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March – 11

TNPSC BITS
❖ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced Thozhiyar Viduthi (hostels for the working
women) in Kancheepuram, Erode, Dharmapuri, Sivagangai, Theni, Cuddalore,
Nagapattinam, Ranipet, and Karur districts.
❖ Jayashree Vencatesan, co-founder, Care Earth Trust, was awarded the Ramsar
award for ‘Wetland Wise Use’, for fighting to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s water bodies
and wetlands.
❖ The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) have signed a Fiscal Support Agreement
(FSA) to establish the country’s first commercial semiconductor fabrication unit
in Dholera, Gujarat.
❖ Amul (Anand Milk Union Ltd in Gujarat) plans to gradually enter Tamil Nadu’s
milk market, providing a cooperative model for local farmers.
❖ P Vimala from Tamil Nadu has been selected for the Sahitya Akademi Prize for
Translation 2024 for her work 'Enatu Ankal' in Tamil, which is a translation of
author Nalini Jameela's autobiography 'Ente Anungal' in Malayalam.
❖ Tamil Nadu CM presented the Avvaiyar Award to Yasoda Shanmugasundaram,
former Vice-Chancellor, Mother Teresa Women's University, for her contribution
to the empowerment of women.
❖ FIFA excludes Russia, Congo, and Pakistan from 2026 Football World Cup Due
to various Controversies.
❖ India beats New Zealand in the Final and won the 2025 ICC Cricket Champions
Trophy for the third time.
❖ Karnataka announced that Bengaluru City University will be renamed after the
late Dr Manmohan Singh and this will be the first institution in India to bear his
name.

NATIONAL NEWS
Pashu Aushadhi Initiative
❖ The Union government will open “Pashu Aushadhi” stores across the country.
❖ It aims to provide affordable generic veterinary medicines to people engaged in
animal husbandry and dairying.
❖ It has been conceptualised on the lines of the existing Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya
Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK).
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❖ The Pashu Aushadhi stores will be run by the cooperative societies and Pradhan
Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSK).
❖ As per the 20th Livestock Census, India’s Livestock population stood at 535.78
million in 2019.
❖ This also included a total bovine population (including cattle, buffalo, Mithun
and yak) of 302.79 million.

MeitY’s New Initiatives

❖ The Union Ministry for Electronics & Information Technology unveiled a series of
AI-driven initiatives under the IndiaAI Mission.
❖ It launches AIKosha, a secured platform that provides a repository of datasets,
models and use cases to enable AI innovation.
❖ It also features the AI sandbox capabilities through an integrated development
environment along with tools and tutorials.
❖ AI Compute Portal was also launched recently.
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❖ This Portal is aimed at providing businesses and developers with affordable AI

processing and inference capabilities alongside facilities for network and storage.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
BRICS CCI WE Summit 2025

❖ The BRICS CCI WE hosted the fifth edition of the BRICS CCI WE Annual Women's
Summit & Felicitations 2025.
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❖ The theme for this year's Summit was 'Women Changemakers: Transforming the
World, Shaping the Future'.
❖ A Commemorative Book - She for Her - celebrating the achievements of the trail
blazing Women Changemakers was also released.
❖ Chairperson of Kailash Group of Hospitals Uma Sharma, was conferred with the
National Award at the event.

