TNPSC Group 2 Mains 2026 Question Paper with Answers – GS Paper II

• Hook: In Tamil Nadu the stage, gramophone and cinema carried the freedom message to people who could not read newspapers; the British used censorship (Dramatic Performances Act, 1876) against nationalist plays.
• S. Satyamurti (1887–1943): Congress leader and celebrated orator, political mentor of K. Kamaraj, Mayor of Madras (1939); a lover and patron of Tamil drama who defended the dignity of artists, urged that stage and screen carry the national message, and drew popular artists into Congress campaigning.
• N.S. Krishnan 'Kalaivanar' (1908–1957): used comedy and songs on stage and screen to spread Gandhian ideals – Khadi, temperance, self-reliance – along with social reform and rationalism, reaching rural audiences.
• K.B. Sundarambal (1908–1980): powerful stage singer; joined the Congress, wore Khadi, sang patriotic songs at public meetings and campaigned for the party; later the first film artiste to enter a legislature (nominated to the Madras Legislative Council, 1958).
• Common impact: made nationalism emotional and Tamil-rooted, mobilised the unlettered masses, and showed popular art as a tool of political awakening.
• Conclusion: Their art turned theatres into platforms of freedom, proving that culture and politics together built Tamil nationalism.

Diagram / table: Three-column table: Artiste – Medium – Nationalist contribution. / மூன்று நெடுவரிசை அட்டவணை: கலைஞர் – ஊடகம் – தேசியப் பங்களிப்பு.

• Hook: Mission Shakti is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's umbrella scheme for the safety, security and empowerment of women, in force from 1 April 2022 for the 15th Finance Commission period (to 2025-26).
• It has two sub-schemes: 'Sambal' (safety and security) and 'Samarthya' (empowerment – Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna, PM Matru Vandana Yojana, etc.).
• One Stop Centres (OSC): a single point offering medical aid, police help, legal aid, psycho-social counselling and temporary shelter to women affected by violence.
• Women Helpline 181: a 24×7 toll-free helpline that links women in distress to police, OSCs, hospitals and legal services.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (launched 22 January 2015, Panipat): to improve the child sex ratio, ensure the survival, protection and education of the girl child.
• Nari Adalat: a new component – women's collectives at the Gram Panchayat level for alternative resolution of disputes such as harassment and denial of rights.
• Significance and gaps: OSCs and the 181 helpline are supported through the Nirbhaya Fund; issues are awareness, staffing and convergence with police and health services.
• Conclusion: Sambal builds a 'safety net' so that empowerment under Samarthya becomes possible.

Diagram / table: Tree chart: Mission Shakti → Sambal (OSC, 181, BBBP, Nari Adalat) | Samarthya. / மரவரைபடம்: மிஷன் சக்தி → சம்பல் | சமர்த்யா.

• Hook: Rapid urbanisation has created slums, informal jobs and housing shortage; MoHUA addresses shelter, livelihood and basic services together.
• Housing – PMAY-Urban (25 June 2015): 'Housing for All' through in-situ slum redevelopment, credit-linked subsidy, affordable housing in partnership and beneficiary-led construction; PMAY-U 2.0 (approved 2024) targets 1 crore more urban houses.
• Rental housing – Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (2020) for urban migrants and poor, launched after the COVID-19 lockdown.
• Livelihood – DAY-NULM: self-help groups, skill training and placement, self-employment loans with interest subsidy, shelters for the urban homeless and support to street vendors.
• PM SVANidhi (June 2020): collateral-free working-capital loans to street vendors in tranches, interest subsidy and digital-payment cashback; restructured and extended to 2030 in 2025.
• Basic services – Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 (2021): toilets, waste management, tap water and sewerage benefit poor neighbourhoods.
• Issues: affordability, location of houses far from workplaces, documentation barriers for migrants, uneven state capacity.
• Conclusion: Combining shelter, livelihood and services is the right path to 'inclusive cities'.

Diagram / table: Table: Need (Housing / Livelihood / Services) – Scheme – Year. / அட்டவணை: தேவை – திட்டம் – ஆண்டு.

• Hook: The human body has trillions of cells; the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), an open international consortium launched in 2016, aims to be the 'Google Map' of the human body.
• Goal 1: Create comprehensive reference maps of all human cell types – their molecular profiles (single-cell genomics) and their location in tissues (spatial techniques).
• Goal 2: Understand how cells change from development to ageing, and between health and disease, to aid diagnosis, drug discovery and precision medicine.
• Goal 3: Keep data open-access and build atlases from diverse populations, so that benefits are global and equitable.
• Milestones: over 3,500 members from more than 100 countries; integrated organ atlases such as the Human Lung Cell Atlas (2023).
• November 2024: a collection of more than 40 papers in Nature and Nature Portfolio journals (developing body, gut, skeleton, immune system, etc.) – a major step towards the first draft of the full human atlas.
• Conclusion: HCA can transform medicine; India can benefit by linking it with initiatives like Genome India.

Diagram / table: Flowchart: Tissue → single cells → sequencing + spatial mapping → reference atlas → diagnosis/drugs. / ஓட்ட வரைபடம்: திசு → ஒற்றை செல்கள் → வரிசைமுறை + இடஞ்சார் வரைபடம் → குறிப்பு வரைபடம் → நோயறிதல்/மருந்து.

• Hook: Media is called the 'Fourth Estate'; in India press freedom flows from Article 19(1)(a) (Romesh Thappar, 1950; Sakal Papers, 1962).
• Informing citizens: news on policies, budgets and court verdicts enables informed choice; voter awareness during elections.
• Agenda-setting and debate: media decides which issues get public attention and offers a platform for diverse views.
• Watchdog: investigative journalism exposes corruption and maladministration and makes government accountable.
• Historical role: newspapers such as Swadesamitran and Kesari built national opinion in the freedom struggle; today social media enables citizen journalism.
• Challenges: paid news, fake news and deepfakes, media trials, concentration of ownership, sensationalism; checks include the Press Council of India (1966), the Election Commission's action on paid news and fact-checking.
• Conclusion: A free yet responsible media is the bridge between people and power; media literacy among citizens is equally vital.

