• The 58^th DGsP/IGsP Conference 2023 was inaugurated by the union Home minister at Rajasthan International Centre, Jaipur.
• The three-day conference, held in a hybrid mode, brought together top law enforcement officials physically from Jaipur and over 500 police officers from various ranks participating through video conferencing from across the country.

• More than 36 crore school students from all 36 States and Union Territories of India came together to participate enthusiastically in the 3rd edition of the Veer Gatha Project.
• The project is an initiative under the Gallantry Awards Portal (GAP) in 2021, which aims to honor the acts of bravery and sacrifice of the officers and personnel of the Armed Forces while instilling values of civic consciousness and patriotism among students.
• It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education.
• As part of this, the students framed different projects through various media like art, poems, essays and multimedia on these gallantry award winners and best projects were awarded at national level by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education.

• An ancient palace, Palace of Aigai, where Alexander The Great was crowned King of Macedonia in 336 BC reopened to the public recently after a 16-year, 20 million euro renovation aiming to restore its past glory.
• The 4^th century BC site near Greece’s northern port city of Thessaloniki, was built more than 2,300 years ago.
• It spreads over 15,000 square meters was one of the most important in classical Greece alongside the Parthenon in Athens.
• Aigai was capital of the Macedonian kingdom, the dominant military power of the time, and archeologists say the palace was the kingdom’s spiritual centre.
• Built by Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, the tombs of Philip and other Macedonian kings are nearby.
• It was later destroyed by the Romans and unearthed through excavations beginning in the 19th Century.

• A four-day workshop on Sohrai mural art was held in Konedoba, a quiet village in West Bengal.

ABOUT SOHRAI PAINTING

• Sohrai painting is practiced by indigenous communities, particularly in the States of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal, but it is the region of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand that has received the GI tag for this art form.
• Sohrai art is a traditional form of mural painting often drawing inspiration from the ancient cave paintings in the region.
• It is the art of the women of the Kurmi, Santal, Munda, Oraon, Agaria, Ghatwal tribes.
• Sohrai paintings are distinctive for their vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and symbolic motifs.
• There is a Sohrai festival held every year, marking the harvesting season and the arrival of winter.

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) in Bengaluru have found that logging and climate change pose a threat to montane birds.
• The team collected data from the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary.

ABOUT EAGLENEST WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

• It is a protected area in Himalayan foothills located in west kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is situated in the biodiversity hotspot of Eastern Himalayas.
• It is accessible even during monsoon season.
• A unique feature of this sanctuary is that within itself the entire elevational range is covered containing all habitats and species i.e Coniferous Temperate Forest, Coniferous Subtropical Forest, Broadleaf Subtropical Forest, Tropical Wet Evergreen and Semi-evergreen Forest
• Fauna–
  • It is home to over 500 bird species. E.g Blythe’s & Temincks tragopan, beautiful nuthatch, rufous necked hornbill, shortwings( lesser & white browed), wren babbler( wedge billed), Wards trogon etc.
  • It is also home for many species of amphibians, snakes & lizards, mammal species like Bengal Tiger,Clouded leopard, Red Panda, Arunachal Macaque, Gaur & endangered capped Langur.

• Raghuram Iyer has been appointed as the CEO of Indian Olympic Association.

ABOUT IOA

• The IOA was established in the year 1927 with Sir Dorabji Tata and Dr. A.G. Noehren as the Founding President and Secretary General respectively.
• It is registered as a Non-Profit Organisation under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.
• The Indian Olympic Association is the governing body for the Olympic Movement and the Commonwealth Games in India.
• IOA is recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• As an affiliated member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the IOA administers various aspects of sports governance and athletes’ welfare in the country.
• The Indian Olympic Association is currently governed by a 32-member Executive Council, headed by President.
• The election for the Executive Council is held once in every 4 years.

OTHER FACTS

• India first participated in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris.
• The country was represented by Norman Pritchard, an Anglo Indian who was holidaying in Paris during that time.

• The Union Cabinet has sanctioned the “Prithvi Vigyan (Prithvi)” scheme.

