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17th March 2020

Locations in the news

1. Wuhan City, China

• Wuhan city is the capital of Hubei province, the People’s Republic of China.
• The COVID-19 outbreak was first identified in Wuhan in December 19 and recognised as a pandemic by WHO on 11 March 2000.
• The new coronavirus emerged from Wuhan wet market, where live animal that would never normally meet in the wild live side by side, facilitating the trans-species mutations of pathogens.

2. Idlib province of Syria

• Capital City-Idlib
• The northern Syrian province of Idlib was the last remaining stronghold controlled by forces opposed to President Bahar-al Assad.
• The opposition once controlled large parts of the country but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen.

3. Middle-East peace plan

• The concept map of the proposed plan by the US shows the occupied Jordan valley under Israeli control.
• And a West Bank split north and south around Jerusalem.
• In a concession to the Palestinians, however, a plan to link Gaza to the West Bank by road has been revived.

4.Abqaiq and Khurais oilfields

• A drone attack on the oil processing plant at Abqaiq and the country’s second-largest oil field at Khurais in the eastern province north of Riyad created uncertainties in the global oil market.
• These attacks along with the attacks on the oil tankers in the sea were events that led to the US strike that killed the Iranian general.

5. New Ramsar sites in India

• The Ramsar Convention has declared 10 more wetlands in India as sites of international importance.
• This brings the total number of Ramsar sites in India to 37. Some of the newly added sites are-
  • Nandur Madhameshwar- First site in Maharashtra.
  • Saman Bird Sanctuary-Mainpuri, UP
  • Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary- Unnao, UP
  • Samaspur Bird Sanctuary- Raebareli UP
  • Sandi Bird Sanctuary- Hardoi UP
  • Parvati Arga Bird Sanctuary –UP
  • Sarsai Nawar Jheel- Etawah UP
  • Beas conservation reserve-Punjab

6. Archaeological excavation at Dhaba

• An archaeological excavation carried out at Dhaba in the upper Son valley in Madhya Pradesh has found evidence of continuous human occupation in this area almost 80,000 years ago.
• The large Megalithic tools were dated between approximately 80,000 years and 65,000 years and small tools were dated approximately 50,000 years.