park: Located in Greece & Albania.
✅ Galicica National Park: Located in North Macedonia.
✅ Galicica Mountains separate Lake Prespa from Lake Ohrid, one of the oldest & deepest lakes in Europe.

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🔆 Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA Summit

✅Context : Delegates gathered in Livingstone, Zambia for the first-ever KAZA Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) summit.

📍 About KAZA TFCA
✅ 🌍 Location: Wetland region spanning five southern African nations.
🇦🇴 Angola
🇧🇼 Botswana
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇿🇲 Zambia
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

✅ 🌊 Key River Basins:
Okavango River Basin
Zambezi River Basin

🛡 Conservation Effort:
Focus on transnational environmental protection & sustainable tourism.
Protects biodiversity, wetlands, and ecosystems.

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🔆China has approved the construction of the first South China Sea deepwater ‘space station’.
About 
✅The facility will be a cold seep ecosystem research facility, located 2,000 meters below the surface.
✅It will be one of the deepest and most technologically complex underwater installations.
✅It is expected to be operational by around 2030.

📍 the South China Sea
✅It is one of the most strategically and economically important waterways in the world, extending from the Strait of Malacca in the southwest, to the Strait of Taiwan in the northeast.
✅It is a crucial maritime gateway and junction for shipping between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
✅It is surrounded by several nations, including China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
✅Importance:  The region is rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, and fisheries, and serves as a crucial trade route for various economies.
✅Dispute:  The South China Sea dispute involves China’s broad claims over the region, contested by ASEAN nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei over islands, reefs, and resources. 
✅These disputes affect freedom of navigation and air traffic.
✅India’s Position:  India’s position on the South China Sea has evolved in recent years, shifting from neutrality to more active support for claimant states like the Philippines and Vietnam.
✅India also seeks to secure its energy resources and enhance economic ties through its Look East Policy.


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India - National river linking projects

🚩 Chushul-Moldo Border

📌 Context
✅ Indian and Chinese armies exchanged Diwali greetings at the Chushul-Moldo border in Ladakh, near Pangong Lake.

📌 About Chushul-Moldo Border
✅ It is a key border meeting point between India and China.
✅ Located in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
✅ Strategically significant due to its proximity to Pangong Lake.
✅ Plays a crucial role in India-China diplomatic and military engagements.


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Sagar Island

✅The West Bengal government has announced comprehensive preparations for the Gangasagar Mela 2025.
About
✅Sagar Island is situated at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal about 120 km from the State capital Kolkata.
✅ It is the largest island in the Sundarbans archipelago.
✅Lakhs of pilgrims visit the island every year to participate in the religious fair and take a dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the sea on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. 
✅The site is considered sacred and is home to the Kapil Muni temple.


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China’s Mega-Dam Project

✅Capacity: 60 GW (14th Five-Year Plan, for 2021–2025); Three times the capacity of China’s current Three Gorges Dam;
✅ China aims to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
🔸 Cost: About $137 Bn.
🔸 Location: At the Great Bend, where the Brahmaputra river takes a U-turn, in the Medog county of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
✅ China has previously constructed significant dams like the Three Gorges Dam (Yangtze) and Zangmu Dam (Yarlung Zangbo).

📍Yarlung Tsangpo (Zangbo) River
✅ It originates in Tibet, and enters Arunachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Siang. 
✅ In Assam, it is joined by tributaries such as Dibang and Lohit, and is called the Brahmaputra. 
✅ The river then enters Bangladesh, and makes its way to the Bay of Bengal.
🔸 The main river does not flow through Bhutan, but 96% of the country’s area is within the basin.

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🔆 Key Locations in News

📍 Vadhvan Port (Maharashtra)
✅ PM laid the foundation for one of India’s largest deep-water ports under the Landlord Port Model with private sector involvement.

📍 Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (Uttar Pradesh)
✅ Located in the Himalayan foothills along the India-Nepal border, facing poaching threats.
✅ River Gomti originates here, along with Sharda, Chuka, and Mala Khannot catchments.

📍 Uri-I Hydroelectric Project (Jammu & Kashmir)
✅ Stage-II clearance deferred by EAC; located on Jhelum River, near LoC.

📍 Galathea Bay (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
✅ Declared a Major Port to develop India’s 2nd deep-water transshipment terminal.

📍 Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan)
✅ India’s first 'teal carbon' study conducted here.
✅ UNESCO World Heritage Site crucial for migratory birds & climate resilience.

📍 Gopalpur Port (Odisha)
✅ APSEZ received approval for a 95% stake in the deep-sea port, boosting marine trade. 🚢

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Last date 21 Feb

🔆 Global Events


📍 Namibia
✅ Facing its worst drought in a century, worsened by El Niño.
✅ Located in Southwest Africa, bordering Angola, Zambia, South Africa, and Botswana.

📍 Sudan
✅ Ongoing war continues to devastate the country.
✅ Located in Northeast Africa, bordering Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

📍 Brunei
✅ India’s first bilateral visit to Brunei Darussalam.
✅ A small Southeast Asian nation on Borneo Island, bordered by Malaysia’s Sarawak state and the South China Sea.
✅ Part of the Commonwealth & ASEAN.

📍 Vietnam
✅ Typhoon Yagi has killed 143 people in northern Vietnam.
✅ Located in Southeast Asia, sharing borders with China, Laos, Cambodia, and maritime borders in the South China Sea.

📍 Mexico
✅ Reformed its judicial system, becoming the first country to elect judges at all levels.
✅ Located in North America, bordering U.S., Guatemala, Belize, and has coastlines along the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.

📍 Gulf of Mexico
✅ Hurricane Francine disrupted 42% of crude oil and 53% of natural gas production in the U.S.
✅ Large ocean basin, bordered by U.S., Mexico, and Cuba, draining the Mississippi and Rio Grande rivers.

📍 Amazon River
✅ Experiencing unprecedented drought, with historic low water levels.
✅ Originates in the Peruvian Andes, the largest river by water volume, draining into the Atlantic Ocean.

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