ABOUT PRITHVI VIGYAN (PRITHVI) SCHEME

• It is a comprehensive initiative of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• With an investment of Rs 4,797 crore earmarked for the period from 2021 to 2026, this scheme is set to revolutionise India’s approach to earth science research and application.
• The Prithvi scheme integrates five existing sub-schemes:
  • Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS),
    • For Research and Development (R&D) of dynamical models and providing the forecast services.
  • Ocean Services, Modelling Application, Resources and Technology (O-SMART),
    • For technology development for oceanic applications, services including forecast and advisories and R&D activities in the marine and coastal environment.
  • Polar Science and Cryosphere Research (PACER),
    • Consisting the Antarctic program, Indian Arctic program, Southern Ocean program and Cryosphere and Climate program.
  • Seismology and Geosciences (SAGE),
    • 6 activities including Seismological monitoring and microzonation, and Setting up a facility for geochronology; and
  • Research, Education, Training and Outreach (REACHOUT)
    • to advance research, education, and training in the realm of Earth Sciences.
  • Objectives
    • Augmentation and sustenance of long-term observations of the atmosphere, ocean, geosphere, cryosphere and solid earth to record the vital signs of the Earth System and change.
    • The development of modelling systems for understanding and predicting the weather.
    • To promote exploration of polar and high seas regions of Earth.
    • To promote developing technology to explore harnessing oceanic resources for societal applications.

• Pallas Fish Eagle was sighted in the Chilika lake after a gap of about 10 years.

ABOUT PALLAS FISH EAGLE (HALIAEETUS LEUCORYPHUS )

• Pallas’s fish eagle, also known as Pallas’s sea eagle or band-tailed fish eagle, is a large, brownish sea eagle.
• It breeds in the east Palearctic in Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan.
• It is partially migratory, with Central Asian birds wintering among the southern Asian birds in northern India, and also further west to the Persian Gulf.
• Its diet consists primarily of large freshwater fish but they also regularly prey upon birds, especially water birds and other prey reportedly can include mammals, including leporids and rodents, frogs, reptiles, including snakes and terrapins, insects.
• The global population is estimated at less than 2,500 individuals.
• Threats– Direct persecution, habitat degradation, pollution, and draining or overfishing lakes.
• IUCN Red List status– Endangered.

• MARCOs commandos rescued all 21 crew members, including 15 Indians, from Liberian-flagged vessel MV Lili Norfolk after boarding it from a warship.
• The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I, helicopters and MQ9B Predator drones to assist the vessel MV Lila Norfolk.

ABOUT MARCOS

• Marine commandos , abbreviated to Marcos and officially called the marine commando force ( MCF) , was formed in 1987.
• They are among the country’s mighty commando forces, including the National Security Guard, Garud, Para commandos, Force One, and others.
• These comprise the toughest soldiers who undergo rigorous training to conduct swift and stealthy responses.
• MARCOs are modelled on the US Navy SEALS.
• MARCOS can operate across diverse environments, encompassing sea, air, and land.
• They also engage in collaborative efforts with the Indian Army to conduct operations in areas such as Kashmir.
• ‘The few The fearless’ is the MARCOs’ motto.
• The force has earned recognition for its remarkable performance in Cactus, Leech, Pawan, and Cyclone operations.
• Notably, their valour and courage came to prominence during their involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

• With an aim to attract devotees to the famous Somnath temple, the Shree Somnath Trust (SST) inaugurated an exhibition at Tent City, the venue of the annual Rann Utsav, in Dhordo village in Kutch district.
  • Rann Utsav is the annual desert carnival organised by the Gujarat government in the Great Rann of Kutch on the Indo-Pakistan border.
  • The carnival is very popular among tourists thanks to the vast White Desert or the salt desert and glorious views of the setting sun it offers.
• Somnath temple is more than 500 km away from Dhordo and thus the famous temple and the White Desert form two different tourist circuits in Gujarat.

ABOUT SOMNATH TEMPLE

• The Somnath temple, also called Somanātha temple or Deo Patan, is located in Prabhas Patan, Veraval in Gujarat, India.
• It is believed to be the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.
• Somanth is mentioned in Rigveda and has been reconstructed several times in the past after repeated destruction by several Muslim invaders and rulers i.e Mahmud Ghazni (1024), attacked by Delhi Sultanate (1297 and 1394) and Aurangzeb (in 1706).
• Post independence, those ruins were demolished and the present Somnath temple was reconstructed in the Māru-Gurjara style of Hindu temple architecture.
• The first Home Minister of India, SardarVallabhbhai Patel was instrumental in the construction of the present temple.
• Renowned temple architect Prabhaschandar designed it and the first President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad installed the Jyotirling in the new temple on May 11, 1951.

ABOUT MĀRU-GURJARA ARCHITECTURE

• MĀRU-Gurjara architecture or Solaṅkī style, is the style of West Indian temple architecture that originated in Gujarat and Rajasthan from the 11^th to 13^th centuries, under the Chaulukya dynasty (also called Solaṅkī dynasty).