Oil India has discovered natural gas reserves off the Andaman Islands, the state-owned firm said without putting an estimate of the size of the find. In a statement, OIL said "occurrence of natural gas" was reported in the second exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1, which the company had won under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
The North Sentinel island is one of 29 islands in the Andamans where till June foreigners had to take special permission -- the RAP -- before being allowed to visit them.
The region has seen nine quakes since Sunday. Of these, one was recorded in North Sumatra region in Indonesia while others have been recorded in and around the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The government has decided to name 21 uninhabited islands in the Union territory of Andaman & Nicobar after recipients of Param Vir Chakra, the country's highest wartime gallantry award.
India's only mud volcano at Baratang in Andaman and Nicobar Islands has erupted after being dormant for over two decades. The eruption, which occurred on October 2, has led to the formation of an earth mound and the spread of muddy soil over a large area. Tourist movement to the site has been suspended as a safety precaution.
While the Andaman and Nicobar islands serve as a vital, stationary asset for projecting power in the Indian Ocean, referring to them as an unsinkable aircraft carrier ignores key military and geopolitical limitations, explains Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The central government has revamped the Khelo India Scheme's funding pattern, allocating a Rs 565 crore component for states to co-share the cost of future sports infrastructure development projects over a five-year plan. This new model, part of a Rs 29,054 crore outlay, aims to increase state ownership and participation in sports development, significantly expanding the scheme's reach and athlete base.
Chief ministers from southern states convened at the Southern Zonal Council meeting in Kovalam, where Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar advocated for the 1971 census as the basis for delimitation and a freeze on Lok Sabha seats, while also addressing the contentious Cauvery water and Mekedatu dam issues.
In a significant move, state-run oil producer Oil India Limited (OIL) has finished drilling its first well in the Andaman sea while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has just started drilling operations in the area, said officials.
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the Andaman Sea on Thursday but the Met department ruled out tsunami.
A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit Andaman Islands on Tuesday, the Meteorological Department said. The epicentre of the quake that struck at approximately 7.09 am at the depth of 10 kilometres was centred at 11.7 degree North latitude and 95.0 degree East longitude in the Andaman Islands region. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami alert had been issued.
The EC also underlined that for electors whose enumeration forms have not returned, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would identify a probable cause, such as absent, shifted, dead and duplicate entry based on an inquiry from the nearby electors and would note the same.
The Southwest Monsoon is set to arrive early with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expected to receive first seasonal showers on May 15, the weather office said on Thursday.
'The Andamans are strategic territory for India.' 'We need at least three full-length, 10,000-feet airfields here.'
On December 30, 2018, the prime minister had laid the foundation for the 2,312-kilometers long submarine optical fibre cable project connecting Chennai - Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI).
'Many tourists are keen to break the law and see the tribals. But what difference would it make? They are humans like us. We do not like intruders, neither do they. Very little of their homes is left, so we might as well let them be,' says Chintan Purohit.
The weather system moved west-northwestward and concentrated into a depression on Saturday at 8.30am, close to west of Andaman Islands, the bulletin said.
The Odisha government has put all 30 districts on alert as a depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression and is moving towards the east coast. The IMD forecasts very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Odisha on October 28 and 29.
The Navy chief also inaugurated the new Air Traffic Control building there.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
In excerpts from his journal, John Allen Chau, the American, reveals what it was like to meet the isolated tribe in the Andamans.
After the west coast, another cyclone is likely to hit the east coast by May 26-27, the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
The Centre has asked Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands to ensure that health facilities are stocked with essential medicines and supplies to meet any exigencies in the wake of Cyclone Yaas which is expected to make a landfall later this month.
Heavy overnight rains have disrupted normal life in the island with a flood-like situation in north and middle Andamans.
The American had expressed a desire to meet the Sentinelese tribe, which is known to resist all contact with outsiders, often firing arrows at anyone who comes near.
What celeb wear when they visit their favourite beaches.
Eight Jarawa girls were rescued from two remote creeks in Andaman and Nicobar Islands after they were kidnapped by a group of men from a Jarawa Reserve Zone last week, the police said on Wednesday.
'The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an asset that any country aspiring to become a major power would give anything to own.' 'It is disappointing that India has not capitalised on this potential,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
It said the weather system was expected to intensify into a deep depression by 5.30 am on Wednesday and turn into Cyclone Mocha in the next 12 hours, packing wind speeds of 80-90 kmph and gusting to 100 kmph.
At least 21 persons died on Sunday when the tourist boat carrying them capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, official sources said. The boat carrying 45 people -- tourists from Kanchi Puram district of Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, and crewmembers -- sank on its way from Ross Island to North Bay.
Migrant workers. Poor students. School dropouts. Impoverished women. Daniel Ponraj and his Shubh Sandesh Foundation are helping them all.
Havelock should be your destination for 2024. It is love at every sight!
The early onset of the southwest monsoon brought continuous rainfall across southern and eastern India, contributing to this record.
The IMD had said the Southwest Monsoon would hit parts of north India including Delhi on July 10, but it had not occurred till Sunday evening.
Monsoon is likely to arrive in Kerala on May 29, the India Meteorological Department predicted on Wednesday. ''This time, the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 29, with a model error of four days,'' the IMD said in a statement. With strengthening and deepening of monsoon winds and widespread rainfall activity, southwest monsoon advanced into the southeast Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and north Andaman Sea on May 12, almost 8 days in advance.
Kerala has been receiving rainfall since Saturday and 10 out of the 14 weather monitoring stations in the state have received more than 2.5 mm rains.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said all tourists at Havelock Island in the Andamans are safe and efforts are on for their early evacuation.
Lieutenant General Shakti Gurung deserves to be complimented in telling his life story and that of his people, as subaltern communities within this vast and diverse nation of ours clamour for recognition and a plea for their voices to be heard and their aspirations to be met, notes Lieutenant General Gautam Moorthy.
