to fight against Britain for independence and which got its independence in

1980.

 India has sent a proposal to the United Nations (UN) for declaring the year
2018 as 'International Year of Millets'. The country's proposal was sent to
the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres by Union Agriculture Minister
Radha Mohan Singh.
 Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had organised a consultative
workshop on New National Policy on Biofuels & Pradhan Mantri Ji-Van
Yojana (VGF for 2nd Generation Ethanol Bio Refineries) for inviting
suggestions for drafting a suitable roadmap for Biofuels in India.
 India’s biggest oil refinery is proposed on the western coastline near Rajapur
tehsil of the Ratnagiri district in Maharastra.
 The world’s biggest nuclear power project, the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur
Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) is on the way of construction in Rathnagiri
district of Maharashtra. If built, it would be the largest nuclear
power generating station in the World by net electrical power rating.
 K. M. Cherian, chairman of Frontier Lifeline Hospital and Dr. KM Cherian
Heart Foundation, was honoured with the ‘Best Transplant Expert Award’ by
Chief Minister of TN for contribution to organ transplant.
 Judge Shatrughan Pujari was sworn in as Judge of the Madras High Court.
He has been transferred from the High Court of Orissa to Madras High
Court.
 Karen Pierce, the Foreign Office (FCO) political director, has been appointed
UK ambassador to the United Nations, the first woman to be given the most
prestigious post in the British diplomatic service since the UN’s formation in
1945.

TAMILNADU
Group IV & VAO Exam to be conducted as a single exam - TNPSC

 TNPSC announced its decision to conduct both the Group IV & VAO exam as
a single exam and the desired post will be given to them through interview.
 The educational qualification prescribed for the exams, conducted through
TNPSC for the various posts of Group IV & VAO is merely SSLC.
 The cost of conducting the two exams separately costs around 15 crores
each. It causes additional wastage of money, man power and time.

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Mobile app for better ambulance services launched

 Aiming at improving the response time of 108 ambulances in the state,

which is already better than the national average, the Tamilnadu
government unveiled a mobile-based app, ‘Avasaram 108.’
 The app will help ambulances efficiently navigate their way to the caller’s
exact location at the earliest.
 This has been designed in such a way that the callers would be able to
inform the ambulance even without internet. An SMS is sent to the
responder with the latitude and longitude.

Ordinance enabling single-window nod for industries promulgated

 Tamil Nadu government launched an online portal for single window

clearance facility for investors planning to invest in the state.
 Chief Minister of Tamilnadu launched the portal
"www.easybusiness.tn.gov.in" at the secretariat, that would integrate 11
departments and offer 37 services online
 The portal can be used for ,
 Submission of applications
 Payment of fees
 Downloading approved application
 Renewal of clearances and for availing 37 types of services from
different departments of the government.
 The government also promulgated the Business Facilitation Ordinance and
notified the rules for the fresh law.
 The State government has followed the recommendations of the Department
of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union Ministry of Commerce and
Industry in the Business Reform Action Plan on the enactment of a
legislation on the timelines for getting various clearances.
Nodal agency

 The Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau will be
the nodal agency at the State level in respect of large industries (Investments
more than ₹10 crore).
 In the case of small and medium industrial units (investment up to ₹10
crore), the office of the Regional Joint Director of Industries and Commerce
will be the nodal agency for Chennai district and the district-level District
Industries Centres for other districts.

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Tamil Nadu’s bird ‘record’ hits one-million mark

 According to the eBird India Portal, a platform designed for birders to record
their sightings, The State’s bird ‘record’ —the observation of a particular
species at a particular date, time and place, has reached one million,
 This record has made Tamil Nadu only the third State to achieve this
distinction after Kerala and Karnataka.
 Coimbatore tops the list with most number of records and Kancheepuram
comes second in the list.

DIPP inks pact with Anna University to set up 2nd tech support centre

 The (DIPP-Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) has signed an

agreement with Anna University to set up a Technology and Innovation
Support Center (TISC) under WIPO’s TISC programme in Chennai.
 This will be the second centre in the country to be set up under the World
Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) TISC programme.
 It will be established at the Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR),
Anna University in Chennai.
 WIPO’s TISC programme provides access to high quality technology
information and related services to entrepreneurs in developing countries
helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect and
manage their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

GIS based drone mapping

 The Chennai Corporation started a project for mapping of utilities and

private properties using drones based on a Geographical Information
System (GIS).
 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones.
 Unlike satellite imagery, mapping via drone imaging will help the corporation
identify properties from a low altitude of 60m (197 feet) resulting in high
resolution images that are accurate to within 5cm.
 A more detailed digital mapping and a GIS based on the mapping would help
plan the development of civic amenities.
 The 3D model will provide exact details of the nature of construction (or
building). The main purpose is to increase revenue gained via property tax as
often buildings are under-assessed.

