Madurai, formerly known by its colonial name Madura is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is governed by the Madurai Municipal Corporation established in 1 November 1866. As of the 2011 census, it is the third largest metropolis in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Coimbatore in terms of population and 27th largest urban agglomeration in India. Located on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has been a major settlement for two millennia and has a documented history of more than 2500 years. It is often referred to as "Thoonga Nagaram", meaning "the city that never sleeps".
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policies of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
TIDEL Park is an information technology (IT) park situated in the city of Chennai, India. The name TIDEL is a portmanteau of TIDCO and ELCOT. An ISO 9001/14001 company, In 2000, it was one of the largest IT parks in India. It was set up in 2000 to foster the growth of information technology in the state of Tamil Nadu by the TIDEL Park Ltd, a joint venture of TIDCO and ELCOT.
The Vaigai is a river in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India; it passes through the towns of Theni, Madurai and Ramanathapuram. It originates in Varusanadu Hills, the Periyar Plateau of the Western Ghats range, and flows northeast through the Kambam Valley, which lies between the Palani Hills to the north and the Varushanad Hills to the south. The Vattaparai Falls are located on this river. As it rounds the eastern corner of the Varushanad Hills, the river turns southeast, running through the region of Pandya Nadu. Madurai, the largest city in the Pandya Nadu region and its ancient capital, lies on the Vaigai. The river empties into the Palk Bay near Alagankulam, close to Pamban Bridge in Ramanathapuram District.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) is the state agricultural university of Tamil Nadu Headquartered in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
K. Jana Krishnamurthi was an Indian political leader who rose to be the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2001. A former Union Law Minister and a member of the Parliament of India, Krishnamurthi was the second person from Tamil Nadu to head a national party in India after Kamaraj.
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements.
Tamil Nadu has the second largest state economy in India. The state also hosts the highest number of factories in the country. The state is 48.40% urbanised, accounting for around 9.26% of the urban population in the country, while the state as a whole accounted for 5.96% of India's total population in the 2011 census. Services contributes to 54% to the gross domestic product of the state, followed by manufacturing at 33% and agriculture at 13%.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Alagiri, commonly known as M. K. Alagiri, is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu and was a Union Cabinet Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers from 28 May 2009 to 20 March 2013. He is the second son of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi and his second wife Dayalu Ammal and the head of South Zone of Dravida Munnetra Kazagham.
The Vaigai Dam is built across the Vaigai River near Andipatti, in the Theni district of Tamil Nadu, South India. Near the dam, the Government of Tamil Nadu has constructed an Agricultural Research Station to research the cultivation of various crops, including rice, sorghum, black gram, cowpea and cotton.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Tamil Nadu are the most progressive among all states of India. Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce a transgender welfare policy, wherein transgender individuals can access free gender affirmation surgery in government hospitals and various other benefits and rights. The state was also the first to ban forced sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants, and also the first state to include an amendment in its state police guidelines that expects officers to abstain from harassing the LGBTQIA+ community and its members. The state also became the first to ban conversion therapy as well as the first to introduce LGBTQIA+ issues in school curricula.
P. Kakkan, known as Kakkan, was an Indian politician and freedom fighter who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Member of Parliament, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and in various ministerial posts in Congress governments in the erstwhile Madras state between 1957 and 1967.
The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state was held on 21 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the election and emerged as the second party for the first time by winning 50 seats. 1962 Election remains the most recent election in which Indian National Congress to form a majority Government in the State as its support was heavily declined due to rise of Dravidian political parties.
Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami, often referred to by his initials E.P.S., is an Indian politician who is the current leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He served as the 7th chief minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the General Secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) since 28 March 2023. Previously, Palaniswami has served as the interim general secretary (2022–23), joint co-ordinator (2017–22) and headquarters secretary (2016–22) of AIADMK.
The Saurashtra people, or Saurashtrians, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic Hindu Brahmin community of South India who speak the Saurashtra language, an Indo-Aryan Gujarati language, and predominantly reside in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Sellur K. Raju is an Indian politician and incumbent Member of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly for the Madurai West constituency since 2011. He represents the AIADMK party. This was his first election and he won by securing 59 percentage of vote in Madurai west Constituency. He was the minister for Co-operation, which includes Co-operation, Statistics and Ex-service welfare.
M. K. Ashok is an Indian politician and was a member of the 14th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Velachery constituency in Chennai District. He represented the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.
Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language historical action film, directed by M. G. Ramachandran, starring himself, M. N. Nambiar, P. S. Veerappa, Latha and Padmapriya. It was Ramachandran's final film as an actor. The film is based on the novel Kayalvizhi by Akilan. It was released on 14 January 1978 and became a box-office bomb, but Latha won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.
Madurai Metro, is a proposed rapid transit system for Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It arose from a Madurai Metrolite system, part of a major expansion of public transport in the city and one of the projects devised by the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J.Jayalalithaa.