Diagram / table: Cycle diagram: Information → Debate → Opinion → Policy response → Feedback. / சுழல் வரைபடம்: தகவல் → விவாதம் → பொதுக் கருத்து → அரசின் எதிர்வினை → பின்னூட்டம்.

• Hook: From January 2025 the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was redesigned with a larger sample and monthly estimates, giving a closer picture of jobs.
• Scenario: monthly current-weekly-status unemployment for persons aged 15+ stayed around 5% (5.1% in April 2025, the first monthly bulletin); high youth unemployment, especially in urban areas. (Latest, released 27 March 2026 – after this exam: annual PLFS 2025, usual status – overall 3.1%, urban 4.8%, youth 15–29 9.9%, urban youth 13.6%.)
• Structural issues: high youth and educated unemployment, low female labour-force participation (about 40%), large informal sector, heavy dependence on agriculture, skill mismatch, and disruption from automation/AI.
• Measures – demand side: labour-intensive manufacturing (textiles, footwear, food processing, electronics assembly), MSME credit, tourism and care economy, infrastructure investment.
• Measures – supply side: skilling and apprenticeships aligned with industry, PM Internship Scheme, employment-linked incentives (PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, 2025), Tamil Nadu's Naan Mudhalvan skilling platform.
• Social measures: MGNREGA, women-friendly workplaces, hostels and crèches, support for gig workers under the Code on Social Security.
• Conclusion: India's demographic dividend will pay off only if growth becomes job-rich and inclusive.

Diagram / table: Table of PLFS 2025 indicators (monthly CWS rate; annual usual-status rates – overall, urban, youth; female LFPR) – mark the annual figures as released in March 2026. / PLFS 2025 குறியீடுகளின் அட்டவணை (மாதாந்திர CWS விகிதம்; ஆண்டு வழக்கமான நிலை விகிதங்கள் – மொத்தம், நகர்ப்புறம், இளைஞர்; பெண் பங்கேற்பு) – ஆண்டு விவரங்கள் மார்ச் 2026-இல் வெளியானவை எனக் குறிக்கவும்.

• Hook: India is a 'Union of States' (Article 1) – federal in structure with a strong Centre; the Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai (1994) held federalism to be a basic feature.
• Governor–State friction: delay in assent to Bills; State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor of Tamil Nadu (April 2025) ruled out a pocket veto, and the Presidential Reference opinion (20 November 2025) said courts cannot fix timelines but Governors cannot delay indefinitely.
• Fiscal centralisation: cesses and surcharges outside the divisible pool, end of GST compensation (June 2022), conditional central funds (e.g., Samagra Shiksha linked to PM SHRI).
• Representation: fear that delimitation after the freeze on seats ends (first Census after 2026) may reduce the share of southern States that controlled population.
• Legislative and administrative: Concurrent List expansion (education via 42nd Amendment, 1976 – NEET debate), use of central agencies, language policy, proposals like 'One Nation One Election'.
• Responses: Inter-State Council (Article 263), Sarkaria (1988) and Punchhi (2010) Commissions; Tamil Nadu's Rajamannar Committee (1969) and the 2025 high-level committee on State autonomy (Justice Kurian Joseph).
• Conclusion: Cooperative, consultative federalism – not confrontation – is the way to keep the Union strong.

Diagram / table: Mind-map: Federal challenges – Political | Fiscal | Representation | Legislative. / மன வரைபடம்: அரசியல் | நிதி | பிரதிநிதித்துவம் | சட்டமியற்றல் சவால்கள்.

• Hook: Price support – Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for 22 mandated crops, plus FRP for sugarcane – is the backbone of India's food-security architecture.
• Mechanism: since 2018-19 MSP is fixed at least 1.5 times the A2+FL cost; procurement by FCI and State agencies (e.g., TNCSC in Tamil Nadu); PM-AASHA (2018) for pulses and oilseeds.
• Positive impact – availability: assured prices drove the Green Revolution and built buffer stocks that feed the PDS under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (75% rural, 50% urban coverage) and PMGKAY free grains extended for five years from January 2024.
• Positive impact – access and stability: price stability for consumers, income security for farmers, protection in droughts and the COVID-19 period.
• Negative impact: procurement skewed to rice and wheat and a few States; neglect of pulses, millets and oilseeds; groundwater depletion and nutritional imbalance; high storage costs; only a small share of farmers actually sell at MSP (Shanta Kumar Committee, 2015).
• Way forward: crop diversification, procurement of millets and pulses, price-deficiency payments, decentralised procurement, better storage and nutrition-sensitive PDS.
• Conclusion: Price support secured calorie sufficiency; the next step is nutrition security with sustainability.

Diagram / table: Flowchart: MSP → procurement → buffer stock → PDS/NFSA → food security. / ஓட்ட வரைபடம்: ஆதரவு விலை → கொள்முதல் → இருப்பு → பொது விநியோகம் → உணவுப் பாதுகாப்பு.

• Hook: SGSY, launched on 1 April 1999, was India's main self-employment programme for the rural poor (BPL families).
• Merger: it replaced six earlier programmes – IRDP, TRYSEM, DWCRA, SITRA, Ganga Kalyan Yojana and the Million Wells Scheme.
• Design: organise the poor into self-help groups (SHGs); training, capacity building; credit from banks plus a government subsidy for income-generating activities ('Swarozgaris'); focus on key activities and clusters.
• Funding and targets: Centre–State 75:25; implemented through DRDAs; reservation of 50% for SC/ST, 40% for women and 3% for persons with disabilities; aim to lift families above the poverty line in about three years.
• Weaknesses: low credit mobilisation, poor bank linkage, uneven SHG quality, subsidy-driven approach, weak marketing support.
• Outcome: based on the Radhakrishna Committee (2009), SGSY was restructured into the National Rural Livelihoods Mission – 'Aajeevika' (June 2011), later DAY-NRLM; Tamil Nadu's Mahalir Thittam SHG network gained from it.
• Conclusion: SGSY laid the SHG foundation on which today's livelihood missions stand.