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First digital village in Tamil Nadu

 Ammanur, a village located in the district of Kanchipuram, has become the

1st digital village of the state of Tamil Nadu with over 1000 residents availing
the Wi-Fi facility in the village.
 The free Wi-Fi facility was arranged with the efforts of BSNL and using the
development funds allotted for the parliament constituency.
 The farmers in the village avail the Wi-Fi facility to access various details
including the prices of seeds, fertilizers, etc., electricity charges, weather
conditions and forecast, and agriculture-related information, and about the
latest technologies adopted in the agriculture field.

Mamallapuram stone sculptures get GI tag

 The Geographical Indication (GI) Registry has presented the Geographical

Indication Tag status to Mamallapuram hand crafted stone sculptures of
Tamil Nadu.
 The exquisite rock-sculpting techniques exhibited in Mamallapuram dates
back to early 7th century CE.
 Mamallapuram was named after the king Narasimhavarma Pallava, who was
also known as Mamallan (great wrestler).
 Sculptors use blue metal for stone sculptors instead of granite which has
high density and very costly.
Pallava dynasty

 The Pallava dynasty, which ruled the area between 6 and 9th centuries A.D.,
is responsible for the development of port town as a centre of art and
architecture.
 Mahendravarman (AD 580-630), his son Narasimhavarman I or Mamalla (AD
630-668), Paramesvaravarman (A.D. 672-700) and Narasimhavarman II or
Rajasimha (A.D. 700-728) had contributed the most of sculptures.
GI tags

 Tamil Nadu is first among the states in India with regard to the number of GI
tags for its products, while Uttar Pradesh comes second.
 Darjeeling Tea was the first Indian product to get a Geographical Indication.
 Tamil Nadu has submitted 50 products of which 24 have been approved by
the registry and the most famous among these is the Kanchipuram silk.
 It is notable that Dindigul Lockers has not yet got its GI so far.

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Organ donation- Tamil Nadu

 For the third time in a row, the State had bagged the first place in organ
transplantation in the country.
 The award was presented by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant
Organisation (NOTTO).
 In Tamilnadu under Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health
Insurance Scheme, organ transplations are carrying out both in government
and private hospitals.
 For this purpose, “TRANSTAN” (transplant authority of tamilnadu), a
separate body was set up and it was given autonomy.
 This is the India’s first organ transplantation authority.

Chennai in UNESCO's Creative Cities list

 Chennai, capital city of Tamil Nadu, has been included in the list of
UNESCO's Creative Cities Network for its rich musical tradition.
 So far, 64 cities from 44 countries have been designated in this list for their
contribution to music.
 With inclusion of these cities, total count of UNESCO Creative Cities Network
has now gone up to 180 cities in 72 countries.
 Chennai is the third Indian city on the list of UNESCO Creative Cities list
after Jaipur (added as City of Crafts and Folk Art) and Varanasi (added as
City of Music) were added last year.
 UNESCO's Creative Cities Network was "created in 2004 to promote
cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a
strategic factor for sustainable urban development."
 Gastronomy, music, crafts and folk art, media arts, design, film and
literature are the seven fields of creativity highlighted by the network.
 Some of the other cities included along with Chennai are Alba (Italy) for
gastronomy, Almaty (Kazakhstan) for music and Auckland (New Zealand) for
music.

India's first wave-powered navigational buoy

 India's first wave-powered navigational buoy, developed by the National

Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), was launched in Chennai.
 The buoy, deployed at Ennore Kamarajar Port by Ministry of Earth Sciences
on the eve of executive committee meeting of IEA (International Energy
Agency)-OES (Ocean Energy Systems).

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  A buoy is an anchored float serving as a navigation mark, to show reefs or
other hazards, or for anchorage.
 This buoy for guiding ships, is powered by wave energy while conventional
ones use solar power, it stores energy generated by waves in a battery.
 It will guide ships in and out of ports, navigate through a designated
channel.

 The buoy would be able to record data on wind speed and direction and
various other aspects, which would be relayed to port authorities.
IEA-OES meeting
 33rd executive committee meeting of International Energy Agency-Ocean
Energy Systems Collaboration Programme (IEA-OES) held recently.
 Ocean Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme is an
intergovernmental collaboration between countries.
 It operates under the framework established by the International Energy
Agency.
 India became a member of the forum in April 2017. By this India would have
access to advanced research and development teams, technologies and data
in the area of ocean energy across the world.

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