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March – 13

TNPSC BITS
❖ Tamil Nadu CM has inaugurated Godrej Consumer Products Limited’s ₹515-crore
manufacturing facility in Thiruporur taluk of Chengalpattu district.
❖ The Mayiladuthurai forest Division will start functioning from April 1 with
Sirkazhi and Mayiladuthurai Forest Ranges besides a Forest Extension Range.
❖ The Amrut Biodiversity Park was inaugurated in of New Delhi with 14,500 native
plants and tree species and 3,20,000 riverine grasses.
❖ Pranav Venkatesh from India has secured the first position in the World Junior
Chess Championship in the under-20 category held in Montenegro.
❖ The Professor Suman Chakraborty from IIT Kharagpur has been awarded the
2026 TWAS Award in Engineering and Computer Sciences by UNESCO.
❖ The Joint Military Exercise Khanjar-XII, between the special forces of India and
Kyrgyzstan, is being held at Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan.
❖ Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri has made a comeback to the national team
at the age of 40, reversing his retirement decision from last year.

TAMIL NADU NEWS

Authoor betel leaf cultivation

❖ Cultivation of the famous betel leaves from Authoor (Authoor vetrilai) has been
dwindling over the past year due to the severe pest infestation and unpredictable
climatic conditions.
❖ The Climate plays a huge role in producing a good yield and any disruption
significantly impacts it.
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❖ Known for its unique alkali taste with a subtle punch, ‘Authoor Betel’ received
Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2022.
❖ The distinct flavour of these leaves is attributed to the region’s soil composition,
climatic conditions, and irrigation using ‘Thenkaal pasanam.’
❖ It is a branch of irrigation canal from Tamirabarani river.
❖ The farmers produce six types of betel leaves - ‘Chakkai, ‘Maathu,’ ‘Payirraasi,’
‘Mudhukaalraasi,’ ‘Payirsadha’ and ‘Mudhukaal.’
❖ Among these varieties, ‘Chakkai’ and ‘Maathu’ are majorly exported to markets
of other States, especially in northern parts of India.

NATIONAL NEWS
Project NAMAN

❖ HDFC Bank, Indian Army, and CSC Academy expand the Project NAMAN.
❖ This initiative honors veterans and will now be implemented at 26 Directorates
of Indian Army Veterans (DIAV) locations.
❖ Project NAMAN is designed to provide support and services to Army veterans,
their families, and their next of kin.
❖ The first phase of the project was flagged off in September 2023.
❖ In the second phase, the project will be expanded to 26 DIAV locations.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
AHAIC 2025
❖ The Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC 2025) was convened
recently in Kigali, Rwanda.
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❖ It has called for urgent reforms in health financing to ensure sustainability and
reduce dependence on donor funding.
❖ The 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration remains a landmark in the global public health,
recognising PHC as essential to achieving Health for All.
❖ The Alma-Ata Declaration is advocating primary healthcare (PHC) as the bedrock
of universal health coverage (UHC).

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Brahmastra Missile 2025

❖ The Indian scientists have developed a modern-day ‘Brahmastra’ with an amazing

speed of 12,144 km per hour.
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❖ This weapon, named the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRAShM), is a hypersonic

glide missile developed by DRDO.
❖ This missile operates at 10 Mach, making it 10 times faster than the speed of
sound.
❖ Unlike China’s DF-17, which has a 1,000 km range, India’s LRAShM boasts a
1,500 km range.

ENVIRONMENT NEWS
Bar-Headed Goose - Arunachal Pradesh

❖ A rare migratory bird bar-headed goose was rescued in Lish village here in West
Kameng district.
❖ The bar-headed goose, which migrates across Asia and Europe, is listed as ‘least
concern’ on IUCN Red List.
❖ It is known to be one of the highest-flying birds in the world.

REPORTS AND INDICES

Global Terrorism Index 2025
❖ The number of countries with a recorded terrorist incident increased from 58 to
66 countries in 2024.
❖ The Sahel is the most affected region globally, accounting for over half of all the
deaths from terrorism in 2024.
❖ Burkina Faso remains the country most impacted by terrorism this yea
❖ Niger and Pakistan had the largest increases in deaths from terrorism.
❖ Terrorist attacks jumped by 63% in the West and Europe was most affected where
attacks doubled to 67.
❖ Seven Western countries are in the first 50 most impacted countries.
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❖ Islamic State (IS) has expanded its operations to 22 countries and remains the
deadliest organization (active in Syria and DRC).
❖ India is ranked at 14th place.

PERSONALITIES, AWARDS, AND EVENTS

National Public Bus Transport Awards for 2023-24

❖ The State Transport Corporations of Tamil Nadu had bagged 19 National Public
Bus Transport Awards for 2023-24.
❖ Kumbakonam Division, has bagged five National Public Bus Transport Awards
given away by the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) for
2023-24.
❖ The TNSTC Salem and Madurai divisions had bagged four awards each.
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❖ The State Express Transport Corporation won three awards.

❖ The MTC, Chennai got two awards and the TNSTC, Villupuram Division got one.

Ilaiyaraja symphony 2025

❖ The Veteran composer Ilaiyaraja has unveiled his "first-ever Western classical
Symphony," Valiant, at London.
❖ He is the first musician from Asian cinema to achieve this feat in London.
❖ Ilaiyaraja recorded Valiant alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
❖ He is also among the first composers from India to utilise elements of Western
classical music for film music, as well as the first to compose a full-length
symphony.

e-Toycathon 2025

❖ For the first time in India the C-DAC has organized “e-Toycathon 2025” under
the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s research initiatives.
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❖ The first prize was awarded to Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore for Play Mat Toy.
❖ The second prize was awarded to Jaypee Institute of Information Technology,
Noida, for Robo-Mentor AI.
❖ NIT Durgapur secured the 3rd place for Interactive Educational Chart.

IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day of Women Judges 2025 - March 10

❖ This day honours female judges and their contributions to justice and equality.
❖ Anna Chandy is the first female judge of a high court in 1937.
❖ Fathima Beevi became the first female judge of the Supreme Court of India in
1989.
❖ As of August 1, 2024, around 14 percent of sitting judges across High Courts in
India were women, but only two High Courts had women Chief Justices.
❖ In August 2024, 106 out of 754 judges in high courts were women.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
YouGov India Value Rankings 2025
❖ Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul) has been ranked as the
3rd most valued brand in India in the prestigious YouGov India Value Rankings
2025.
❖ Amul is the only Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brand in the top three
list.
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❖ Amazon ranks first with a score of 56.5, followed by Flipkart at 53.0.

❖ They cover six key industries, which includes airlines, electronics, automobiles,
insurance, travel booking, and e-commerce.

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