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June – 25

TNPSC BITS
❖ TN government introduced ‘pink autos’ in the city to ensure the safety of women
and encourage them to become entrepreneurs.
o Subsidy of ₹1 lakh each would be provided to 200 women auto drivers.
❖ The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recommended scrapping Section 56(2)
(viib) of the Income-tax Act, known as the 'Angel Tax,' in its Union Budget
suggestions.
❖ The 112th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) was held at the
International Labour Organization (ILO) Headquarters in Geneva.
❖ Anthropic, OpenAI’s biggest rival, has launched its latest AI model called Claude
3.5 Sonnet.

TAMIL NADU
CM’s research fellowship for differently-abled students

❖ The Tamil Nadu government would offer the Chief Minister’s Research Fellowship
to benefit differently-abled students take up research.
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❖ This fellowship would be offered to a total of 50 research scholars who are

differently-abled and pursuing Ph.D.
❖ Each of these 50 students would be provided a fellowship of Rs. 1 lakh.
❖ The government would also offer coaching classes for differently-abled candidates
for them to succeed in various competitive exams conducted by TNPSC and other
recruiting agencies.
❖ A total of 200 beneficiaries would be offered special classes along with
accommodation in Chennai.
❖ The State-level award hitherto awarded to young achievers would henceforth be
named after late Helen Keller.

First phase of ‘Nadanthai Vaazhi Cauvery’ project

❖ The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), Ministry of Jal Shakti, has
approved ₹934.3 crore for the first phase of the ‘Nadanthai Vaazhi Cauvery’.
❖ This project proposed by the Tamil Nadu government for the conservation and
rejuvenation of Cauvery River.
❖ The Union and State governments would share the project cost as ₹560.58 crore
and ₹373.72 crore respectively on a 60:40 basis.
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❖ In the first phase, the project would cover the river from downstream of the
Mettur dam up to Tiruchi.
❖ In the second, the remaining part of the river from Tiruchi to Poompuhar, the
river’s confluence points with the sea.

Land pooling development scheme

❖ The Tamil Nadu government has announced that it would implement the Land
Pooling Area Development Scheme.
❖ The government was going ahead with the plan and had framed the Land Pooling
Area Development Scheme Rules, 2024.
❖ The scheme will facilitate planned development of new areas, provide basic
amenities and mobilises land for trunk infrastructure.
❖ The scheme provides for pooling of land owned by individual/individuals and
developing it with the help of the appropriate planning authority.

Revenue Income of Tamilnadu 2023-2024

❖ Liquor sales during 2023-24 generated a revenue of ₹45,855.67 crore, including
₹35,081.39 crore in VAT and ₹10,774.28 crore in excise revenue.
❖ The total revenue generated during 2023-24 is ₹1,734.54 crore more than the
revenue of ₹44,121.13 crore during 2022-23.
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❖ During 2023-24, the government earned a revenue of ₹53.93 crore through the
special fee on imported foreign liquor.

NATIONAL
Container Port Performance Index 2023

❖ The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) is developed by World Bank and
S&P Global Market Intelligence.
❖ As many as nine ports of India have made it to the global top 100 rankings in the
latest edition.
❖ Visakhapatnam Port made it to the top 20 ports of the World at 19 in 2023.
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❖ Mundra Port climbed up the index at 27 in the current ranking.

❖ The other 7 are Pipavav (ranked 41 in the list), Kamarajar (47), Cochin (63),
Hazira (68), Krishnapatnam (71), Chennai (80) and Jawaharlal Nehru (96).

INTERNATIONAL
Burp Tax - New Zealand

❖ New Zealand government announced scrapping the ‘burp tax’ — a scheme to tax
greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
❖ The burp tax was introduced in October 2022 under the leadership of then Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern.
❖ In New Zealand, there are around 10 million cattle and 25 million sheep, which
are the source of nearly half of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
❖ The primary aim of the scheme was to curtail methane emissions from ruminant
species.

ECONOMY
Indian wealth in Swiss banks
❖ The Indian individuals and firms saw a significant drop in the money they kept
in Swiss banks last year.
❖ According to Switzerland's central bank, these funds fell by 70% in 2023 to 1.04
billion Swiss Francs (around ₹9,771 crore), the lowest in four years.
❖ At the close of 2023, the total liabilities of Swiss banks towards their Indian
clients amounted to 1,039.8 million francs.
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❖ The aggregate funds held by Indian clients with Swiss banks saw a peak of 3.83
billion francs in 2021, which was the highest in 14 years.
❖ In terms of global rankings for funds held by foreign clients in Swiss banks, India
stood at 67th place at the end of 2023, down from 46th place a year earlier.
❖ Meanwhile, the UK, the US, and France topped the list.

REPORTS AND INDICES

Global Energy Transition Index 2024

❖ The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Energy Transition Index.
❖ From 67th place, India moved up to 63rd place out of 120 countries.
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❖ European nations dominated the top ranks with Sweden topping the index.
❖ It is followed by Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and France in the top five.
❖ China was ranked 20th.
❖ India’s clean energy infrastructure, with renewable energy and biomass
comprising 42% of its power generation capacity, is making it the fourth-largest
renewables market globally.
❖ India's per capita emissions, at 1.7 tonnes of CO 2, are already 60% lower than
the global average of 4.4 tonnes of CO2 per capita.

IMPORTANT DAYS
International Olympic Day 2024 - June 23
❖ On 23 June 1894, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded at the
Sorbonne in Paris.
❖ The day was established by IOC in 1948 to encourage individuals from all walks
of life to embrace the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect.
❖ This year’s theme is 'Let's Move and Celebrate'.

UN Public Service Day 2024 - June 23

❖ It highlights the contribution and role of public service in the development of all
sectors around the world.
❖ The UN General Assembly proclaimed this day in 2002.
❖ The UN established the UN Public Service Awards (UNPSA) programme in 2003.
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❖ The 2024 UN Public Service Forum and Awards Ceremony is taking place in
Incheon, Republic of Korea under the theme ‘Fostering Innovation amid Global
Challenges: a Public Sector Perspective’.

MISCELLANEOUS
World’s oldest termite mounds

❖ The world's oldest and active termite mounds have been discovered in
Namaqualand of Namibia, dating back 34 000 years.
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❖ They are existing since before the last Ice Age when woolly mammoths.
❖ The mounds are inhabited by the southern harvester termite.
❖ The previous oldest inhabited mounds - by a different termite species - were
discovered in Brazil.
❖ And they are 4000 years old.

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