T.N.’s HPV Vaccination Programme
- Context: T.N.’s HPV vaccination programme to begin in four districts soon
- The first dose will be administered to 27,000 girls initially and 3,38,000 girls across the State will benefit
- Allocated Budget -₹36 crore for the HPV vaccination programme
- Target group: Girls aged 9–14 years studying in government and government-aided schools.
- Tamil Nadu will be the first State in the country to provide the HPV vaccine free of cost
- Each child would receive two doses.
Nambikkai Maiyams (Integrated counselling and Testing Centres)
- While HIV prevalence was 0.23% in India, it was 0.16% in Tamil Nadu.
- The State was ensuring 100% screening of pregnant women for HIV and syphilis, thereby preventing transmission to the baby.
- A few years ago, shops doing ‘blood art’ had been shut down, and monitoring of such practices continues to make Tamil Nadu free of HIV/AIDS by 2030.
- World Aids Day-December 1
- 2025 theme: “Overcoming disruption,transforming the AIDS response”
Anaimangalam copper plates
- Chola-era Leiden copper plates are also known as the Anaimangalam copper plates.
- They are a set of royal charters issued by King Rajendra Chola.
- The inscriptions record the donation of Anaimangalam village (near Nagapattinam) by Rajaraja Chola to Sri Mara Vijayottunggavarman of the Srivijaya Kingdom.
- The donation was made for the construction of a Buddhist Vihara, reflecting Chola-era overseas and religious links.
- The charter consists of 21 copper plates, divided into two sections: One set inscribed in Tamil & The other in Sanskrit.
Indus script on a grindstone from Pattinamaruthur
- Indus script has been identified on a grindstone in Pattinamaruthur, Thoothukudi district.
- The ancient letters and symbols on the grindstone match the Indus script. It has also been found that some Tamil Brahmi letters are included.
- Comparing the type of these scripts found in Pattinamaruthur and in Oslo, Norway, it appears that the grindstone found in Norway may have been purchased from South India during the early days of trade.
- Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions that ‘Corundum’ (a hard grindstone) or ‘Kuruntham’ was used by our ancient South Indians.
Tamil Nadu Spring Census
- Context: Tamil Nadu is set to complete its first-ever spring census this month to aid groundwater conservation.
- The census is part of a nationwide initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti for springshed and groundwater management in ecologically sensitive regions.
- Nodal agency: Water Resources Department (WRD).
- Natural springs in Tamil Nadu are relatively few compared to the Himalayan and north-eastern regions, with major concentrations in the Western Ghats.
India’s first Spring Census
- Officially launched on 3 April 2025 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- India became the first country in the world to conduct a national-level census of springs.
- Aligned with Water Vision 2047 and UN SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