Diagram / table: Timeline: IRDP (1978-80) → SGSY (1999) → NRLM–Aajeevika (2011) → DAY-NRLM. / காலக்கோடு: IRDP → SGSY (1999) → NRLM (2011) → DAY-NRLM.

• Hook: Ancient Tamils divided their language itself into Iyal, Isai and Nadagam (Muthamizh), showing how deeply art was woven into life.
• Music: a developed pann (melody) system; the yazh in four kinds – Periyazh (21 strings), Makarayazh (19), Sakotayazh (14), Sengottiyazh (7); kuzhal (flute), murasu and parai drums; Paripadal songs were set to pann.
• Dance and drama: Silappathikaram's Arangetru Kathai gives exact measurements of the stage, screens and lamps, and its Kadalaadu Kathai describes Madhavi's eleven kinds of dance; Tolkappiyam lists eight meyppadu (emotions) for performance.
• Performing communities: panar, viraliyar, kootthar and porunar travelled from court to court; arruppadai poems describe them.
• Painting: Paripadal mentions paintings at Thirupparankundram; Silappathikaram and Manimekalai refer to painters and painted mansions.
• Architecture and sculpture: Nedunalvadai describes laying out a palace by measuring with a cord at midday; hero stones (nadukal) show early sculptural skill.
• Conclusion: Art for the ancient Tamils was both aesthetic and a science – measured, codified and socially valued.

Diagram / table: Table: Art form – Literary evidence – Feature. / அட்டவணை: கலை வடிவம் – இலக்கியச் சான்று – சிறப்பு.

• Hook: 'Yadhum oore yavarum kelir' (Kaniyan Poongundranar, Purananuru 192) sums up the universal outlook of ancient Tamil culture.
• Thinai way of life: five landscapes – kurinji, mullai, marutham, neythal, palai – each with its own deity, occupation, music and flora; life seen as aham (love) and puram (valour, public life).
• Values: hospitality (virunthombal), charity, truthfulness and gratitude; patronage of poets by kings.
• Valour and memory: hero stones (nadukal) honoured warriors; codes of righteous war.
• Women: women poets such as Avvaiyar, Kakkaipadiniyar and Velli Veethiyar show access to learning, though social restrictions also existed.
• Economy and urban life: trade with Rome and South-East Asia (Muziris, Arikamedu, Roman coins); Keezhadi excavations reveal an urban, literate society using Tamil-Brahmi.
• Festivals and worship: Indra Vizha (Silappathikaram), nature worship, Murugan and Kotravai.
• Conclusion: Ancient Tamil culture blended ethics, art, trade and humanism – a heritage that still shapes Tamil identity.

Diagram / table: Five-thinai table: land – deity – occupation – flower. / ஐந்திணை அட்டவணை: நிலம் – தெய்வம் – தொழில் – பூ.

• Hook: The Tanittamil (Pure Tamil) Movement, started in 1916 by Maraimalai Adigal, sought to free Tamil from excessive Sanskrit and other borrowings.
• Maraimalai Adigal (1876–1950): changed his own name from Vedachalam; wrote and spoke in pure Tamil; research works such as 'Mullaippattu Araichi'; made the movement a scholarly and social force.
• Neelambikai Ammaiyar (his daughter): compiled 'Vadasol Tamil Agaravarisai', listing Sanskrit words with Tamil equivalents.
• Devaneya Pavanar (1902–1981): 'Mozhi Gnayiru'; argued for Tamil's antiquity through etymology; directed the State's Senthamizh Sorpirappiyal Agaramudali (etymological dictionary) project from 1974.
• Perunchithiranar: ran the journal 'Thenmozhi' and popularised pure-Tamil poetry; Bharathidasan and C. Ilakkuvanar ('Kural Neri') spread the ideal through poetry and journals.
• Impact: Tamil personal and institutional names, Tamil technical terminology in administration and education; groundwork for Tamil becoming India's first classical language (2004).
• Conclusion: The movement turned linguistic pride into lasting cultural renewal.

Diagram / table: Table: Scholar – Work/Journal – Contribution. / அட்டவணை: அறிஞர் – நூல்/இதழ் – பங்களிப்பு.

• Hook: In Arathuppal, Valluvar gives 20 chapters (5 to 24, 200 couplets) to Illaraviyal, placing family life at the centre of virtue: 'அறன் எனப் பட்டதே இல்வாழ்க்கை' (Kural 49).
• Householder's duty: the householder is the steadfast support of those in the other three stages of life (Illvazhkai, Kural 41); family life lived rightly needs no renunciation to reach virtue (Kural 46).
• Family bonds: the virtuous spouse (Vazhkai Thunai Nalam), the joy of children (Pudhalvaraip Peruthal), and love as the essence of life – 'அன்பின் வழியது உயிர்நிலை' (Kural 80).
• Social virtues: hospitality (Virunthombal), sweet speech (Iniyavai Kooral), gratitude (Seinanri Arithal), impartiality (Naduvunilaimai).
• Self-discipline: self-control (Adakkamudaimai), right conduct (Ozhukkamudaimai), not coveting another's wife (Piranil Vizhaiyamai), patience (Poraiyudaimai), freedom from envy (Azhukkaramai), greed (Veqkamai) and backbiting (Purangooramai), avoiding vain speech (Payanila Sollamai) and dread of evil deeds (Theevinaiyacham).
• Giving and its fruit: helpfulness (Oppuravu Arithal), charity (Eekai) and lasting fame (Pugazh).
• Conclusion: Valluvar's domestic ethics are universal and timeless – a family built on love and virtue builds a just society.

Diagram / table: Cluster chart of the 20 chapters: Family | Social virtues | Self-discipline | Giving. / 20 அதிகாரங்களின் தொகுப்பு வரைபடம்: குடும்பம் | சமூகப் பண்பு | தன்னொழுக்கம் | கொடை.

