Current Affairs - 10 October 2015

General Affairs

'Name One Place Where River Ganga is Clean?' Green Panel Pulls Up Centre

• NEW DELHI:  The National Green Tribunal today asked the government to name "one place" where the Ganga is clean and said that despite spending huge sums, the situation has gone from bad to worse.
  
  Expressing open displeasure over the government's lackadaisical approach towards ensuring cleanliness and uninterrupted flow of the Ganga, it said "we take it that almost nothing has happened in reality."
  
  "Would you please tell us that is it correct that more than Rs. 5,000 crore has been spent on Ganga in making it worse from bad. We don't want to know whether you have allotted this quantum of money to the states or have spent it yourself.
  
  

  "Out of the 2,500 km stretch of the river Ganga, tell us one place, where the condition of the river has improved," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked.
  
  The green panel, which was asked to act against industrial units polluting Ganga by the Supreme Court, said the Centre and the states over the years have only been shifting responsibility and nothing concrete was visible on the ground.
  
  The counsel appearing for Ministry of Water Resources told the bench that almost Rs. 4,000 crore has been spent on the rejuvenation of the river since 1985 till last year.
  
  He said that Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase-I was launched as a centrally-funded scheme in 1985 and later GAP Phase-II was initiated in 1993 to improve the river's water quality. In 2009, 'National Ganga River Basin Authority' (NGRBA) was setup for pollution control in the Ganga.
  
  NGRBA, a World Bank-funded scheme, was aimed at effective abatement of pollution and conservation of Ganga and 70 per cent of the total project cost was contributed by the Centre and the remaining expenses were borne by the states, he said.
  
  To this, the bench said, "better be careful of what you say. We take it as almost nothing has happened in reality. It is not suddenly that we are asking for all the information from you."
  
  "We have been waiting for the last one year. But for one reason or the other, you have been delaying the issue. We don't want to comment on that. But this time we are not leaving it to your discretion, be rest assured. To clean Ganga is your prime responsibility. Days are very short for you," the bench said.

PM Modi, BJP Have Strategy to Polarise Country: Rahul Gandhi

• MANDYA, KARNATAKA:  Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP amid politics over the mob killing of a Muslim man in Dadri over beef rumours, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said: "The BJP and the Prime Minister have a strategy of polarising this country. They have a strategy of making Hindus and Muslims fight against each other."
  
  Speaking to reporters during his visit to Karnataka, the Congress vice president said: "You can see that in every election, polarisation taking place, riots taking place. There were BJP people involved in the Dadri incident."
  
  Mr Gandhi's comments come a day after PM Modi, accused of keeping silent on the Dadri killing, made a strong statement and said Hindus and Muslims must fight poverty, not each other.
  
  

  Dismissing the Prime Minister's pitch for communal harmony, Mr Gandhi said: "It is nice for the Prime Minister to make such comments. But the Prime Minister has a history and the Prime Minister has a party that is behaving in a completely different way which he doesn't seem to want to stop."
  
  Mr Gandhi is on a two-day visit of the Congress-ruled state, during which he will meet farmers affected by drought and other factors. He accused the Centre of neglecting farmers' interests.
  
  "The central government does not think that agriculture or the farmer is important. Whether it is the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) or crops being destroyed by bad weather, the government does not seem to have a strategy. It does not give priority to farmers," he said.
  
  Saying that farmers were committing suicide in large numbers, the Congress leader said the Centre must act.
  
  "The Prime Minister has to take a look at it and help the farmers of the country," he said, pointing out that his party's government had given a loan waiver of Rs. 70,000 crore to the farmers.
  
  Mr Gandhi will go on a 'padyatra' or foot-march tomorrow and interact with farmers, students and women workers in Haveri district.
  
  Targeting the Centre on the state of farmers, he said that "the sad part is that the support which the central government should give to the state is missing. The state has made demands which the central government is not taking seriously. The central government does not think that agriculture or farmer is important. This is very unfortunate."
  
  Claiming that when UPA was in power, it did not view farmers "as Karnataka, Bihar or Jharkhand farmers", he alleged, "The BJP government views different states differently. If the state is controlled by them, they have a different idea, if not, they have a different idea. It is very sad. The people who are suffering are all Indian people. The issue is how sensitive you are to farmers."
  
  Mr Gandhi also took a swipe at PM Modi's foreign visits. "Our PM goes everywhere, he goes to US may be he should spend sometime with the farmers of this country and Karnataka," he said.

