Places in News 9th December 2025

Powai Lake

Context: Highlighting a series of non-adherences by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its treatment, a committee commissioned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently suggested that the BMC should be fined with a penalty of Rs 5 lakh per month per inlet in case the new plan of action should be breached.

• • Location: It is an artificial lake in the North suburb of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
    • The British constructed the lake in 1890.
    • Padmavati Devi Temple located on the banks of the lake dates back to 10 th century AD.
    • The Powai Bird Sanctuary is located around the lake.

• Fauna:

• • • It is also a significant resting and feeding area as well as breeding ground of various resident and migratory birds.
    • Some of the rare and special members and visitors of the lake are the Watercock, Pheasant tailed Jacana, Slaty-legged Crake, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Woolly-necked Stork, Caspian Tern and Peregrine Falcon.

• Significance:

• • In the recent past, 40 percent of the lake has been lost. The lake has also been degraded through the increased residential, commercial and industrial developments surrounding the lake.

Afar Region

Context: According to scientists, the Afar region of Africa might be the next ocean basin on the earth.

• Location: It is the NE of Ethiopia, where the Red Sea is merged to the Gulf of Aden.
  • The northern section of the area is called the Afar or Danakil depression and is mostly desert scrub which contains shallow salty lakes and volcanic chains.
• River: The valley of Awash River constitutes the southern region of the region.
• Tectonic Significance: It is located at a special triple junction where the Red Sea, gulf of Aden and East Africa Rift meet.
• Topography: 
  • The terrain of the area is characterized by strong rift gullies, volcanic plateaus, and large cracks, which are evidence of the active forces of the plate tectonics of the Earth crust.
  • It is among the hottest locations in the world.
  • It presents the scientist with a unique chance to watch the continental break-up and ocean-formation processes at work.
  • It is famously known that there was an early hominid fossil that was found in the region in 1974 and named Lucy, which is an Australopithecus afarensis.

Bitra Island

Context: When the foresters of Kali Tiger Reserve at Dandeli in the Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, witnessed and took note of a striped hyena (locally known as katte kiruba), they were up for a surprise.

• • Location: Kali Tiger Reserve  is located in Karnataka, Uttara Kannada district.
    • It covers an area of 834.16 sq.km.
    • It consists of Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Anshi National Park.
    • These two are adjacent to one another and make up one tract of the protected area found in the biologically sensitive Western Ghats.
  • River: It is the Kali River which forms the largest source of water in Uttara Kannad and passes through the tiger reserve and so the name.
  • Vegetation: It is a combination of semi- evergreen and moist deciduous forests with some areas of bamboo and grasslands.
  • Flora: The reserve is very diverse with plant species such as teak, silver oak, eucalyptus, and other medicinal plants.

• Fauna:

• • The Tiger Reserve has animals such as Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Bison, Wild dog, Sambar, Spotted deer, Sloth bear, Wild boar, Hanuman langur, Bonnet macaque etc.

Guinea-Bissau

Context: The Chief of Staff of the Southern naval command recently announced that the Navy was establishing a detachment in Bitra Island which is more or less complete.

• Location: It lies in the North of Lakshadweep of the Arabian Sea.
  • It is the smallest populated island in the territory.
• Climate: The climate of Bitra resembles the climatic condition of Kerala. The hottest season of the year is March to May.
• Significance: 
  • It is strategically positioned in India since it is in a strategic location in the Arabian Sea.
  • This would make Bitra the third defence base in the archipelago – the archipelago has two Indian naval bases, one of them being INS Dweeprakshak in Kavaratti, the capital of the UT, and another at Minicoy as INS Jatayu.

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