• Hook: Sangam literature – Ettuthogai (Eight Anthologies) and Pathuppattu (Ten Idylls) – follows Tolkappiyam's division of subject matter (porul) into Aham and Puram.
• Aham: inner life of love; persons are not named; set in the five thinai with kaikkilai and perunthinai on either side.
• Puram: outer life – war, valour, kings, charity, ethics and death; persons and places are named; puram thinai such as vetchi, vanji, uzhinai, thumbai, vaagai, kanchi and paadaan.
• Ettuthogai – Aham: Natrinai, Kurunthogai, Ainkurunuru, Kalithogai, Akananuru; Puram: Purananuru, Pathitrupathu; Paripadal contains both.
• Pathuppattu – Aham: Mullaippattu, Kurinjippattu, Pattinappalai; Puram: Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunararruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Malaipadukadam, Maduraikanchi, Nedunalvadai.
• Value: Aham gives psychology of love and nature imagery; Puram gives history, polity and social life of the Sangam age.
• Conclusion: Together, Aham and Puram give a complete picture of Tamil life – private and public.

Diagram / table: Chart: Sangam literature → Ettuthogai / Pathuppattu → Aham | Puram lists. / வரைபடம்: சங்க இலக்கியம் → எட்டுத்தொகை / பத்துப்பாட்டு → அகம் | புறம்.

• Hook: Western education, introduced for administrative needs, unexpectedly produced the ideas and leaders of modern India.
• Early phase: missionaries (Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar, early 18th century – printing in Tamil); Calcutta Madrasa (1781) and Benares Sanskrit College (1791) under Orientalist policy; Charter Act 1813 set aside ₹1 lakh a year for education.
• Anglicist turn: Macaulay's Minute (1835) and Bentinck's resolution made English the medium – 'downward filtration' theory.
• Wood's Despatch (1854) – 'Magna Carta of English education': graded schools, grants-in-aid, women's education; universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras (1857).
• Later commissions: Hunter Commission (1882) – primary education; Indian Universities Act (1904) – official control; Sadler Commission (1917–19); education transferred to provincial ministers (1919); Hartog Committee (1929); Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (1937); Sargent Plan (1944).
• Role in development: spread of rationalism, liberty and equality; rise of reform movements, press, professional middle class and national leadership; modern science, law and medicine; women's education.
• Limitations: elitist, neglected mass literacy (only about 18% literacy in 1951), urban bias, neglect of technical education, cultural alienation.
• Conclusion: Western education was a double-edged sword – a tool of colonial rule that became a weapon of Indian nationalism and modernisation.

Diagram / table: Timeline 1813 → 1835 → 1854 → 1857 → 1882 → 1904 → 1917 → 1929 → 1937 → 1944. / காலக்கோடு 1813 முதல் 1944 வரை.

• Hook: In 20th-century Tamil Nadu, reform moved from religious revival to a mass movement for social justice and self-respect.
• Non-Brahmin movement and Justice Party (South Indian Liberal Federation, 1916; Non-Brahmin Manifesto, December 1916): communal G.O.s (1921, 1928) for representation in jobs; Hindu Religious Endowments legislation in the 1920s to regulate temple administration.
• Self-Respect Movement (Periyar, 1925): rationalism, attack on caste and priestly dominance, self-respect marriages, women's rights; Chengalpattu Conference (1929).
• Struggles against untouchability: Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25, Periyar – 'Vaikom Veerar'); Cheranmadevi Gurukulam controversy (1925); temple entry into Madurai Meenakshi temple (8 July 1939, led by A. Vaidyanatha Iyer) and the Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act (1939).
• Women's reform: Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy's campaign against the devadasi system – Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act, 1947; Women's Indian Association (Adyar, 1917); widow remarriage and age-of-marriage reforms.
• Linguistic-cultural reform: Pure Tamil Movement (1916, Maraimalai Adigal) linked language with social dignity.
• Impact: foundation of reservation policy and social-justice politics, decline of caste rigidity, empowerment of women and backward classes; limitations – rural caste practices persisted.
• Conclusion: These movements made Tamil Nadu a pioneer of social justice in India.

Diagram / table: Timeline 1916 → 1921 → 1924 → 1925 → 1929 → 1939 → 1947. / காலக்கோடு 1916 முதல் 1947 வரை.

• Hook: Periyar saw the liberation of women as the test of a just society; the title 'Periyar' itself was conferred at the Tamil Nadu Women's Conference, Madras, on 13 November 1938.
• Ideas: rejected the idea that women are inferior or 'property'; questioned one-sided chastity norms; his writings (e.g., 'Penn Yen Adimaiyanal?') analysed the roots of women's subordination.
• Self-Respect marriages: simple ceremonies without priests, with equality of partners, inter-caste and widow marriages; later legalised by the Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967 (Section 7-A).
• Chengalpattu Self-Respect Conference (1929): resolutions for equal property rights, right to divorce, widow remarriage, raising the age of marriage, women's education and employment.
• Support for reforms: backed the abolition of the devadasi system, birth control and women's participation in public agitations (women took part in anti-Hindi agitation, 1938).
• Legacy: influenced Tamil Nadu's equal inheritance for daughters (Hindu Succession TN Amendment, 1989), 30% reservation for women in government jobs (1989) and welfare for girls.
• Assessment/limits: reach was stronger in urban and political circles; some ideas were seen as radical and met resistance; gender gaps persist.
• Conclusion: Periyar placed women's dignity at the heart of social reform – far ahead of his time.

Diagram / table: Table: Idea – Action – Later law/policy. / அட்டவணை: கருத்து – செயல் – பிந்தைய சட்டம்/கொள்கை.

• Hook: CSR asks 'how much does a company give back?'; ESG asks 'how responsibly does it earn?'.
• CSR (Section 135, Companies Act 2013, in force from 1 April 2014): applies to companies with net worth ≥ ₹500 crore, or turnover ≥ ₹1,000 crore, or net profit ≥ ₹5 crore; spend at least 2% of average net profits of the preceding three years on Schedule VII activities (education, health, environment, etc.); unspent amounts must be transferred as per law.
• ESG: a framework to measure and disclose how a firm manages environmental (emissions, energy, water, waste), social (labour, safety, diversity, community) and governance (board independence, ethics, transparency) risks within its core business; investor-driven.
• Key differences: CSR – mandatory spending, outward, project-based, input measured in rupees; ESG – integrated into operations, disclosure- and rating-based, long-term risk and performance, used by investors and lenders.
• Indian ESG framework: SEBI's Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) – mandatory for the top 1,000 listed companies from FY 2022-23; BRSR Core with assurance phased in; SEBI regulation of ESG rating providers.
• Importance for India: attracts global sustainable finance and FDI; supports Net Zero 2070 and climate commitments; keeps exporters competitive against measures like the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism; improves corporate governance and investor protection; CSR funds social sectors and inclusive growth.
• Concerns: greenwashing, compliance burden on MSMEs, data quality, CSR concentration in a few States.
• Conclusion: CSR and ESG are complementary – together they move Indian business from charity to sustainability.

