Tentative vacancies breakup for CSE 25

🔆China and Phillipines claim their control over Tiexian Reef

📍Tiexian Reef

✅The Tiexian Reef or Sandy Cay is part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
✅This 200 sq metre reef is situated near Thitu Island (also known as Pag-asa Island), where the Philippines maintains a military facility and a newly established coast guard base.
Spratly Islands
✅The Spratly Islands are a group of over 100 small islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
✅They are north of Malaysia and roughly halfway between Vietnam and the Philippines.

📍Who Claims Them:
✅China, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim the whole group.
Malaysia and the Philippines claim parts of it.
✅Brunei does not claim the islands themselves but claims a nearby area that includes a reef.
✅Climate: The islands have a tropical climate.

🔆 Tea

📍 Temperature
✅ 25-35°C

📍 Rainfall
✅ >150 cm

📍 Soil Conditions
✅ Well-drained, deep friable loams or forest soils, rich in organic water

📍 Geographical Distribution
✅ Undulating topography of hilly areas and well-drained soils in humid and sub-humid tropics and sub-tropics
- Assam, West Bengal (Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Bihar districts)
- Lower slopes of Nilgiri and Cardamom hills in Tamil Nadu

📍 Key Features
✅ Plantation crop
✅ Black tea leaves – fermented
✅ Green tea leaves – unfermented
✅ Rich content of caffeine and tannin
✅ Indigenous crop of hills in Northern China
✅ India – started in the 1840s in Brahmaputra Valley
✅ 28% of the world’s production

🔆 Waterfalls in India

📍 Chhattisgarh

1. Amritdhara Falls
   ✅ Height: 90 m
   ✅ River: Hasdeo (Tributary of Mahanadi)

2. Teerathgarh Falls
   ✅ Height: 91 m
   ✅ River: Munga (Tributary of Kanger which joins Mahanadi)

3. Chitrakote Waterfalls
   ✅ Height: 29 m
   ✅ River: Indravati (Tributary of Godavari)

📍 Madhya Pradesh

1. Dhuandhar Waterfall
   ✅ Height: 30 m
   ✅ River: Narmada (Independent)

2. Chachai
   ✅ Height: 130 m
   ✅ River: Bihad (Tributary of Tons, a tributary of Ganga)

3. Kapildhara Falls
   ✅ Height: 30 m
   ✅ River: Narmada (Independent)

4. Rajat Prapat (Silver Falls)
   ✅ Height: 107 m
   ✅ River: Not associated with a specific river

5. Sonemuda Falls
   ✅ Height: 15 m
   ✅ River: Son (Tributary of Ganga)

📍 Jharkhand

1. Panchghagh Falls
   ✅ Height: 45 m
   ✅ River: Banai (Tributary of Subarnarekha)

2. Lodh Falls
   ✅ Height: 143 m
   ✅ River: Budha (Tributary of North Koel)

3. Hundru Falls
   ✅ Height: 99 m
   ✅ River: Subarnarekha (Independent)

📍 Odisha

1. Barehipani
   ✅ Height: 399 m
   ✅ River: Budhabalanga (Tributary of Subarnarekha)

2. Khandadhar Falls
   ✅ Height: 244 m
   ✅ River: Korapani Nala (Tributary of Brahmani)

3. Koilighugar Falls
   ✅ Height: 61 m
   ✅ River: Ahiraj (Tributary of Mahanadi)

📍 Karnataka

1. Kunchikal Falls
   ✅ Height: 455 m
   ✅ River: Varahi (Tributary of Krishna)


2. Barkana Falls
   ✅ Height: 259 m
   ✅ River: Sita (Tributary of Krishna)

3. Jog Falls
   ✅ Height: 253 m
   ✅ River: Sharavati

4. Magod Falls
   ✅ Height: 198 m
   ✅ River: Bedti

5. Shimsha Falls
   ✅ Height: 46 m
   ✅ River: Shimsha (Tributary of Cauvery)

6. Shivanasamudra Falls
   ✅ Height: 98 m
   ✅ River: Cauvery

7. Hebbe Falls
   ✅ Height: 168 m
   ✅ River: Thunga (Tributary of Krishna)

📍 Maharashtra

1. Thoseghar (Series of Waterfalls)
   ✅ Height: 15 to 20 m, one is 200m
   ✅ River: Cataracts (unnamed river)

2. Gangapur Falls
   ✅ Height: 50 m
   ✅ River: Godavari (Independent)

3. Someshwar Falls
   ✅ Height: 10 m
   ✅ River: Godavari (Independent)

📍 Kerala

1. Athirappilly Waterfall
   ✅ Height: 25 m
   ✅ River: Chalakuddy (Tributary of Periyar)

2. Soochipara Falls
   ✅ Height: 200 m
   ✅ River: Chaliyar (Independent)

3. Meenvumty Falls
   ✅ Height: 300 m
   ✅ River: Kallar (Tributary of Neyyar)

📍 Other States

1. Nohsngithiang Waterfall
   ✅ Height: 315 m
   ✅ River: Cherrapunji (Rain-fed), Meghalaya

2. Vantawng Falls
   ✅ Height: 229 m
   ✅ River: Lau (Tributary of Tlawng which joins Barak river), Mizoram

3. Kempty Falls
   ✅ Height: 40 m
   ✅ River: Yamuna, Uttarakhand

4. Dudhsagar Falls
   ✅ Height: 320 m
   ✅ River: Mandovi, Goa

5. Thalaiyar Falls (Rat Tail Falls)
   ✅ Height: 297 m
   ✅ River: Manjalar (Tributary of Vaigai)

🔆 Kailash Mansarovar Yatra Resumption
📍 Resumption of Yatra
• Kailash Mansarovar Yatra resumes in 2025 after a four-year suspension due to Covid-19 and border tensions.
• This signals improving India-China relations, especially after a disengagement pact in October 2024.

