• Deputy national security adviser Vikram Misri represented India at the 6th regional dialogue of officials of security councils and national security advisers on Afghanistan recently.
• It was held in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek.
• Iran, India, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China, Turkmenistan and Pakistan are members of this regional security mechanism.

• OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT has unveiled Sora, a new AI model that creates realistic videos from text prompts.

ABOUT SORA

• Sora is an AI model developed by OpenAI –– built on past research in DALL·E and GPT models –– and is capable of generating videos based on text instructions
• It can also animate a static image, transforming it into a dynamic video presentation.
• Sora can create full videos in one go or add more to already created videos to make them longer.
• It can produce videos up to one minute in duration, ensuring high visual quality and accuracy.
• Sora is currently only accessible for red team members –– experts in areas such as misinformation, hateful content, and bias –– to examine critical areas for potential problems or risks.
  • Additionally, OpenAI is granting access to visual artists, designers, and filmmakers to collect feedback on enhancing the model.

• Assam CM has said that his government would undertake a mission to reclaim the ‘chars’ — sandbars or river ‘islands’ — from encroachers to safeguard the “ecological integrity” of the Brahmaputra Valley.
• These are locally known as “Char/ Chapori” and cover about 3.60 lakhs hectares of land.
• They are subjected to erosion on their upstream and deposition on the downstream, due to which they migrate downstream.
• There are more than 3,500 chars on a network of rivers dominated by the Brahmaputra in Assam.
• Most of these chars, allegedly without proper regulation, are inhabited and cultivated by Bengali Muslims, often viewed as “illegal immigrants” or “Bangladeshi”.
• Initiative
  • Mission Basundhara 4.0 will be started to reclaim land in the char areas.
  • Under Mission Basundhara 4.0, chars of permanent nature would be identified for reclamation toward limiting land acquisition and promoting sustainable land management practices.

• A statue of U Tirot Sing was unveiled at Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, Dhaka.
• He was a freedom fighter from Khasi Hills who rebelled against British Colonialism some 200 years ago.

ABOUT TIROT SINGH

• Tirot Sing was a tribal chief known as ‘the Hero of the Khasi Hills’ of Meghalaya.
• Also known as U Tirot Sing Syiem, he drew lineage from Syiemlieh clan.
• Tirot Sing led an attack on the colonial forces on April 8, 1829.
• He sensed the attempts of Britishers to take over control of the Khasi Hills under the pretext of road construction connecting Guwahati to Sylhet through Khasi Hills.
• In Anglo-Khasi war (1829-33), he used guerilla tactics to evade and strike the militarily superior colonial forces.
• Tirot Sing was captured four years later after the Anglo-Khasi War and died in Dhaka as a political prisoner on July 17, 1835.

• Renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya have been named the recipients of the 58th Jnanpith Award, the selection committee of India’s highest literary award announced recently.
• This is the second time the award is being given for the Sanskrit language and for the fifth time for the Urdu language.
• The recipients for the award were decided by a selection committee chaired by Jnanpith awardee Pratibha Rai.

ABOUT GULZAR

• Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, 89, is celebrated for his works in Hindi cinema and is considered one of the finest Urdu poets of this era.
• Gulzar is also the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in 2002, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works.

ABOUT JAGADGURU RAMBHADRACHARYA

• Rambhadracharya, 74, the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator, and writer of more than 240 books and texts, including four epics.
• Rambhadracharya is one of the four Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas of the Ramananda sect and has been holding this position since 1982.
• A polyglot, who speaks 22 languages, Rambhadracharya is a poet and writer in several Indian languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Awadhi, and Maithili.
• In 2015, he received the Padma Vibhushan award.

ABOUT THE AWARD

• Established in 1944, the Jnanpith Award is given annually for outstanding contributions to Indian literature and is considered the highest literary honour in the country.
• The award carries a prize money of ₹21 lakh, a statue of Vagdevi, and a citation.
• Goan writer Damodar Mauzo had received the prestigious award for 2022.

• The International Court of Justice recently elected Judge Nawaf Salam (Lebanon) as President and Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) as Vice-President.
• Election Process
  • The President and Vice-President are elected by the Members of the Court every three years by secret ballot.
  • The election is held on the date on which Members of the Court elected at a triennial election begin their terms of office or shortly thereafter.
  • An absolute majority is required and there are no conditions of nationality.
  • The President and Vice-President may be re-elected.

ABOUT ICJ

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
• Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).
• The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
• It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ.
• Its official languages are English and French.

• The Global Pulses Conference, an annual meeting of pulses producers, processors and traders, was recently held in New Delhi.
• It suggested that India augment production of pulses to meet the nutritional requirements.
• India is represented by India Pulses and Grains Association in Global Pulse Confederation
• The two-day conference is jointly organised by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and the Global Pulse Confederation (GPC).

ABOUT PULSES

• Pulses, also known as grain legumes, are a group of 12 crops that includes dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas, and lentils.
• They are high in protein, fibre, and various vitamins, provide amino acids, and are hearty crops.
• They also contribute to soil quality by fixing nitrogen in the soil.
• India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses.
• 2016 was declared as the International Year of Pulses.

ABOUT GPC

• The Global Pulse Confederation (GPC, formerly known as CICILS IPTIC) represents all segments of the pulse industry value chain from growers, researchers, logistics suppliers, traders, exporters and importers to government bodies, multilateral organizations, processors, canners and consumers.
• Its membership includes 24 national associations and over 500 private sector members.
• GPC is based in Dubai and licensed by the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre (DMCC).

• The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot will now be known as the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium.
• Niranjan Shah played first-class cricket for Saurashtra in a career spanning from the 1965/66 to 1974/75.
• He played an instrumental role in turning around the fortunes of Saurashtra, who have two Ranji Trophy titles to their credit.
• In addition to being the honorary secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), a position he continues to serve, he has had administrative experience in different capacity, including being the honorary secretary of the BCCI, a position where he was elected four times.

• The first-ever Digital India future SKILLS Summit was held at the Birinchi Kumar Baruah Auditorium, Guwahati University, Assam.
• The Digital India future SKILLS Summit hosted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) through the National Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) witnessed the convergence of esteemed dignitaries, industry leaders, academia, policymakers and technology enthusiasts to deliberate on strategies for ‘Catalyzing future-ready talent for India & the World.’
• It focused on the impact of rapid digitization globally, emphasizing new opportunities for young Indians in cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Semiconductors, Robotics, and Cybersecurity.

• The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has suspended hammer thrower Rachna Kumari for 12 years for a second anti-doping rule violation.
  • Rachna returned positive results for multiple anabolic androgenic steroids in samples collected out of competition at Patiala on September 24 and on November 1 at the National Games last year.
  • She had earlier served a four-year suspension from 2015 to 2019.
• In another doping case, quarter-miler Nirmala Sheoran has been handed an eight-year suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for a second doping violation.
  • She reportedly tested positive for anabolic androgenic steroids and testosterone.
  • She was earlier suspended for four years in 2018.