Diagram / table: Comparison table CSR vs ESG: legal basis, nature, measurement, users, time-frame. / ஒப்பீட்டு அட்டவணை CSR – ESG: சட்ட அடிப்படை, தன்மை, அளவீடு, பயனர், காலம்.

• Hook: India is among the world's largest and fastest-growing economies, yet the UNDP Human Development Report 2025 ranks it 130 of 193 (HDI 0.685, 'medium' category) – growth has not fully become well-being.
• Low public investment: government health spending is under 2% of GDP and education spending below the 6% target of the National Education Policy; high out-of-pocket health expenditure.
• Nature of growth: services- and capital-intensive growth with limited job creation; about 90% informal workforce; agriculture still holds a large share of workers with low productivity.
• Nutrition and health: NFHS-5 (2019–21) – stunting among children under five 35.5%, anaemia among women 57%.
• Quality of education: enrolment is high but learning outcomes are weak (foundational literacy and numeracy gaps).
• Inequality: income, gender (female labour participation low), caste and regional disparities; inequality lowers India's HDI substantially.
• Governance: leakages, weak last-mile delivery, poor urban services; contrast – States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu that invested early in health, education and nutrition (noon-meal, breakfast scheme) show higher human development.
• Conclusion: Growth must be made people-centred – 'development as freedom' (Amartya Sen) – through higher social spending and job-rich growth.

Diagram / table: Two-line graph concept: GDP growth vs HDI rank; or table Growth indicators vs Human indicators. / ஒப்பீட்டு அட்டவணை: பொருளாதாரக் குறியீடுகள் – மனித வளர்ச்சிக் குறியீடுகள்.

• Hook: Globalisation is the integration of national economies through trade, capital, technology and people; for India it began in earnest with the reforms of July 1991.
• Global circumstances: end of the Cold War and collapse of the USSR (1991), Washington Consensus, Uruguay Round leading to the WTO (1995), ICT revolution and cheaper transport.
• Indian circumstances (1991 crisis): balance-of-payments crisis – foreign-exchange reserves enough for only a few weeks of imports, gold pledged, high fiscal deficit, Gulf War oil shock, inflation; IMF support led to the New Economic Policy – Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation (LPG).
• Trade: tariffs cut, quotas removed; trade share of GDP rose sharply; IT and services exports boomed; Tamil Nadu emerged as an auto, electronics and textile export hub (Chennai, Sriperumbudur, Tiruppur).
• Economy: higher GDP growth, FDI inflows, private sector and stock-market expansion, poverty decline; but jobless growth phases, agrarian distress and rising inequality.
• Lifestyle: consumerism, mobile and internet revolution, fast food, branded goods, nuclear families, urbanisation, global culture through media.
• Social status: rise of a new middle class, more women in IT and garment jobs, social mobility for skilled youth; at the same time informalisation, insecurity and cultural homogenisation.
• Conclusion: Globalisation brought prosperity with challenges – India needs 'globalisation with a human face'.

Diagram / table: Cause–effect chart: 1991 crisis → LPG → changes in Trade | Economy | Lifestyle | Society. / காரண-விளைவு வரைபடம்: 1991 நெருக்கடி → LPG → வர்த்தகம் | பொருளாதாரம் | வாழ்க்கைமுறை | சமூகம்.

• Hook: Quantum computers use qubits that exploit superposition and entanglement, letting them tackle certain problems far beyond classical computers.
• Health: simulating molecules for faster drug discovery and vaccine design; protein-folding and genomics analysis.
• Energy and climate: designing better batteries, solar materials and catalysts (e.g., for fertiliser production), improving climate and weather models.
• Economy and logistics: optimisation of supply chains, traffic, power grids and financial portfolios; fraud detection.
• Security and communication: threat to present encryption (RSA) demands post-quantum cryptography; quantum key distribution offers secure communication.
• Agriculture and AI: optimising inputs, crop modelling; quantum machine learning.
• India: National Quantum Mission (approved April 2023, ₹6,003.65 crore, 2023-24 to 2030-31) – target of 50–1,000 physical-qubit computers in eight years, thematic hubs, secure satellite-based quantum communication.
• Challenges and conclusion: decoherence, error correction, very low temperatures, cost and skill gaps, digital divide; with ethical safeguards, quantum technology can become a public good.

Diagram / table: Diagram: classical bit (0 or 1) vs qubit (superposition on Bloch sphere); sector-benefit wheel. / வரைபடம்: சாதாரண பிட் – க்யூபிட் ஒப்பீடு; துறைவாரிப் பயன் சக்கரம்.

• Hook: Climate change is making fire seasons longer and fiercer; forest fires have become a global disaster, not a local event.
• Causes: natural (lightning, heat waves, drought) and human (slash-and-burn, negligence, land clearing); warming and dry fuel load intensify them.
• Biodiversity: Australia's 2019–20 'Black Summer' fires killed or displaced an estimated 3 billion animals (WWF-commissioned study) and pushed several species towards extinction; habitat fragmentation.
• Ecological balance: release of large amounts of carbon, loss of soil fertility and erosion, altered water cycles, smoke and black carbon pollution, damage to carbon sinks such as the Amazon.
• Economy and people: Canada's record 2023 season burned over 15 million hectares and forced mass evacuations; the Maui (Lahaina, Hawaii) fire of August 2023 killed around 100 people; the January 2025 Los Angeles fires (Palisades and Eaton) destroyed thousands of structures; losses in timber, tourism, health and insurance.
• India: frequent fires in Uttarakhand and central India; the Kurangani (Theni, Tamil Nadu) fire of March 2018 killed trekkers; the Forest Survey of India runs a satellite-based Forest Fire Alert System; National Action Plan on Forest Fires (2018).
• Management: early warning, fire lines and controlled burning, community participation (Joint Forest Management), restoration with native species, climate mitigation.
• Conclusion: Forest fire management must shift from fire-fighting to fire-prevention and climate resilience.

