Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Andaman and Nicobar Island's capital, Port Blair, has been renamed as "Sri Vijaya Puram".

Shah said that the earlier name of the city had a colonial legacy, while the new name symbolises the victory achieved in the freedom struggle.

"Inspired by the vision of PM Narendra Modi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as 'Sri Vijaya Puram.' While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&amp;N Islands' unique role in the same," the Home Minister posted on X.

"Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations. It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation," he added.

Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits for grammar and punctuation. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION&nbsp;audience. 
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Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Andaman and Nicobar Island's capital, Port Blair, has been renamed as "Sri Vijaya Puram". Shah said that the earlier name of the city had a colonial legacy, while the new name symbolises the victory achieved in the freedom struggle.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Andaman and Nicobar Island's capital, Port Blair, has been renamed as "Sri Vijaya Puram". Shah said that the earlier name of the city had a colonial legacy, while the new name symbolises the victory achieved in the freedom struggle. "Inspired by the vision of PM Narendra Modi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as 'Sri Vijaya Puram.' While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands' unique role in the same," the Home Minister posted on X. "Andaman & Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations. It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation," he added. Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits for grammar and punctuation. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.

India renames Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital, as 'Sri Vijaya Puram'

The archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar(A&amp;N) islands off India’s east coast is set to get more connectivity, but this time it's via the undersea route, as the project to install 2250km of Optic fibre cable (OFC) from Chennai to Port Blair has been inaugurated. The cable laying which was flagged off by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications, Electronics &amp; IT, Law and Justice, and Admiral D.K. Joshi, Lt Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar islands is aimed at being completed by June this year.

Currently, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are connected to the Indian mainland via a satellite link with limited bandwidth capacity and high amounts of latency (delay). As opposed to the present satellite link capacity which is merely 3.2Gbps, the OFC would be able to provide a bandwidth of 400Gbps(over 100 times the existing capacity) at its initial stage of commissioning. The project would connect Port Blair (the A&amp;N island’s capital) to seven other islands such as Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Havelock, Long Island and Rangat. The total 2250km link distance consists of 1450 kms for Chennai-Port Blair and 800kms for the other seven segments.&nbsp;

Being implemented at a total cost of Rs1224Cr, the work will be done by NEC Technologies, Japan, under the supervision of BSNL which has been appointed the Project Execution Agency. This project which has a design life of 25 years is meant to provide a fillip to the socio-economic development, tourism in A&amp;N islands. The bandwidth created under this project will be made available to all telecom service providers to extend their services to the islands. The OFC link will also meet the strategic communication requirements of the country’s defence forces.&nbsp;

The pre-laying activities which were on since November 2019 have been completed between Chennai and A&amp;N by the ship ‘Straider’, while the ship ’CS Responder’ will commence the undersea cable laying work from Friday.

Speaking at the inauguration, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The tip of this sophisticated OFC cable is barely the size of a needle and it has layers of the thick protective coating around it, so they can’t even be damaged by sharks. It is for the first time that such a gigantic exercise is being taken up in India. We have also approved the laying of cables from Kochi to Lakshadweep-Kavaratti on the Western side.”

The Minister hailed India’s state-telecom service provider BSNL as a strategic asset for the country and recalled the 2015 Chennai floods when BSNL network alone was operational, how stranded Indians during the Nepal earthquake were able to use BSNL for communication. He emphasized that such submarine cables would bridge the digital divide between the mainland and islands, while also ensuring low-cost development and transformation to the local economy.&nbsp;

“The current option of connectivity via satellite is expensive and fails to provide robust connectivity, but the OFC will be able to boost economic activity by providing equitable, affordable internet access for all. This will also benefit the niche, non-polluting industries that we plan to develop on the A&amp;N islands” said Admiral DK Joshi the Lt Governor of the A&amp;N Islands.

The archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar(A&N) islands off India’s east coast is set to get more connectivity, but this time it's via the undersea route, as the project to install 2250km of Optic fibre cable (OFC) from Chennai to Port Blair has been inaugurated.

The archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar(A&N) islands off India’s east coast is set to get more connectivity, but this time it's via the undersea route, as the project to install 2250km of Optic fibre cable (OFC) from Chennai to Port Blair has been inaugurated. The cable laying which was flagged off by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications, Electronics & IT, Law and Justice, and Admiral D.K. Joshi, Lt Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar islands is aimed at being completed by June this year. Currently, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are connected to the Indian mainland via a satellite link with limited bandwidth capacity and high amounts of latency (delay). As opposed to the present satellite link capacity which is merely 3.2Gbps, the OFC would be able to provide a bandwidth of 400Gbps(over 100 times the existing capacity) at its initial stage of commissioning. The project would connect Port Blair (the A&N island’s capital) to seven other islands such as Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Havelock, Long Island and Rangat. The total 2250km link distance consists of 1450 kms for Chennai-Port Blair and 800kms for the other seven segments. Being implemented at a total cost of Rs1224Cr, the work will be done by NEC Technologies, Japan, under the supervision of BSNL which has been appointed the Project Execution Agency. This project which has a design life of 25 years is meant to provide a fillip to the socio-economic development, tourism in A&N islands. The bandwidth created under this project will be made available to all telecom service providers to extend their services to the islands. The OFC link will also meet the strategic communication requirements of the country’s defence forces. The pre-laying activities which were on since November 2019 have been completed between Chennai and A&N by the ship ‘Straider’, while the ship ’CS Responder’ will commence the undersea cable laying work from Friday. Speaking at the inauguration, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The tip of this sophisticated OFC cable is barely the size of a needle and it has layers of the thick protective coating around it, so they can’t even be damaged by sharks. It is for the first time that such a gigantic exercise is being taken up in India. We have also approved the laying of cables from Kochi to Lakshadweep-Kavaratti on the Western side.” The Minister hailed India’s state-telecom service provider BSNL as a strategic asset for the country and recalled the 2015 Chennai floods when BSNL network alone was operational, how stranded Indians during the Nepal earthquake were able to use BSNL for communication. He emphasized that such submarine cables would bridge the digital divide between the mainland and islands, while also ensuring low-cost development and transformation to the local economy. “The current option of connectivity via satellite is expensive and fails to provide robust connectivity, but the OFC will be able to boost economic activity by providing equitable, affordable internet access for all. This will also benefit the niche, non-polluting industries that we plan to develop on the A&N islands” said Admiral DK Joshi the Lt Governor of the A&N Islands.

India’s first submarine optical cable for Andaman and Nicobar islands to be operational by June 

Two days after the administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands sought help from the Indian Navy to evacuate as many as 1,400 stranded tourists, evacuation operations finally began on Friday morning after weather improved.

The Navy had deployed four ships two days back but due to rough sea and torrential rain, the ships could not enter the harbour. &nbsp;

Early Friday, six ships-- Karmukh, Kumbhir, Bitra, Baratang, LCU 37 and LCU 38 along with two Coast Guard ships paved their way to Havelock to begin evacuating tourists.&nbsp;

Three Air Force helicopters were also deployed to help the army and state administration carry out the rescue operation.&nbsp;

The Navy said evacuation will be easier if the weather continues to remain like this.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

(WION)

Six Navy ships along with two Coast Guard ships, three Air Force helicopters paved way to Havelock to rescue some 1,400 stranded tourists

Two days after the administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands sought help from the Indian Navy to evacuate as many as 1,400 stranded tourists, evacuation operations finally began on Friday morning after weather improved. The Navy had deployed four ships two days back but due to rough sea and torrential rain, the ships could not enter the harbour. Early Friday, six ships-- Karmukh, Kumbhir, Bitra, Baratang, LCU 37 and LCU 38 along with two Coast Guard ships paved their way to Havelock to begin evacuating tourists. Three Air Force helicopters were also deployed to help the army and state administration carry out the rescue operation. The Navy said evacuation will be easier if the weather continues to remain like this. (WION)

Andaman and Nicobar: Indian Navy begins evacuations at Havelock Island