INDIAN POLITY

01

Mudhalvar Padaipagam m In 2008, it gained autonomous status.

l Objective : To facilitate various entrepreneurs to work at one l Chairman: Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
place and those preparing for various competitive exams to
study at one place. The 2024 award was conferred upon former Tamil professor of
Chennai University, Dr. M.Selvarasan. (Prize Amount: 10 lakh)
l Location: Kolathur (Chennai)
Oottachathai Uruthisei Scheme
l Inaugurated by: Chief Minister. M. K. Stalin
l Objective: The goal is to ensure that children in Tamil Nadu
l Start : 04.11.2024 grow up strong and healthy.
l Start : 21.05.2022
l Features:
l Location: Muthorai Children’s Centre, Nilgiris District
m Co working space : A platform for entrepreneurs to work.
l Scheme Details:
m All types of books for competitive exams are available m Nutrition kits were delivered directly to the homes of
here malnourished infants under six months and lactating
mothers.
Thanthai Periyar Library, Science Centre
m 77.3% of the children identied as severely malnourished
l Foundation : 06.11.2024, Anupparpalayam, Coimbatore. have returned to normal conditions.

l Start : Jan 2026 l Scheme Extension:

m The second phase of this scheme was launched at the
l Fund allocation :
Varanasi Children’s Centre with an estimated budget of
m 300 crore estimate. Rs.22 crore.
New Initiatives by the Tamil Nadu Government
m It was announced in the 2024-25 budget of Tamil Nadu
Government.
Ariyalur District R s . 1 0 0 0 footwear manufacturing
l Signicance: It is in a way that further stimulates the thirst crore` factory
for knowledge among the people of Coimbatore, especially Thiruvallur District Rs.330 crore TIDEL Park
the younger generation.
Precision Engineering & Technology Center
Anna Centenary Library Chennai
Kalaignar Centenary Library Madurai l For the rst time in South India, a Precision Manufacturing
Cluster has been established at Thirumudivakkam, SIDCO
Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award Industrial Estate, Kanchipuram District with an initial
investment of Rs.18.18 crore.
Central Institute of Classical Tamil: l This initiative aims to help micro, small, and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) compete in the global industrial
m It was Established in 2006 as a result of the efforts of market, enhance their manufacturing capabilities, encourage
the scholar and former Chief Minister Kalaignar, who innovation, and provide opportunities to enter emerging
aimed to create a dedicated institution for Tamil. industrial sectors.
 INDIAN POLITY

Achievements of the Tamil Nadu Government Makkal Kavignar

Kalai unavu thittam l December 11 - Birth anniversary of Mahakavi Bharathiyar.
l Objective: The scheme was launched to provide breakfast l His Puthiya Aathichudi verses continue to inspire and evoke
to government school students from grades 1 to 5, ensuring emotions, even after centuries. That is why Perarignar Anna
they continue their education without hunger. joyfully honored him with the title Makkal Kavignar.
l Start :15.09.2022
l Perarignar Anna about Bharathiyar,
l Location : Aadhimoolam Corporation Primary School,
Madurai
l Inaugurated By:Chief Minister M.K. Stalin
l Special Feature: Tamil Nadu became the rst state in India
to implement this scheme.
l Achievement: Every day, 20 lakh students from government
and government-aided primary schools benet from this
program.
International Year of Quantum Science and
Kalaignar Magalir Urimaithogai Thittam Technology
l Objective: To improve the livelihood and quality of life of
Quantum Science
women and empower them economically.
l Start :15.09.2023 l The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International
Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
l Financial Assistance: Rs.1,000 per month
l The UN has also declared the Year of Cyber Security as part
l Achievement: Every month, 1.16 crore women receive
Rs.1,000 as nancial support. of the Year of Quantum Science and Technology, calling for
greater awareness about cyber security and cyber fraud.
Other Achievements
l 1925 - Heisenberg published theory on quantum technology.
l According to the NITI Aayog report, Tamil Nadu ranks rst
in India across 13 sectors.
Nitrate pollution in groundwater
l Tamil Nadu ranks rst in the list of top-performing states in
the industrial sector. l The annual groundwater quality report of the Central
l It is also the state with the highest percentage of working Groundwater Board has revealed that 15 districts in four
women in India, at 42%. states, including Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, are severely
affected by nitrate chemical pollution in groundwater.
Award-Winning District – Virudhunagar
l The report also revealed that pollution levels are rising in
l Virudhunagar district has been recognized for its outstanding
400 districts across the country.
implementation of various school education schemes. The
District Collector of Virudhunagar was honored with the l In particular, 40% of the samples collected from the states
Chief Minister’s Good Governance Award for successfully of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan were found to have
implementing school education programs and ensuring that nitrate pollution exceeding the permissible levels.
over 95% of students who completed 12th grade enrolled
in higher education under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme. l Permissible level of Nitrate in ground water - 45mg/ litre.
l At the 2023 District Collectors’ Conference, the Best District
Collector Award was presented for excellence in school Sports - Awards
education administration.
Dronacharya Award
l The 2024 Best District Collector Award was also conferred for
outstanding efforts in Providing a large number of free house Subhash Rana Para shooting
site to differently-abled individuals Implementing welfare
schemes for the differently-abled Organizing employment Deepali Deshpande Shooting
camps. Sandeep Sangwan Hockey
 INDIAN POLITY