Diagram / table: World map marking Australia 2019–20, Canada 2023, Maui 2023, Los Angeles 2025, Amazon, Uttarakhand. / உலக வரைபடத்தில் அண்மைக்காலத் தீ நிகழ்வுகள்.

• (a) Definition: Altermagnets are a recently identified third class of collinear magnetism besides ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Neighbouring spins point in opposite directions, so the net magnetisation is zero (like antiferromagnets), but because the two sub-lattices are related by rotation rather than simple translation, their electronic bands are spin-split (like ferromagnets). Predicted theoretically around 2019–2022 and confirmed experimentally in 2024 (e.g., MnTe, CrSb).
• (b) Hook: Today's spintronic memories use ferromagnets, whose stray magnetic fields and slow dynamics limit density and speed; altermagnets combine the best of both classes.
• No stray fields: zero net magnetisation lets bits be packed very densely without interfering with each other – higher storage density and robustness against external magnetic fields.
• Ultra-fast switching: like antiferromagnets, spin dynamics are in the terahertz range (picoseconds), far faster than the gigahertz dynamics of ferromagnets – faster memory and logic.
• Spin-polarised currents: spin-split bands generate spin-polarised currents and are predicted to give large giant/tunnelling magnetoresistance without relying on heavy-metal spin-orbit effects – easy electrical writing and reading in MRAM-type devices.
• Energy efficiency: spin-based, non-volatile operation reduces heat and power compared with charge-based CMOS; anomalous Hall effect allows simple electrical read-out.
• Material flexibility: altermagnetism occurs in metals, semiconductors and insulators, enabling integration with semiconductor technology; some (MnTe) remain magnetic above room temperature.
• Challenges and conclusion: early-stage research, controlled growth of materials and device engineering remain; altermagnets could drive next-generation fast, dense, low-power electronics and data storage.

Diagram / table: Three-panel sketch of spin arrangement: Ferromagnet (↑↑↑) | Antiferromagnet (↑↓↑↓) | Altermagnet (↑↓ with rotated sub-lattices, spin-split bands); comparison table of net magnetisation, speed, stray field. / மூன்று பகுதி வரைபடம்: ஃபெர்ரோ காந்தம் | ஆன்டிஃபெர்ரோ காந்தம் | மாற்று காந்தம்; ஒப்பீட்டு அட்டவணை.

• Hook: The Sixth Schedule (Articles 244(2) and 275(1)), based on the Bordoloi Sub-Committee's report, gives self-rule to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram – 10 Autonomous District Councils (ADCs).
• Autonomy: autonomous districts and regions; each district council has up to 30 members (up to 4 nominated by the Governor, the rest elected) with a 5-year term (Bodoland Territorial Council is larger).
• Legislative powers: laws on land, forests (other than reserved forests), shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance, marriage and social customs – with the Governor's assent.
• Judicial and financial powers: village/district council courts for disputes among tribals; power to levy land revenue and certain taxes; grants under Article 275(1).
• Governor's role: may direct that Acts of Parliament or the State Legislature shall not apply or apply with modifications; may create, alter or dissolve councils.
• Need for Ladakh's inclusion: Union Territory without a legislature since 31 October 2019; large Scheduled Tribe majority; fragile cold-desert and glacier ecology; protection of land, jobs and culture against outside pressures; National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended inclusion (2019); sustained agitation by the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance, which turned violent in Leh in September 2025.
• Counter-view: Sixth Schedule was designed for north-eastern States; inclusion of a UT needs a constitutional amendment; strategic border region; existing Hill Development Councils (Leh, Kargil) and 2025 regulations on domicile and job reservation are seen by the Centre as alternatives; ADCs elsewhere suffer from weak finances.
• Conclusion: A negotiated framework that gives Ladakh's people genuine constitutional safeguards, whether through the Sixth Schedule or a tailored mechanism, is the way forward.

Diagram / table: Table: Sixth Schedule provision – Feature; and pros/cons table for Ladakh's inclusion. / அட்டவணை: ஆறாம் அட்டவணை அம்சங்கள்; லடாக் சேர்ப்பு – சாதகம்/பாதகம்.

• Hook: GST, introduced by the 101st Constitutional Amendment (2016) and rolled out on 1 July 2017, is a 'pooled sovereignty' experiment – Article 246A gives concurrent taxing power and Article 279A creates the GST Council.
• Loss of fiscal autonomy: States gave up VAT, entry tax and other levies; only alcohol for human consumption and petroleum products remain largely outside; States depend on Council decisions.
• Compensation issue: the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 promised 14% annual revenue growth for five years; compensation ended in June 2022 while the cess was extended to repay COVID-period loans – States demanded extension.
• Council voting: Centre holds one-third and States two-thirds of votes with a three-fourths majority needed, giving the Centre an effective veto; Mohit Minerals (2022) – Council's recommendations are persuasive, not binding.
• Rate changes: GST rate rationalisation from 22 September 2025 (mainly 5% and 18% slabs, 40% on sin/luxury goods) raised States' concerns about revenue loss and demands for protection.
• Administration: IGST settlement and refund delays, dual control over taxpayers, long delay in operationalising the GST Appellate Tribunal (functional only from 2025), dispute-resolution mechanism under Article 279A(11) not created; manufacturing/producing States like Tamil Nadu lose under destination-based tax.
• Way forward: transparent revenue-sharing data, a standing dispute-resolution body, revenue-neutral rates, timely settlements, gradual inclusion of petroleum with consensus.
• Conclusion: GST can succeed only as cooperative federalism in practice – trust between the Union and the States is its real foundation.