In Arvind Kejriwal's 'Thulla' Remark Case, Cop Records Statement

• NEW DELHI:  A police officer who had filed a defamation complaint against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly using the slang 'thulla' to describe policemen, recorded his statement in a court today.
  
  Constable Harvinder, who was represented through lawyer L N Rao, told the court that in an interview to a TV channel, Arvind Kejriwal had referred to police as "thulla" which had demoralised the entire agency.
  
  After recording of his statement, the Metropolitan Magistrate said she will also examine the Station House Officer of Govindpuri police station, record clerk and a doctor who had medically examined the constable, in support of the allegations next month.
  
  

  Based on the complaint filed in July, the court sought a clarification from the constable as to how Mr Kejriwal's alleged 'thulla' remark had provoked breach of peace.
  
  The constable's lawyer claimed that "using a derogatory and demeaning term like 'thulla' to refer to police personnel is equivalent to referring to all Delhi Police officials as lethargic and unproductive. This word has, therefore, harmed the reputation of the complainant in the eyes of general public including his family, relative and friends."
  
  He had also sought the court to summon Mr Kejriwal.
  
  A separate court has begun recording statements in another complaint filed against Mr Kejriwal over the same remark.
  
  The constable posted at the Lajpat Nagar police station had claimed that he was mentally disturbed and felt "very insulted and defamed" by Mr Kejriwal's remark.

New Nepal Prime Minister to Be Elected on Sunday

• NKATHMANDU:  Nepal today announced plans to elect a new prime minister this weekend, three weeks after the country adopted a new constitution that triggered deadly protests and a border blockade.
  
  Incumbent prime minister Sushil Koirala had pledged to step down after the constitution Nepal's first to be drawn up by elected representatives was adopted on September 20.
  
  He announced on October 2 he would ask the president to begin the process of forming a new government.
  
  After parties failed to agree on a consensus candidate for prime minister, President Ram Baran Yadav asked parliament to vote, speaker Subash Chandra Nembang told lawmakers.
  
  

  "I have fixed the election for the post of the prime minister... on Sunday at 11 in the morning," Nembang said.
  
  Parties have a day to register their nominations. If none of the candidates is able to secure a simple majority, the speaker will set a date for re-elections to be held.
  
  The constitution marks the final stage in a peace process that began when Maoist rebels laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long insurgency.
  
  The charter was meant to end years of inequality and cement peace but bitter disputes over its provisions have sparked violent protests and a blockade of a key trade route by demonstrators that has forced nationwide fuel rationing.
  
  More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters representing ethnic minorities who say a new federal structure laid out in the constitution will leave them under-represented in the national parliament.

Water in Lakes and Streams Existed on Mars Says NASA's Indian-Origin Scientist

• WASHINGTON:  Around 3.3 - 3.8 billion years ago, a series of streams and lakes existed on Mars, filling the Gale Crater with sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for the mountain named Mouth Sharp, says an Indian-origin scientist who works with NASA.
  
  According to Ashwin Vasavada, a project scientist with NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the Red Planet appears to have had a more massive atmosphere billions of years ago than it does today, with an active hydrosphere capable of storing water in long-lived lakes.
  
  The NASA's MSL team has concluded that this water helped to fill Gale Crater, Curiosity's landing site.
  
  

  "Observations from Curiosity rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams and lakes existed at some point in the past, delivering sediment that slowly built up the lower layers of Mount Sharp," explained Mr Vasavada.
  
  Using Curiosity data, MSL scientists have pieced together an increasingly coherent and compelling story about the evolution of this region of Mars.
  
  Before Curiosity landed on Mars, scientists proposed that Gale Crater had filled with layers of sediments.
  
  Some hypotheses implied that the sediments accumulated from wind-blown dust and sand whereas others focused on the possibility that sediment layers were deposited in ancient streams and lakes.
  
  The latest results indicate that these wetter scenarios were correct for the lower portions of Mount Sharp.
  
  "During the traverse of Gale, we have noticed patterns in the geology where we saw evidence of ancient fast-moving streams with coarser gravel as well as places where streams appear to have emptied out into bodies of standing water," Mr Vasavada emphasised.
  
  The prediction was that we should start seeing water-deposited, fine-grained rocks closer to Mount Sharp.
  
  "Now that we have arrived, we are seeing finely laminated mudstones in abundance. These silty layers in the strata are interpreted as ancient lake deposits," he pointed out.
  
  "These finely laminated mudstones are very similar to those we see on Earth," added Woody Fischer, professor of geobiology and coauthor of the paper.
  
