Eminent Persons Thiyagi Sankaralinganar In 1956, Congress leader K P Sankaralingam began an indefinite fast. One of his demands was the renaming of the state to Tamil Nadu. It is noted that Sankaralinganar fasted for 76 days, which resulted in his death on October 13, 1956. Sankaralinganar’s death further spurred on the fight for renaming the state. As a Result On July 18, 1967, CM Annadurai prepared a resolution in the State Assembly. Tamil Nadu was accepted as the name and a resolution passed unanimously. Since the renaming needed a Constitutional amendment, both Houses of the Parliament approved the Bill in November and December 1968 respectively. The state government later issued a gazette notification to bring the name change into effect on January 14, 1969. Sports & Games Satwik sets record India’s R. Satwiksairaj set the Guinness World Record for the fastest hit by a male player in badminton, recording in 565kmph with his smash. Satwiksairaj broke the record set in 2013 by Malaysian Tan Boon Heong, who had produced speed of 493kmph with his smash. Awards & Honours International Eni Award T. Pradeep, professor in the Department of Chemistry of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has been selected for the International Eni Award. Instituted by the Italian energy company Eni, the award is in recognition of his work on sustainable and affordable nanoscale material for removing toxic contaminants from water. Some Nobel laureates and Bharat Ratna award-winner C.N.R.Rao had won the award in the past.