📍 Geopolitical Context
• The yatra was paused after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, a pivotal moment in India-China relations.
• Diplomatic engagements, such as meetings between Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, and Vikram Misri’s visit to Beijing in January 2025, paved the way for the resumption.

📍 Religious and Cultural Significance
• Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar are sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Tibetan Bon followers.
• This yatra holds cultural and religious significance, also acting as a tool for Indian soft power.

📍 Official Routes
• Lipulekh Pass Route (Uttarakhand):
▪ Altitude: 5,115 meters, 200 km trek.
▪ Direct route, operational since 1981.
• Nathu La Pass Route (Sikkim):
▪ Altitude: 4,310 meters, 1,500 km long, 35–40 km trek.
▪ Operational since 2015.

📍 Other Route via Nepal
• Informal route via Nepal exists, reopened in 2023.
• High costs and visa issues limit its use.

🔆Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands

Click here

#mapping

OPERATION SINDOOR : INDIAN ARMED FORCES CARRIED OUT PRECISION STRIKE AT TERRORIST CAMPS

🔆 Great Pacific Garbage Patch

📍 Key Details:
✅ Location:
• Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch: Between Hawaii and California.
• Western Pacific Garbage Patch: Lies east of Japan.

✅ Size & Study:
• Eastern Patch: Larger and more studied, covering 1.6 million km².
• Western Patch: Smaller and more dispersed.

🔆Kassala port

#Places_in_news
#mapping

@upsc_4_ir

🔆Persian Gulf

✅The US President Donald Trump plans to officially rename the ‘Persian Gulf’ as the ‘Arabian Gulf’ during a visit to Saudi Arabia, aligning with the preferences of Arab Gulf nations.

📍Geographical Features of the Persian Gulf

✅The Persian Gulf is a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean, located in Western Asia, and is a vital geopolitical chokepoint.
✅It is connected to the Arabian Sea via the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategic maritime passages for global oil shipment.
✅The coastline stretches ~5,117 km, with Iran having the longest stretch (~1,536 km).
✅It is bounded by:
🔰North: Iran
🔰Southwest: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE
🔰Northwest: Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain

✅Important Islands: Qeshm Island (Iran) is the Largest island in the Persian Gulf, with an area of ~1,491 km²—about 2.5 times the size of Bahrain.
✅Bahrain: A sovereign archipelago state, comprising over 50 islands, and a significant US naval base location.

#gs2
#prelims
#mapping

🔆 Indian Passes & Plateaus

📍 Aghil Pass
✅ Location: Between Ladakh (J&K) and Sinkiang (China)
✅ Significance: Important for military movement, part of the Karakoram Range.

📍 Banihal Pass (Jawahar Tunnel)
✅ Location: Connects Banihal town (Doda District) and Qazigund (Anantnag, Kashmir Division)
✅ Significance: Key highway pass on NH44 connecting Jammu and Kashmir.

📍 Baralacha La
✅ Location: Between Keylong (Himachal Pradesh) and Leh (Ladakh)
✅ Significance: Located on the Leh-Manali highway, an important trade route.

📍 Burzil Pass
✅ Location: Connects Srinagar to Gilgit (now in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir)
✅ Significance: Historically significant for trade.

📍 Karakoram Pass
✅ Location: Between Ladakh (J&K) and Sinkiang (China)
✅ Significance: An ancient trade route on the Silk Road.

📍 Khardung La
✅ Location: Between Leh and Siachen Glacier via Nubra Valley
✅ Significance: One of the highest motorable roads in the world (5,359 m).

📍 Umling La (Uming La)
✅ Location: Ladakh
✅ Significance: Highest motorable road in the world at 5,883 m.

📍 Zoji La
✅ Location: Between Srinagar and Leh
✅ Significance: Important link between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh, often blocked by snow.

📍 Chang La
✅ Location: Between Ladakh (J&K) and Tibet (China)
✅ Significance: One of the highest passes in the world.

📍 Shinkun La
✅ Location: Between Himachal Pradesh & Ladakh
✅ Significance: India has started construction of Nimmu-Padum-Darcha (NPD) route for all-weather connectivity to Ladakh.

📍 Balcha Dhura
✅ Location: Connecting Uttarakhand with Tibet (China)
✅ Significance: High-altitude pass in the Himalayas.

📍 Mana Pass
✅ Location: Between Uttarakhand and Tibet (China)
✅ Significance: Highest motorable pass in Uttarakhand, connects to Tibet.

🔆 Karakum Desert

📍 Location & Geography
✅ The Karakum Desert covers much of Turkmenistan.

📍 Key Features
✅ Known for its shifting sand dunes and extreme climate.

🔆 Kyzylkum Desert

📍 Location & Geography
✅ The Kyzylkum Desert spans across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
✅ Lies between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers.

📍 Natural Resources
✅ Contains large deposits of natural gas.