ECONOMY NEWS
GoM for Revenue Mobilization

❖ The GST Council has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to suggest major
recommendations for the revenue mobilisation in case of natural calamities or
disasters.
❖ It has reconstituted another GoM on analysis of revenue from GST.
❖ The GoM is led by Uttar Pradesh’s Finance Minister Suresh Khanna.
❖ The Other members include the finance ministers from Assam, Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
❖ The group will also recommend the rate structure for the calamity cess and its
duration.
❖ The GST law allows for special taxes during disasters.
❖ In 2018, a similar GoM was formed to address Kerala’s needs after the severe
flooding.
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❖ In 2019, Kerala was permitted to levy a 1 per cent calamity cess for two years to
fund rehabilitation efforts.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Chandrayaan-3 - Ice Beneath Moon’s Surface
❖ Chandrayaan-3 data suggests that, the hidden reserves of water ice may be more
abundant than once believed.
❖ ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed near the Moon’s south pole on
August 23, 2023.
❖ ChaSTE equipment was designed to measure the thermal conductivity and the
temperature of the lunar surface.
❖ It measured temperatures from the surface down to a depth of 10cm.
❖ Temperatures at the landing site, as named 'Shiv Shakti Point,' ranged from 82C
during the day to -170C at night.

SE2000 Semi-Cryogenic Engine

❖ ISRO recently successfully conducted the hot test on a semi-cryogenic engine
(SE2000).
❖ This test is known as the Power Head Test Article (PHTA) and the first hardware
test for the development of semi-cryo engines.
❖ The cryogenic engine uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
❖ Whereas a semi-cryogenic engine uses a liquid oxygen – kerosene combination,
where kerosene is readily storable.
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❖ This combination offers advantages like the high-density impulse, less toxic (with
respect to storage) and cost-effectiveness.

Gandiva Air-to-Air Missile

❖ India’s latest and most advanced air-to-air missile, the Astra MK-III, has now
been officially renamed Gandiva.
❖ It will have an ability to strike enemy aerial targets from a range of 340 kilometers
when the target is at an altitude of 20 kilometers, and 190 kilometers when the
target is at a lower altitude of 8 kilometers.
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❖ With the eventual induction of Gandiva, India will possess one of the longest-
range BVR air-to-air missiles in the world.
❖ This will allow India to surpass China’s PL-15 missile, which has a range of 300
kilometers, and the U.S. AIM-174 BVRAAM, which has a confirmed range of 240
kilometers.

ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Clouded leopard and Marbled cat in Assam

❖ Trap cameras inside Dehing Patkai National Park in Assam have captured the
rare sight of a clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa).
❖ It is listed as vulnerable on the red list of IUCN.
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❖ The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) is a small wild cat native from the eastern
Himalayas to Southeast Asia.
❖ It has been listed as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List.

REPORTS AND INDICES

Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2025
❖ India has emerged as a leading global wealth hub, with a current population of
85,698 High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs), placing it fourth globally
❖ It is behind only the US, China, and Japan.
❖ The number of HNWIs—defined as individuals with at least US$1 million in
investable assets—rose by 4.4% globally in 2024.
❖ Notably, the population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), those with
assets exceeding US$100 million, surpassed 100,000 for the first time.
❖ In 2024, the US led the world with a 5.2% increase in its population of HNWIs.
❖ Asia is closely followed, growing at a rate of 5%, while Africa saw a 4.7% rise.

PERSONALITIES, AWARDS, AND EVENTS

Justice V. Ramaswami
❖ Former Supreme Court judge V. Ramaswami, 96, died recently.
❖ He was appointed as an Additional Government Pleader in 1962 and as State
Public Prosecutor in 1969.
❖ He was elevated as a judge of the Madras High Court in 1971.
❖ In 1987, he got appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court
and was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1989.
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❖ An impeachment motion was moved against him for extravagant spending during
his tenure in Punjab and Haryana High Court but the motion failed in 1993.

World Sustainable Development Summit 2025

❖ The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2025 was held in New
Delhi.
❖ Theme of the event is “Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development
and Climate Solutions.”
❖ According to the latest progress report on sustainable development goals, of the
169 targets, only 14% are on track, while 20% are not even tracked.
❖ India reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 7.93% in 2020.

Festival of Letters 2025

❖ Sahitya Akademi under the Ministry of Culture is organizing its annual Festival
of Letters in New Delhi.
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❖ This is Asia’s Largest Literature Festival with about 700 writers from different
parts of the country representing more than 50 languages.
❖ Theme of the festival is Indian Literary Traditions.

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