  The mudstone indicates the presence of bodies of standing water in the form of lakes that remained for long periods of time, possibly repeatedly expanding and contracting during hundreds to millions of years.
  
  These lakes deposited the sediment that eventually formed the lower portion of the mountain.
  
  A lingering question surrounds the original source of the water that carried sediment into the crater.
  
  For flowing water to have existed on the surface, Mars must have had a thicker atmosphere and warmer climate.
  
  Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater since August 2012.
  
  In mid-September 2014, the rover reached the foothills of Mount Sharp. Curiosity has been exploring the base of the mountain since then.
  
  The new findings were published in the journal Science.

Business Affairs 

September consumer inflation seen picking up from record low: Poll

• 
  

  India's retail inflation likely picked up in September , driven by higher food prices, but will remain comfortably below the Reserve Bank of India's target and allow room for further policy easing, a Reuters poll showed.

  The consumer price index was expected to rise 4.3 per cent last month, with forecasts in the survey of over 20 economists ranging between 3.6 per cent and 5.0 per cent.

  In August, consumer inflation fell to a record low of 3.66 per cent, down from nearly 9 per cent last year.

  Falling commodity prices, which have fueled a global disinflationary trend, pushed the country's inflation down over the past year, giving the RBI room to ease monetary policy four times since January, bringing its key repo rate down to a 4-1/2 year low of 6.75 per cent.

  Even if inflation picks up in September as economists predict, it would still be comfortably below the RBI 's 6 per cent target for January.

  "The central bank's CPI inflation target of 6 per cent for January 2016 is unlikely to come under threat, as core inflation should remain anchored amid signs of continued economic slack," said Capital Economics' Shilan Shah in a research note.

  Still, with rainfall 14 per cent below normal in the June-September monsoon season, food prices could be affected in coming months.

  The RBI estimates inflation will be 5.8 per cent in January.

  Industrial output is expected to have grown 4.8 per cent in August, faster than the 4.2 per cent seen in July. Poll forecasts ranged from 2.2 to 6.7 per cent.

  Although a survey last week showed manufacturing activity slowed to a seven-month low in September, factory production has been growing above 2 per cent since November.

The Janus face of tax laws

• 
  

  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not mince his words while defending the minimum alternate tax (MAT) controversy in March 2015, when foreign institutional investors criticised the government for levying retrospective tax . In a strongly-worded message Jaitley had declared that India was no tax haven . "Let it be clearly understood that India is not so vulnerable that every legitimate tax demand can be considered as tax terrorism. We are not a tax haven and we don't intend to be one," he had said.

  Foreign portfolio investors (FPI), however, did not take kindly to the FM's words. Between March and April, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty fell around 9 per cent from 9,000 to the 8,100 level. And, this has not gone unnoticed.

  In September, the government clarified that MAT will not be applicable to foreign companies that do not have a permanent establishment or place of business in India. The law has been amended with effect from April 1, 2001. It effectively means that retrospective taxation in case of FPIs is passe.

  ---

  HITS

  • Deferment of general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR)
  • Not pursuing the Vodafone transfer pricing case in Supreme Court
  • Allowing rollback facility under the advance pricing agreement

  MISSES

  • Sending wrong signal in the MAT issue on FPIs
  • Coming out with a hurriedly drafted Black Money Act  
  • Introducing the concept of place of effective management, which is contentious  
  • Lacking conviction in dealing with ongoing tax litigations

  ---

  The move brings forth the Centre's blow-hot-blow-cold attitude when it comes to tax issues. The NDA government had come to power with the promise of eliminating tax terrorism. It subsequently deferred the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) and desisted from pursuing the Vodafone transfer-pricing case. But, since then, some of North Block's actions have sent the wrong signals - be it the handling of the MAT issue or the 'hurriedly' drafted Black Money Act.

  Tax experts and industry players are of the opinion that the Centre has not come good when it comes to implementation, in spite of all the right noises it had made initially. Says Milind Kothari, Managing Partner and Head, direct Tax, BDO India LLP: "The reversal of stand within six months reminds us of the Vodafone and Shell Premium controversies, where the government pursued the wrong cases and was ultimately defeated in court. This has harmed the credibility of the country."

  Others say that the MAT issue could have been dealt in a different way. "Instead of going for an amendment in the finance bill and making an amendment that was prospective in nature and, by default, meant that earlier cases would come under the MAT ambit, the government could have just issued a circular. It is easier to recall a circular than undoing an amendment," says Sunil Jain, Partner, J. Sagar Associates.

