Diamond Triangle

The recent excavations at Ratnagiri (part of Odisha’s Diamond Triangle) have uncovered a colossal Buddha head, a massive palm, an ancient wall, and inscribed Buddhist relics.

The Diamond Triangle is a collection of three Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, and Lalitgiri. 

• They are located at a distance of 90 km from Bhubaneswar.

The sites belong to the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism (a system of enlightenment that involves tantric and mystical techniques), which is popularly known as the Diamond Vehicle, and hence the name Diamond Triangle.

Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) surveyed Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary, discovering important prehistoric and early historic rock art and inscriptions.
• The sanctuary is located in the Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, and is an ecologically and historically important protected area. 
• It serves as the catchment for the Pennar River, which flows through its eastern side, and is linked to the Telugu Ganga Canal. 
• The sanctuary is also home to Jerdon’s Courser, a critically endangered bird that was rediscovered in 1986 after being thought extinct for a century.

Kilauea volcano (Hawaii)

• Since December 23, 2024, it has been intermittently erupting within the summit caldera in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
• The Kilauea (means “Much Spreading” in Hawaiian) volcano, the world’s most active volcanic mass, located on the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii. 
• The volcano’s 4,090-foot (1,250-metre) summit has collapsed to form a caldera, a broad, shallow depression nearly 3 miles (5 km) long and 2 miles (3.2 km) wide with an area of more than 4 square miles (10 square km). 
• The slopes of Kilauea merge with those of the nearby Mauna Loa volcano on the west and north.

Honduras (Storm Sara)

• India dispatched humanitarian assistance of 26 tons to Honduras in the wake of Tropical Storm Sara.
• Honduras, a country of Central America, situated between Guatemala and El Salvador to the west and Nicaragua to the south and east. 
• The Caribbean Sea touches its northern coast, and the Pacific Ocean is in its narrow coast to the south. 
• It's area includes the offshore Caribbean department of the Bay Islands. 
• The capital is Tegucigalpa (with Comayagüela).

La Reunion Island

• At least four people have been killed as Cyclone Garance struck the La Réunion Island.
• Réunion, island of the Mascarene Islands that is a French overseas département and overseas region. 

• It is located in the western Indian Ocean, about 420 miles (680 km) east of Madagascar and 110 miles (180 km) southwest of Mauritius.
• The capital is Saint-Denis, on the northern coast.
• The Piton de la Fournaise is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Gulf of Mannar

• Recently, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has selected a deep-sea area in the Gulf of Mannar for hydrocarbon exploration under the 10th round of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy.
• The Gulf of Mannar is an expansive shallow bay, a part of the larger Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. 

• It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the western shore of Sri Lanka in the Coromandel Coast region.
• It was designated as a Marine Biosphere Reserve in 1989 (first Marine Biosphere Reserve in the South and South East Asia).
• V.O. Chidambaranar Port, formerly Tuticorin Port, is the second-largest port in Tamil Nadu and fourth-largest container terminal in India.
• The gulf is noted for its pearl banks and sacred chank (a gastropod mollusk).