Diagram / table: Flowchart of GST Council decision-making (Union 1/3, States 2/3, 3/4 majority) + table of Centre–State friction points. / ஜி.எஸ்.டி. மன்ற முடிவெடுப்பு ஓட்ட வரைபடம் + முரண்பாட்டு அட்டவணை.

• Hook: 'Sunlight is the best disinfectant' – the Right to Information Act, 2005 made information a citizen's right, and the Central Information Commission (CIC) is its guardian at the Union level.
• Structure: Section 12 – Chief Information Commissioner and up to 10 Information Commissioners, appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a Union Minister.
• Powers: hears second appeals (Section 19) and complaints (Section 18); powers of a civil court for inquiry; can impose penalty on Public Information Officers – ₹250 per day up to ₹25,000 (Section 20); can recommend disciplinary action and direct proactive disclosure (Section 4).
• Role in transparency: landmark orders – e.g., bringing national political parties under RTI (2013), disclosure on government decisions and expenditure; empowers citizens to check corruption and delays in welfare delivery; Supreme Court held the office of the Chief Justice of India a public authority (2019).
• Democratic value: accountability, participation, reduced arbitrariness, informed public debate; complements Lokpal and the audit system.
• Challenges: RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 let the Centre fix tenure and salaries (questioning independence); vacancies and huge pendency; the DPDP Act, 2023 widened the personal-information exemption (Section 8(1)(j)); attacks on RTI users; weak compliance with penalties.
• Way forward: timely appointments, digitisation and time limits for appeals, stronger proactive disclosure, protection of RTI activists.
• Conclusion: An independent and efficient CIC is essential for a transparent and accountable modern democracy.

Diagram / table: Flowchart: RTI application → PIO (30 days) → First Appellate Authority → CIC second appeal → penalty/disclosure. / ஓட்ட வரைபடம்: RTI மனு → பொதுத் தகவல் அலுவலர் (30 நாள்) → முதல் மேல்முறையீடு → ஆணையம் → அபராதம்/வெளிப்படுத்தல்.

• Hook: South India's east coast is exposed to Bay of Bengal cyclones, especially in the north-east monsoon season; 2024's most damaging system for the region was Cyclone Fengal.
• Cyclone Fengal (late November 2024): crossed the coast near Puducherry on 30 November 2024; very heavy rain – Puducherry received about 46 cm in 24 hours; severe flooding in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai and Krishnagiri; the Thenpennai river flooded; a landslide in Tiruvannamalai on 1 December killed several people.
• Social impacts: loss of lives, displacement to relief camps, damaged houses and schools, disruption of power, transport and communication, health risks from water-borne diseases; hardship to fishers and daily-wage workers.
• Economic impacts: large-scale crop loss (paddy and horticulture), livestock deaths, damage to roads, bridges and power infrastructure; Tamil Nadu sought ₹2,000 crore in interim relief from the Centre; Puducherry also suffered heavy losses.
• Environmental impacts: coastal erosion, saline intrusion into farmland and groundwater, breach of tanks, siltation and river-course changes, damage to mangroves and coastal habitats, solid waste and pollution after floods.
• Other 2024 context: slow-moving systems and extreme rain events show a trend of rapid intensification linked to warmer seas.
• Mitigation: IMD early warnings and evacuation (reduced casualties), cyclone shelters, National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, restoration of tanks and drains, mangrove shelterbelts (Pichavaram), crop insurance, resilient housing.
• Conclusion: Cyclone management must move from relief to risk reduction and climate-resilient development.

Diagram / table: Map of Fengal's track and affected districts + impact table (Social | Economic | Environmental). / ஃபெஞ்சல் புயல் பாதை வரைபடம் + தாக்க அட்டவணை.

• Hook: The Himalaya – the 'Third Pole' and 'Water Tower of Asia' – is warming faster than the global average; ICIMOD (2023) found Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers lost mass 65% faster in 2011–2020 than in the previous decade, and up to 80% of volume could be lost by 2100 under high emissions.
• Biodiversity impacts: upward shift of species and loss of alpine meadows; threat to endemic flora and fauna (e.g., snow leopard habitat, medicinal herbs); change in cold-water stream ecology and fish; invasion of lowland species.
• Provisioning services: rivers like the Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra feed agriculture, drinking water and hydropower for hundreds of millions; short-term floods then long-term water scarcity.
• Regulating and cultural services: loss of natural flow regulation and climate buffering; risk to pilgrimage and tourism economies; impact on traditional livelihoods (pastoralism).
• Hazards: glacial-lake expansion and GLOFs – South Lhonak lake (Sikkim, October 2023), Chamoli disaster (February 2021); landslides and land subsidence (Joshimath).
• Conservation strategies – policy: National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NAPCC, 2008), SECURE Himalaya project, NDMA guidelines on GLOF (2020), early-warning systems and glacier monitoring.
• Conservation strategies – ground level: protected areas and wildlife corridors, community-based conservation and eco-tourism caps, carrying-capacity and EIA for roads/hydro projects, afforestation and spring-shed management, emission reduction and regional cooperation (ICIMOD); 2025 was the UN International Year of Glaciers' Preservation.
• Conclusion: Protecting the Himalaya is protecting South Asia's water and life – it needs science, people and transboundary cooperation.

Diagram / table: Flowchart: Warming → glacier retreat → (biodiversity loss | water-service change | GLOF hazard) → strategies. / ஓட்ட வரைபடம்: வெப்பமயமாதல் → பனியாறு உருகல் → பல்வகைமை இழப்பு | நீர்ச் சேவை மாற்றம் | வெள்ள அபாயம் → உத்திகள்.

