Background
A Press Information Bureau backgrounder on the Great Nicobar Project describes it as port-led development on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, meant to strengthen India's position in the Indian Ocean region. The site lies about 40 nautical miles from the East-West shipping route and has natural water depth of over 20 metres, which is why the plan is to cut India's dependence on foreign transshipment hubs such as Colombo, Singapore and Klang. The four components are a container transshipment terminal at Galathea Bay with a capacity of 14.2 million TEU, a greenfield international airport, a 450 MVA gas and solar power plant and a township on 16,610 hectares. The work is phased from 2025 to 2047 over 166.10 sq km. Environmental clearance was granted under the EIA Notification, 2006 with 42 conditions, the project diverts 1.82 per cent of the islands' forest cover and compensatory afforestation of 97.30 sq km is planned in Haryana. The backgrounder puts the Shompen at about 237 people and the Nicobarese at about 1,094, and says an overarching committee chaired by the Chief Secretary of the Administration oversees implementation.
Port capacity:
14.2 million TEU at Galathea Bay
Power plant:
450 MVA gas and solar
Township:
16,610 hectares
Total project area:
166.10 sq km, in three phases from 2025 to 2047
Compensatory afforestation:
97.30 sq km in Haryana
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar Island as the site of the proposed International Container Transshipment Port with a 14.2 million TEU capacity, the project's 450 MVA gas and solar power plant and 16,610 hectare township, the Shompen as a particularly vulnerable tribal group of Great Nicobar, and the EIA Notification, 2006 as the basis of the environmental clearance.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
TEU Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit — The standard measure of container traffic at a port.
Background
As the Andaman and Nicobar Administration moves ahead with land acquisition for the Greenfield International Airport Project in Great Nicobar, the islands' standing military arrangement is worth knowing. The Andaman and Nicobar Command, abbreviated ANC, is described by the Government of India as the country's only tri-service operational command, which means the Army, the Navy and the Air Force serve under one Commander-in-Chief there. Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, AVSM, took charge at Sri Vijaya Puram as the 20th Commander-in-Chief of the command. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1989 and is a specialist in Gunnery and Missiles. He has commanded the ships INS Ajay, INS Khanjar and INS Shivalik, and was the tenth Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy. The Government calls the command a vital pillar of national security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Commander-in-Chief number:
20th
Commissioned into the Navy:
1 July 1989
Why it matters for exams: That the Andaman and Nicobar Command is India's only tri-service operational command is one of the most frequently asked Defence facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ANC Andaman and Nicobar Command — India's only tri-service operational command, based in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal — An Indian military decoration given for distinguished service of a high order.
Background
The Directorate of Fisheries in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been promoting mariculture in the islands, and the territory's largest fisheries asset in the pipeline is a harbour at Mayabunder. The Department of Fisheries under the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying approved a Smart and Integrated Fishing Harbour at Mayabunder at a cost of Rs 199.24 crore, with 100 per cent Central Financial Assistance. The proposal came from the Andaman and Nicobar Administration and was cleared under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, abbreviated PMMSY. The harbour is designed to give safe landing and berthing to 430 fishing vessels and to handle an annual fish landing of 9,900 tonnes. It is being built in line with the Blue Port Initiative, with systems based on the Internet of Things and digital traceability for the catch.
Cost:
Rs 199.24 crore
Vessels:
430 fishing vessels
Annual fish landing:
9,900 tonnes
Why it matters for exams: PMMSY and the ministry that runs it are a standing scheme question, and Mayabunder is a named place in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PMMSY Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana — The Union Government's flagship scheme for developing fisheries and aquaculture in India.
Background
As Union territories settle their Census 2027 calendars, it is useful to recall where the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stood in the first phase. The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that field operations for the Houselisting and Housing Census, which is Phase I of Census 2027, would begin in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands together with Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim, and in the New Delhi Municipal Council area and the Delhi Cantonment Board area. House to house visits in this group ran for 30 days from 16 April 2026 to 15 May 2026. Census 2027 uses Self Enumeration for the first time, through which residents can file their own details online and receive a Self Enumeration ID to show the Enumerator. Enumerators collect data on a dedicated mobile app while keeping the door to door visit. The houselisting questionnaire has 33 notified questions on housing, amenities and assets. Census data is confidential under the Census Act, 1948.
Field operations in this group:
16 April 2026 to 15 May 2026
Houselisting questions:
33 notified questions
Why it matters for exams: The Census Act, 1948, the ministry that runs the Census and the fact that Self Enumeration is new to Census 2027 are all directly askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
HLO Houselisting and Housing Census — Phase I of the Census, which records housing conditions, amenities and household assets.
Background
The island administration is moving on land for the Great Nicobar airport, and the port beside it carries the bigger trade argument. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways describes the proposed International Container Transhipment Port at Galathea Bay as one of two new major ports planned under Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. The total estimated cost is about Rs 44,000 crore, with Phase 1 at over Rs 19,000 crore. Phase 1 is planned for about 4 million TEUs and commissioning in 2028, and the final stage is 16 million TEUs by 2058. The site sits about 40 nautical miles from the international shipping trade route, on the East-West world shipping corridor, with natural water depth of over 20 metres. The reason given is that about 75 per cent of India's transhipped cargo is now handled at foreign ports, with Colombo alone taking 45 per cent. Environmental clearance came from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 11 November 2022.
