UPSC Daily Current Affairs| One Liners 06-09-2025

One Liners 06-09-2025

History, Art and Culture

Onam

• It is an annual Hindu festival.
• Origin – Kerala.
• Celebrated on – Malayalam calendar month of Chingam, which in Gregorian calendar overlaps with August–September.
• Reason for celebration
  • Commemorate to - The Vamana avatar of Vishnu, the subsequent homecoming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali and mythologies of Hinduism related to Kashyapa and Parashurama.
  • Agrarian celebration – To mark the harvest month of Chingam after the harshness of Karkidakam.
  • New year day – for Malayali people.
• Include – Vallam Kali (boat races), Pulikali (tiger dances), Pookkalam (flower Rangoli), Tug of War, Kummattikali (mask dance), Onathallu (martial arts), and other celebrations.

Shilp Samagam Mela 2025

• Held in – Bengaluru.
• Started in – 2022.
• Organised by – Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with Traditional Artisans’ Upliftment Livelihood Programme.
• Financed by - National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation and National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation.
• Objectives – To provide a marketing platform for the products of the communities.
• To preserve the traditional arts and empower the economically weaker sections.

Traditional Artisans’ Upliftment Livelihood Programme (TULIP)

• Initiative in – 2024, by National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Objectives – To market the excellent products of the target groups to the general public in India and abroad through various e-platforms.
• To empower artisans with access to digital marketplaces and participate in domestic/global trade fairs, exhibitions, and fashion shows.  

Emblem of India (Ashoka Emblem)

• It is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath.
• Adopted on – 26^th January, 1950.
• Original – There are 4 lions, mounted back-to-back, on a circular abacus, which itself rests on a bell-shaped lotus.
• The frieze of the abacus has sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening Dharma Chakras.
• State emblem - The profile of the Lion Capital showing 3 lions mounted on the abacus with a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left.
• The bell-shaped lotus was omitted.
• Motto – Satyameva Jayate, which means 'Truth Alone Triumphs', written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital.

Milad-Un-Nabi (Eid-e-Milad)

• Celebrated on – 12^th of Rabi' al-Awwal, the 3^rd month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
• Origin – Date back to the early Islamic era, beginning under the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt.
• Commemorate to – The birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, believed to have been born in Mecca in 570 CE on the 12th of Rabi’ al-Awwal.

Science

4^th Issue of Quarterly Insight document – “Introduction to

2D materials”

• It is the NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub’s Future Front Quarterly Insights series.
• Released by – NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• Aim – To drive awareness about the strategic significance of 2D materials.

2D materials

• Two-dimensional (2D) materials, characterized by their atomically thin layers and extraordinary electronic, optical, and mechanical properties.
• Size – It is just about 1 atom thick, or around 1 nanometre.
• For scale, 1nm is about 1/80,000 the width of a human hair, or 800,000 times smaller than the tip of a pencil.
• Strength – Despite this thinness, they are 200 times stronger than steel and conduct electricity more efficiently than copper.
• Significance – It emerged as a beacon of innovation that promises to reshape the future of semiconductors, energy, electronics, and quantum computing.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• AI – It is a set of technologies that enable computers to perform a variety of advanced functions, including the ability to see, understand and translate spoken and written language, analyse data, make recommendations, and more.
• Types –
  • Artificial narrow intelligence (ANI)
  • Artificial general intelligence (AGI)
  • Artificial super intelligence (ASI)

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

• AGI – It is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that aims to mimic the cognitive abilities of the human brain.
• Characteristics –
  • Generalization ability – It can transfer knowledge and skills learned in one domain to another.
  • It enables to adapt to new and unseen situations effectively.
  • Common sense knowledge – It has a vast repository of knowledge about the world, including facts, relationships, and social norms, allowing it to reason and make decisions based on this common understanding.

AI vs AGI