Lifetime achievement award Death Penalty for Sexual Offenders

Punishments for Sexual Crimes:
S Muralidharan Badminton 1. Rape:

Armando Agnelo Colaco Foot ball l Minimum 14 years of rigorous imprisonment, extendable to
life imprisonment, along with a ne.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2. Rape by Police, Government Ofcials, or Public
Servants:
l Physical Education Foundation of India l Minimum 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, extendable to
Maulana Abul kalam Azad Trophy life imprisonment.
3. Rape causing Death or Permanent Disability:

Chandigarh University Overall Champion l Punishment includes life imprisonment with a ne or death
penalty.
Lovely Professional University, First Runner up 4. Gang Rape:
Punjab l Punishment includes life imprisonment and a ne.
5. Gang Rape of a Minor (under 18 years):
Guru Nanak Dev University, Second Runner up
l Rigorous life imprisonment with a ne or death penalty,
Amritsar, Punjab
depending on the severity of the crime.
6. Repeat Offenders:
What is HMPV?
l Death penalty or life imprisonment with a ne.
7. Disclosing the Identity of the Victim:
l Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a respiratory infection
affecting children, the elderly, and those with weak immunity. l Imprisonment of 3 to 5 years and a ne.
8. Assault or Use of Force to Insult a Woman’s Dignity:
l First identied in 2001, it has no vaccine.
Imprisonment of 3 to 5 years with a ne.
l

l The virus spreads through droplets from coughs, sneezes, 9. Sexual Harassment:
or contact with contaminated surfaces.
l Imprisonment up to 5 years with a ne.
Bengalure surpasses Chennai as the top city for 10. Assault to Disrobe a Woman:
women to work l Imprisonment of 5 to 10 years with a ne.
11. Stalking:
l In this ranking, Bengalure, belonging to Karnataka, has
secured the rst place. Chennai, which was in the  rst l First offense: Up to 5 years imprisonment with a ne.
position in last year’s list, has been pushed to the second l Repeat offense: Up to 7 years imprisonment with a ne.
position. 12. Acid Attacks:
l Life imprisonment with a ne or death penalty if the victim
l Cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata,
suffers severe injuries.
Ahmedabad, Delhi, Gurugram, and Coimbatore have
followed in the top 10 rankings. l Attempted acid attack: Minimum 10 years imprisonment,
extendable to life imprisonment, along with a ne.
Singapore Tops Passport Rankings; India at 85th
Interpol Introduces ‘Silver Notice’ for Tracking
l According to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks the Illicit Wealth
world’s most powerful passports annually, Singapore holds
l The Interpol, headquartered in Lyon, France, has introduced
the top position for 2025.
the Silver Notice to track individuals hiding illegal wealth in
l India, which ranked 71st in 2006, fell to 90th in 2021, foreign countries. Interpol issues different notices based on
crime categories:
climbed to 80th in 2024, and has now dropped to 85th.
 INDIAN POLITY

