Recalling that the State was rechristened Tamil Nadu on January 14, 1969 known till then as "Madras State", Palaniswami said, "on January 14 this year, our historic State is stepping into its fiftieth year with the name of Tamil Nadu."
It has hence been decided to observe its golden jubilee through events to mark the eminence of Tamil language and Tamil people, he said adding young Tamil research scholars will be honoured at the valedictory.
The Chief Minister recalled that Thyagi Sankaralinganar had made an appeal to the then Congress government for renaming Madras State as Tamil Nadu in 1956.