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One Liners 22-12-2025
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History, Art and Culture
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Dudran – A Traditional Kashmiri Village
- Location – Hilly village in Uri area, near Line of Control, Baramulla district, northern Kashmir.
- Landscape – Surrounded by steep slopes, dense forests, flowing streams.
- Sustenance – Primarily agriculture (pulses, corn, seasonal vegetables on terraced fields) and livestock (dairy farming).
- Food preservation –
- Relies on traditional, natural methods - drying, smoking, and storing in "doud khot" (stone-and-wood structures acting as natural refrigerators).
- Winter snow and cold also preserve food.
- Resilience – Despite isolation and uncertainty, villagers preserve traditions and sustain their dairy-based lifestyle.
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Social Issues
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10th Swachh Survekshan
- It is the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey.
- Launched by – Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs.
- Theme 2025-26 – Swacchata Ki Nayi Pehel- Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath.
- New award category – To recognize Swachh Shehar Jodis, based on the average score of jodis, with recognition across each population category.
- Aim – To build Garbage Free Cities, it is catalysing change.
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International Relations and Issues
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Bilateral Meeting
- Between – India and Netherlands
- Aim – To boost global cooperation in maritime heritage, museum design and cultural exchange.
- Key outcomes –
- MoU between the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal and the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam is a landmark step in taking India’s rich 4,500-year maritime legacy to the global stage.
- This partnership will bring world-class expertise in conservation, curation and museum design, while strengthening cultural ties.
- Significance – It also aligns with Prime Minister’s vision of combining heritage with innovation to promote inclusive education, tourism and people-to-people connections.”
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Environment
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Hornbill Population Survey
Tamil Nadu’s forest officials plan to launch an extensive field exercise to understand the status of hornbill populations across forest landscapes.
- Survey beginning in – Late December, until the end of March or early April 2026.
- 1st phase will cover – Anamalai, Srivilliputhur–Megamalai and Kalakkad–Mundathurai tiger reserves, along with the Karamadai and Mettupalayam ranges under the Coimbatore forest division.
- Method of survey – Line transect method.
- Documentation of 4 species — The Great Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Indian Grey Hornbill and Malabar Pied Hornbill.
- Aim – To protect habitat, particularly the conservation of large, mature trees with natural hollows that hornbills depend on for nesting.
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28th Meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
- Held at – Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal.
- Focus on key challenges –
- Measures to address human–tiger conflict, including
- A three-pronged strategy.
- The launch of the project ‘Management of Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves’.
- Issues related to staff shortages, financial constraints, habitat degradation, and invasive species management.
- Decision ratified –
- Approval of Tiger Conservation Plans;
- Extension and expansion of Project Cheetah;
- Tiger translocation; prey augmentation;
- Landscape management planning;
- Carnivore health management training programmes.
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22nd Steering Committee Meeting of Project Elephant
- Held at – Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal.
- Key highlights –
- Reviewed updates on
- The All-India Synchronized Elephant Estimation, a critical exercise for evidence-based planning and decision-making.
- The status of human–elephant conflict across the country
- Discussed on progress under the Model Elephant Conservation Plan for the Nilgiri Elephant Reserve and ongoing work on DNA profiling of captive elephants, with emphasis on strengthening scientific management and welfare standards.
- Evaluation of elephant population estimation methods, progress on integrated conservation and management strategies for the Ripu–Chirang Elephant Reserve, and future action plans.
- Significance – It reaffirmed India’s commitment to science-based conservation, inter-state coordination, technological innovation, and community-centric approaches to ensure a sustainable future for elephants and the people living in elephant landscapes.
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Science
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Light-Based Computing Chip (LightGen)
- The optical AI chips called 'LightGen', a chip that uses light instead of electricity to generate images.
- It combines a photonic encoder, an optical latent space, and a photonic generator, achieving 100x faster and more energy-efficient performance than electronic chips.
- Developed by – Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tsinghua University.
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LightGen’s Combinations
- Photonic Computing – Using photons (light particles) instead of electrons for computation, offering potential for higher speed and lower energy consumption.
- Photonic Encoder/Generator – Components that process and generate information using light.
- Optical Latent Space – A compact representation of an image's features carried as a pattern of light in optic cables, allowing direct manipulation without electrical conversion.
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Superkilonova
- It is a rare, exceptionally bright cosmic explosion, potentially resulting from a kilonova (merger of two neutron stars) with an additional energy source, such as fallback matter or a preceding supernova.
- Kilonova – Emission from radioactive decay of heavy elements (gold, platinum) ejected when two neutron stars merge.
- Superkilonova – A kilonova with an additional energy source, making it brighter and bluer, possibly for longer.
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Miscellaneous
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World Meditation Day
- Observed annually on – 21th December.
- Adopted in – 2024, by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
- Objectives –
- To raise awareness about meditation and its benefits.
- To recall the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
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