l Red Notice: For arresting criminals in other countries. Award Details and Recipients:
l Yellow Notice: For locating missing persons. 1. Thiruvalluvar Award (2025):
l Blue Notice: For gathering additional details about criminals.
l Pulavar M. Padikkaramu
l Black Notice: For unidentied bodies.
2. Anna Award (2024):
l Green Notice: For alerting about criminal activities.
l Orange Notice: For public safety warnings. l L. Ganesan, senior political leader.
First Silver Notice: 3. Kamarajar Award:

l Issued at the request of Italy to trace assets accumulated l K.V. Thangabalu, former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee
abroad by a notorious criminal. President.
4. Bharathiar Award:
2024: The Hottest Year on Record
l Poet Kapilan
l For the rst time, global temperatures exceeded the 1.5°C 5. Bharathidasan Award:
limit set by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which aimed
to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. l Poet Pon. Selva Ganapathy
l In 2024, global temperatures rose to 1.6°C. 6. Thiru Vi Ka Award:

l Dr. G.R. Ravindranath

Indigenous Warships: A Milestone in Self-
Reliance 7. Ki. Aa. Pe. Viswanatham Award:

l Writer and critic V.M. Pothiyaverpan

1. INS Surat (P15B Project):
Social Justice Awards:
l The fourth and nal destroyer of the P15B (Visakhapatnam-
class) missile destroyer project. 1. Periyar Award (2024):

l Known as one of the largest and most advanced destroyers l Viduthalai Rajendran, General Secretary of the Dravidar
in the world, it has been designed with 75% indigenous Viduthalai Kazhagam.
components. 2. Ambedkar Award (2024):
2. INS Nilgiri (P17A Project):
l D. Ravikumar, General Secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal
l The rst ship built under the P17A frigate project, equipped Katchi.
with modern technology and capable of operating multiple Kalaignar Award (2024):
types of helicopters, including MH-60R Seahawk.
l Pulavar Muthuvavasi was the rst recipient of this award.
l Designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and
Award Benets:
built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).
3. INS Vagsheer (P75 Project): Recipients of the awards were given:

l The sixth and final Scorpène-class submarine, built in l Rs.2 lakh cash prize (for literary awards), ?5 lakh (for social
collaboration with the French Navy under the P75 project. justice awards), Rs.10 lakh (for the Kalaignar Award).

l It can per form multiple tasks, such as surface and l A sovereign gold medal.
underwater combat and intelligence gathering, highlighting l A citation.
India’s expertise in submarine construction.
India to Double Turmeric Production in 5 Years
Awards for Tamil Scholars: Presented by Chief
Minister M.K. Stalin Turmeric Production Goals:

l To honor Thiruvalluvar Day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. l India has the potential to double turmeric production to 20
Stalin presented awards to 10 Tamil scholars at a ceremony lakh tonnes in the next 5 years, according to Union Minister
held at the Chennai Secretariat. Piyush Goyal.
 INDIAN POLITY

l To enhance global markets and increase exports, the recently becoming the 4th nation after Russia, the US, and China to
inaugurated National Turmeric Board will play a signicant achieve this technology.
role. Details of the Mission:
National Turmeric Board (NTB): l SPADEX-A and SPADEX-B, weighing 220 kg each, were
launched aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket from Sriharikota on
l The board was launched on January 14 in Nizamabad, December 30, 2024.
Telangana, by Union Minister Piyush Goyal. l Initially separated by 20 km, the satellites were gradually
brought closer and successfully docked at a distance of 3
l Palle Ganga Reddy has been appointed as its rst chairman.
meters.
Key Highlights: Signicance:
l This technology is crucial for building space stations, satellite
l India accounts for 70% of global turmeric production, earning
servicing, and supporting future human spaceight missions.
the nickname “Golden Spice.”
l ISRO plans to establish the Bharatiya Antariksha Station
ISRO to Build Third Rocket Launch Pad at (PAS), India’s own space station, by 2035, with components
Sriharikota being launched from 2028 onward.

Key Details: Jaffna Cultural Centre Named After

Thiruvalluvar
l The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved
l The cultural center in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, has been named after
the construction of a third rocket launch pad at the Satish
Thiruvalluvar, the revered Tamil poet and philosopher.
Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, at a cost of `3,985 crore.