Total estimated cost:
about ₹44,000 crore
Ultimate capacity:
16 million TEUs by 2058
Distance from shipping route:
about 40 nautical miles
Colombo's share of India's transhipped cargo:
45%
Why it matters for exams: Galathea Bay as one of two new major ports under Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, and Colombo's 45 per cent share of India's transhipped cargo, are directly askable economy facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICTP International Container Transhipment Port — A port where containers are moved between ships rather than carried inland.
Background
Every notice from the island administration now carries the capital's new name, Sri Vijaya Puram, and that is where the territory's recent project round was held. The Union Home and Cooperation Minister inaugurated nine projects of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration and laid the foundation stones for two more, together worth Rs 373 crore. The largest was an Integrated Command and Control Centre costing Rs 229 crore. Phase I of the district hospital, costing Rs 33 crore, and a Forensic Science Laboratory were also opened, along with six other schemes worth Rs 50 crore in all. An exhibition on the three new criminal laws was inaugurated at the same time. The Lieutenant Governor, the Union Minister of State for Home and the Union Home Secretary were present.
Total value of projects:
₹373 crore
Integrated Command and Control Centre:
₹229 crore
District hospital Phase-I:
₹33 crore
Why it matters for exams: That Port Blair is now Sri Vijaya Puram, and that the Union territory is headed by a Lieutenant Governor, are the two facts most often asked about these islands.
Kerala PSCUPSC
Background
The island administration now puts its notices and citizen services online, and the link that made that possible is a submarine cable. The Prime Minister launched submarine cable connectivity to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, known as CANI, through video conferencing. The project is an optical fibre cable of about 2,300 km laid under the sea. Its foundation stone had been laid at Port Blair on 30 December 2018. At launch, service had begun on the segments from Chennai to Port Blair, from Port Blair to Little Andaman, and from Port Blair to Swaraj Island. The cable is the backbone for e-governance, telemedicine, online education and tourism bookings across the island group.
Cable length:
about 2,300 km
Foundation stone:
30 December 2018, at Port Blair
Mainland end:
Chennai
Why it matters for exams: The CANI cable's length of about 2,300 km, its mainland landing point at Chennai and its island segments are standard Science and Infrastructure facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CANI Chennai Andaman and Nicobar Islands submarine cable — The undersea optical fibre link that connects the island group to the mainland network.
OFC Optical Fibre Cable — A cable that carries data as pulses of light through glass fibres.
Background
The island Directorate of Fisheries has been pressing mariculture, and the science behind it sits at a central centre in the capital. The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences visited the Atal Centre for Ocean Science and Technology for Islands, known as ACOSTI, at Dollygunj in Sri Vijaya Puram. ACOSTI is a unit of the National Institute of Ocean Technology, which works under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The work reviewed there was a pilot project to rear marine fish in cages in the open sea, and seaweed farming on a large scale; the technology has already been passed on for use. The Minister said the Government's focus on the Blue Economy reflects the Prime Minister's vision for the island territories and coastal regions. He linked this to the Deep Ocean Mission and to the BioE3 policy, which stands for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment. The Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the islands' Member of Parliament were present.
Centre:
ACOSTI, Dollygunj, Sri Vijaya Puram
Parent institute:
National Institute of Ocean Technology
Why it matters for exams: That ACOSTI is a unit of the National Institute of Ocean Technology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the expansion of BioE3, are directly askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ACOSTI Atal Centre for Ocean Science and Technology for Islands — The island centre of the National Institute of Ocean Technology, working on marine technology for island conditions.
BioE3 Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment — A national biotechnology policy aimed at bio-based manufacturing.
Background
Tree planting and conservation drives are under way in the islands, and much of the research behind island biodiversity work is done at one centre. The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences visited the Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India at Sri Vijaya Puram, which was set up in 1977. The centre works on taxonomy, molecular systematics, DNA barcoding, biodiversity assessment and training. It has reported more than 20 species new to science, among them the Narcondam Tree Shrew. Nearly 90 research programmes have been completed, with 85 books and more than 850 research papers published, and nearly 900 new faunal records from the islands, India and Southeast Asia. Its museum holds about 3,500 specimens across 22 faunal groups and draws 75,000 to 100,000 visitors a year. The centre is also the nodal centre for India's first National Coral Reef Research Institute.
Centre set up:
1977
Museum specimens:
about 3,500 across 22 faunal groups
New faunal records:
nearly 900
Why it matters for exams: The Zoological Survey of India, the year its island centre was set up and India's first National Coral Reef Research Institute are all standing Environment facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ZSI Zoological Survey of India — The central body that surveys and documents the animal life of India.
NCRRI National Coral Reef Research Institute — India's first institute dedicated to coral reef research, with its nodal centre in the islands.