  The stringent Black Money law is also turning out to be a futile exercise to justify the NDA's pre-election rhetoric of bringing back black money stashed abroad. The government has barely managed to get disclosures worth Rs 3,770 crore during the limited window period ending on 30 September under the Act. The government, however, looks to be in no mood to extend the deadline of the disclosure window.

  "We have no credible estimation of black money lying abroad, though different agencies have come up with their estimates and have even retracted them. In such a scenario, the whole exercise seems like shooting in the dark," says a former Indian revenue service officer. Agrees Jain: "I fundamentally have no issue with the Act. But the only area of importance will be implementation. Once the limited window is over, will the government be able to chase and catch the big fishes and garner the kind of tax revenue as they had promised?"

  Multi-national and foreign companies are also wary of a new clause in the tax law, which says that if a company has a place of effective management (POEM) in India, at any time of a financial year, it would make it a tax resident and will be liable to relevant pay taxes here for the fiscal.

  "It could effectively mean that if a foreign company holds a board meeting in India just once and takes some policy decisions, it would make the company a tax resident. We have made representations before the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Tax) and have pointed out that the word 'any time' should be replaced by 'during a year'. The chairman and other officials even admitted to the anomaly and promised to correct the law, but six months have passed since then and no clarification has come from the (tax) department yet," says Amit Maheshwari, Managing Partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates, a chartered accountancy firm.

  The NDA government's decision to bring amendments in tax laws related to transfer pricing cases, but letting the court decide the fate of the ongoing cases, also came under criticism. "Such a stand was unfair. For the same issue one company is being exempted while others are fighting cases," says Ved Jain, Chairman, Direct Tax Committee, ASSOCHAM.

  Says Kothari: "In fact, globally, transfer pricing is not a tax revenue-generation mechanism, it's a tax avoidance law. Only in India tax officers get revenue target on transfer pricing." Jain agrees and feels the government is being pennywise and pound foolish.

  But then, what happens to the Centre's promise of a non-adversarial tax regime? Says Deepak Jain, Associate Vice President, Legal, Srei Infrastructure Finance: "The tax officers get revenue targets and targets for the number of tax demands. Their promotion depends on meeting these targets. In such a situation, how can you expect them to go soft?" The disconnect between the government's vision and actions of tax officers is consistent with the Centre's inconsistencies.

Air India puts 9 Dreamliners on sale

• State-owned carrier Air India has put on sale nine of its 21 Dreamliners (B787-800) to raise over Rs 7,000 crore to fund acquisition of new aircraft and also for repayment of the bridge loan availed earlier for purchasing these Boeing 787-800s.

  These nine planes were inducted into the national carrier's fleet between March 2014 and June this year.

  Air India would also lease back these nine B787-800 under an operating lease for a period of up to 12 years with a three-years extension option, the airline said in an Invitation of Offers document.

  Under a Sale and Lease Back (SLB) arrangement, the seller of an asset leases it back from the purchaser for a long-term period and continues to use it without actually owning it.

  The airline has already sold and leased back the remaining 12 Dreamliners under the SLB arrangement. Air India intends to finance its aircraft through direct purchase/operating sale and lease back, proposed to use the proceeds of the facility for purchase of aircraft and repayment of bridge loan taken for acquisition of nine 787-800 planes, the document said.

  The airline has fixed a reserve price of not less than $120 million for the planes acquired in 2015 and $120 million for the aircraft inducted in the fleet during 2014, it said.

  Under the SLB/financial lease, Air India would sell these planes to the lessor and immediately lease them back under an operating lease for a period of up to 12 years with an option to extend by three more years at a mutually negotiated price, the document said.

  According to the bid document, the SLB would be backed by the Guarantee of the Indian Government and cover the lease rental obligation during entire leasing period.

  As part of its fleet expansion plan, the national carrier had in 2006 placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft - 27 Dreamliners, 15 B777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737- 800s.

  The airline has so far taken delivery of 21 Dreamliners, 12 777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737-800s. Air India has to take the delivery of remaining six B787-800 between April 2016 and March 2017 for which it has to make a 10 per cent pre-delivery payment to Boeing, 12 months prior to the induction the aircraft as part of the agreement.

  Early this week, the carrier had come out with Invitation of Offers from domestic and overseas institutions and banks to raise up to $110 million for part financing the advance payment of these planes.

  Significantly, despite frequent glitches and grounding of the Dreamliner planes, Air India Board had in June turned down a Boeing proposal to replace the remaining order with a higher version B787-900.