The existing launch pads include: National Health Mission Extended for 5 Years
Cabinet Decision:
l First Launch Pad (1993): Used for India’s rst rocket launch.
l The National Health Mission (NHM), focused on improving
l Second Launch Pad (2005): Developed to meet increased public healthcare services, has been extended for ve more
demand for rocket launches. years by the Union Cabinet.
l The government stated that NHM’s efforts will enable
8th Pay Commission for Central Government India to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in
Employees healthcare well before the 2030 target.

Approval for 8th Pay Commission: Iron Age Site: Sivakalai

l The Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved Report:
the formation of the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries 1. Antiquity of iron : Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil
and pensions for central government employees and retirees. Nadu

About 7th Pay commission 2. Author’s - K. Rajan, R. Sivanantham

Excavation Site:
1. Head - Justice A. K. Mathur
1. Sivakalai, Sivakalai parambu (Burial site)
2. It’s tenure ends in 2026. 2. Near Tamirabarani river
India Becomes the 4th Country to Achieve Key discovery:

Space Docking Technology 1. Analysis

1. Accelerator mass spectrometry.
ISRO’s Achievement:
2. Optically stimulated Luminescence
l India achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting 2. Results revealed that iron age in Tamil Nadu dates back to
a space docking experiment under the SPADEX program, (2953 BCE - 3345 BCE)
 INDIAN POLITY
100th Launch of ISRO l The seeds, part of the Compact Research Module for Orbital
Plant Studies (CROPS) experiment, sprouted within just four
l Launch pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
days of being sent into space aboard the PSLV-C60 mission.
l Launch Vehicle - GSLV - F15
l On December 30, the PSLV-C60 rocket launched, placing
l Payload - NVS - O2 satellite two SpaDeX satellites into orbit, and carrying the POEM-4
l Launch date - 29 Jan 2025 platform with 24 onboard experiments.

l NVS - O2 is the 2nd satellite in the series of 2nd generation Z-Morh tunnel
satellite of Navigation with Indian constellation (NAVIC). l PM will arrive on January 13 to physically inaugurate the
New Chairman of ISRO Z-Morh tunnel that will bypass the road from Gagamgir to
l V.Narayanan is currently the Director of Liquid Propulsion Sonamarg allowing visitors and locals to visit the hill station
Systems Centre (LPSC) throughout the year.

l Dr. Narayana, who is a rocket and spacecraft propulsion l The Z-Morh Tunnel is a 6.5 km long 2-lane road tunnel
expert, joined the ISRO in 1984 and functioned in various between Gagangir and Sonamarg in the Ganderbal district
capacities. of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Biological Data Centre Important Days
l A genome is the complete set of DNA in an organism, January Pravasi Diaspora’s Contriubution to a
containing all the necessary information to build and 9 Bharatiya Divas Viksit Bharat
maintain that organism. (PBD)

l The Indian Biological Data Centre now stores 8 petabytes January National Youth It promotes fearlessness,
of data, a milestone in biotechnology research celebrated 15 Day strength, unity, religious
harmony, spiritual growth and
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
service to humanity among
l This centre was inaugurated in 2022, which is India’s only the youth
databank. India Prime Minister launched
Fiscal Health Index 2025 Meteorological “Mission Mausam”
Department’s
l Odisha tops NITI scal health index, Chhattisgarh has second 150th
place Foundation Day

l Worst-performing States : Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, West January International AI and education preserving
Bengal, and Kerala were the in the worst-performing States 24 Day of Education human agency in a world of
automation
Fiscal Health Index (FHI).
National Girl Empowering girls for a bright
l Front-runners category : Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,
Child day future
Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka under the “front-
runners” category. January 15th National Nothing Like voting, I Vote
25 Voters Day for sure
l Performers : Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Haryana were (NVD)
classied as performers.
January 76th Republic l I n d o n e s i a n P r e si d e n t
Successful Germination of Cowpea Seeds in 26 day of India Prabowo Subianto
Space at tended as the Chief
Guest.
l The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved
l Golden India : Heritage and
a signicant break through in space research with the Development
successful germination of cowpea seeds in space.