• Hook: Tamil Nadu, with a long east coast and heavy dependence on the north-east monsoon (October–December, nearly half of its annual rainfall), faces recurring floods, cyclones and the memory of the 2004 tsunami.
• Natural causes: intense NE-monsoon spells, Bay of Bengal depressions and cyclones, flat coastal plains with low gradient, high tides blocking river mouths; extreme events – Chennai 2015, Cyclone Michaung (December 2023), and the December 2023 southern floods when Kayalpattinam recorded about 95 cm in 24 hours.
• Human causes: encroachment of lakes, marshes and river beds (e.g., Pallikaranai), choked and inadequate storm-water drains, unplanned urbanisation, sand mining, poor tank maintenance, reservoir release without coordination (2015).
• Climate change: warmer seas causing rapid cyclone intensification and cloudburst-type rain.
• Floods – steps: restore and desilt tanks and channels, remove encroachments, storm-water drains, flood-bypass channels, wetland protection, land-use zoning, real-time flood forecasting (e.g., Chennai flood warning system), TN-SMART alerts.
• Cyclones – steps: IMD early warning and timely evacuation, multipurpose cyclone shelters, National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, underground power cables in coastal towns, resilient housing, crop and livestock insurance.
• Tsunami – steps: INCOIS tsunami early-warning centre (2007), coastal regulation zone enforcement, mangrove and casuarina shelterbelts (Pichavaram mangroves reduced 2004 damage), community drills, evacuation routes; Nagapattinam was the worst-hit district in 2004.
• Institutional: Disaster Management Act 2005, TNSDMA and district plans, community-based disaster preparedness. Conclusion: Moving from response to resilience can save lives and livelihoods.

Diagram / table: Disaster-management cycle (Prevention → Preparedness → Response → Recovery) with TN examples; map of flood-prone districts. / பேரிடர் மேலாண்மைச் சுழற்சி (தடுப்பு → முன்தயாரிப்பு → எதிர்வினை → மீட்பு) + வெள்ள அபாய மாவட்ட வரைபடம்.

• Hook: Introduced in 1992 to fight female infanticide and son preference, the Chief Minister's Girl Child Protection Scheme made Tamil Nadu a pioneer in girl-child welfare.
• Objectives/scope: promote the birth and survival of girl children, improve enrolment and retention of girls in school, discourage child marriage (encourage marriage only after 18), encourage small families through family planning, and strengthen the status of girls in the family.
• Scheme I: a fixed deposit of ₹50,000 in the name of the girl child for a family with only one girl child (for girls born on or after 1 August 2011).
• Scheme II: ₹25,000 each in the names of two girl children in a family with only two girl children.
• Conditions: annual family income limit ₹72,000; no male child; a parent must have undergone family-planning sterilisation; the deposit is renewed every five years.
• Benefits: an annual incentive of ₹1,800 from the sixth year of deposit for educational expenses; maturity amount with interest paid at age 18 for higher education, provided the girl has appeared for the Class 10 public examination.
• Advantages: financial security, higher education of girls, improved status of the girl child, reduced child marriage and dropout, complement to schemes like the Cradle Baby Scheme and Pudhumai Penn; challenges – low income ceiling, documentation and awareness.
• Conclusion: The scheme turned the girl child from a 'burden' into an asset – a model of targeted social investment.

Diagram / table: Table: Scheme I vs Scheme II – eligibility, deposit, incentive, maturity. / அட்டவணை: திட்டம் I – திட்டம் II: தகுதி, வைப்பு, ஊக்கத்தொகை, முதிர்வு.

• Hook: Tamil Nadu, a leader in wind and solar power and an industrial State with rising demand, used its 2025-26 Budget (presented on 14 March 2025) to shift energy spending from conventional supply and loss-financing towards renewables and storage.
• Allocation: about ₹21,178 crore for the Energy Department in 2025-26, alongside continued free/subsidised power for farmers and domestic consumers.
• Storage as the new priority: pumped-storage projects of 2,900 MW at Vellimalai and Aliyar through public-private partnership (investment of about ₹11,721 crore); a 4,000 MWh battery energy storage system to be set up in 2025-26 – to firm up intermittent wind and solar.
• Green growth: target of an additional 100 billion units of renewable energy, in line with the vision of a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030; an integrated renewable-energy policy to be introduced.
• Institutional reform underpinning the shift: TANGEDCO's restructuring (2024) into separate generation, distribution and green-energy companies (TNPGCL, TNPDCL, TNGECL) for focus and accountability.
• Clean transport link: conversion of 700 State transport buses from diesel to CNG (about ₹70 crore) funded by the TN Pollution Control Board.
• Significance and challenges: energy security, lower carbon intensity, investment and green jobs; risks – utility debt and losses, tariff subsidy burden, transmission bottlenecks, land and ecological concerns for pumped storage.
• Conclusion: The 2025-26 budget marks Tamil Nadu's move from 'more power' to 'clean, reliable and storable power'.

Diagram / table: Before–after table: Old focus (conventional supply, loss-financing) vs New focus (RE + pumped storage + BESS + restructured utilities). / முன்–பின் அட்டவணை: பழைய கவனம் – புதிய கவனம்.

• Hook: With nearly 90% of India's workforce in the informal sector, social security is the key to decent work; Directive Principles (Articles 38, 39, 41, 42, 43) and the Concurrent List provide the basis.
• Legal framework: the Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidated nine laws (EPF, ESI, Maternity Benefit, Payment of Gratuity, Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act 2008, etc.) and, for the first time, recognised gig and platform workers; all four Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025.
• Organised sector: Employees' Provident Fund and Pension (EPFO), Employees' State Insurance (ESIC) for health and cash benefits, gratuity and maternity benefit (26 weeks).
• Unorganised sector: e-Shram portal (2021, over 30 crore registrations) as a national database; PM Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (2019) – ₹3,000 monthly pension after 60 on contribution; Atal Pension Yojana (2015).
• Insurance and health: PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and PM Suraksha Bima Yojana (2015, ₹2 lakh cover each); Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (₹5 lakh per family per year); One Nation One Ration Card for migrants.
• Sector-specific: Building and Other Construction Workers welfare cess and boards; Tamil Nadu – Construction Workers Welfare Board and other unorganised workers' welfare boards, and a welfare board for platform-based gig workers (2023).
• Challenges: low coverage and awareness, portability for migrants, fragmented schemes, low benefit levels, gig-worker definitions, implementation by States.
• Conclusion: Universal, portable and adequate social security is essential for 'Viksit Bharat' and for the dignity of labour.

Diagram / table: Table: Worker category (Organised / Unorganised / Gig / Construction) – Schemes – Benefit. / அட்டவணை: தொழிலாளர் வகை – திட்டங்கள் – பயன்.