Cook Islands 

• China and the Cook Islands have signed an action plan for a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
• It is a self-governing island state in free association with New Zealand, located in the South Pacific Ocean. 
• The administrative seat is Avarua, on the island of Rarotonga.

Zagros Mountains 

• A hilly area surrounding the Zagros Mountains in Iraq is sinking.
• The Zagros Mountain range is in southwestern Iran, extending northwest-southeast from the border areas of eastern Turkey and northern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz. 
• The range is about 990 miles (1,600 km) long and more than 150 miles (240 km) wide. 

Lake Chad

• The World Bank today approved $170 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Chad improve connectivity, logistics, and value chains with subregional commercial potential in the Lake Chad region.
• Lake Chad is a freshwater lake located in the west-central Africa at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. 
• Lake Chad is the profusion of hundreds of islands and small islands, of which numerous are inhabited by several communities such as the Kotoko, Mouloui, Barma, Boulalan, Babalia, Kanembou, Haoussa.

Mandaura village

• Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India, inaugurates RuTAGe Smart Village Center to drive Rural Innovation and sustainable solutions in Mandaura village, Sonipat, Haryana.

Haiti

• U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that he would request that the United Nations to fund Haiti in the struggle against violent gangs.
• This country is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
• It occupies the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, sharing a border with the Dominican Republic on the eastern side.
• Major Mountain Ranges of the country: Massif de la Selle, Massif du Nord.

Qatar

• India and Qatar decided to elevate their ties to a “strategic partnership”, double the target of bilateral trade to USD 28 billion in the next five years.
• Qatar is an independent emirate on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. 
• Terrain: mostly flat and barren desert covered with loose sand and gravel.
• Land Boundaries (Km): Only border with Saudi Arabia (87 km).