  The airline was looking at inducting the higher range variant of the aircraft, which has more seating capacity than the existing model for its ultra long-haul routes such as the US and Canada. The Boeing 787-800 has 256 seats, of which 18 are in business class and remaining 238 in economy class. 

StanChart CEO plans to cut about 1,000 top staff

• Standard Chartered's new Chief Executive Bill Winters plans to cut up to a quarter of the bank's most senior staff to reduce costs, according to a memo sent to staff, a move likely to result in the loss of around 1,000 top jobs.

  Winters said he planned to reduce the number of staff who are graded in bands 1-4 by a quarter, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Those bands cover board members to senior bankers at managing director level, and include about 4,000 staff in total.

  Winters, who took over as CEO in June, said the bank had already reduced the number of employees and the other affected staff will be told by the end of November.

  Winters said the bank would also make disposals and cut clients as part of his strategic review.

  "We need to create room for ... investment. While some will come from efficiencies we will also look to divest where we are not differentiated and an activity, business or location is not critical to a core strength," Winters said in the memo.

The Phase III FM auction may severely dent the profitability of several radio companies.

• The first part of the recently concluded Phase III FM Radio auctions has seen the costliest bids in the history of the FM industry. Close to Rs 522 crore was bid for stations in the metro cities alone. HT Media (Fever FM) invested Rs 169 crore for the Delhi frequency (almost 30 per cent higher than the original reserve price), while it spent Rs 122 crore for the Mumbai frequency. Similarly, ENIL (Radio Mirchi) bought the Bangalore frequency for Rs 109 crore, by paying significantly higher than the reserve price.

  This surely confirms that the most traditional media platform, radio, still commands huge investor interest. The analyst community expects the radio industry to grow upwards of 15 per cent year-on-year. 

  Once the second part of the Phase III auctions happen (which will cover many of the smaller cities), the projection is that radio would account for 10 per cent of the Rs 1.02 lakh crore ad revenue of the Indian media and entertainment industry, from the existing 4 to 5 per cent.

  However, the pain point for all the radio companies is not so much the exorbitant bid prices, but the impact on the profitability of the radio industry at large. "A profitable industry will be rendered loss making," remarks Prashant Panday, CEO, ENIL as he explains the economics of the radio business.

  In Phase III, the annual licence fee for the radio broadcasters would be 2.5 per cent of the highest bid received in each city. So, in Delhi, the fee for each broadcaster will be Rs 4.22 crore per annum - an exponential jump from what they paying earlier (4 per cent of revenue). "This is unfair, especially when no other media owner is paying a licence fee to the government. The auctions are designed to benefit only the government," says Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City.
  

  The radio broadcasters also have to pay a one-time migration fee for a period of 15 years. In cities with no bids, renewal premiums were higher. For instance, for Coimbatore, which received no bids, the renewal price was Rs 16.9 crore. In contrast, it was Rs 13.1 crore in Indore, a city which saw healthy bidding. "A broadcaster who reported about Rs 20 crore in EBITDA last year will see almost half get eroded because of the change in the fee structure," says Panday.

  While it may not be as challenging for the larger radio companies which have a pan-India presence and have the might of a large network to make their ends meet, life isn't going to be easy for the smaller one to two radio station companies. "It is going to be difficult for these companies to be profitable in the near future," agrees Tarun Katial, CEO of Reliance Broadcast, which owns the largest radio network in the country, Big FM.

  So, is consolidation on the cards? It seems inevitable. 

General Awareness

Major Sea Ports of India

• • The nine coastal Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and  West Bengal are home to all major and minor ports of India. There are total 13 major sea ports of India, out of 12 are government and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. Ennore Port is one of the major port of India located at Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu state along with private Krishnapatnam Port.
    

    1. Kandla Port- Gujarat: Gujarat host the major seaport of west coast, The Kandla Port is situated on the Gulf of Kutch near the Gandhidham city in Kutch District of Gujarat. The Port of Kandla is the first special economic zone in India as well as in Asia, Kandla Port is hub for major imports like petroleum, chemicals and iron also export grains,salt and textiles. Port of Kandla is one of the highest earning ports of India, another port in Gujarat is Mundra Port,India’s largest private port.

    

    2. Nhava Sheva- Maharashtra: Nhava Sheva now known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the largest container port in India, situated at the mainland of Konkan area across the Navi Mumbai Maharashtra. Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the king port of Arabian Sea at west cost and handle a large volume of international container traffic and domestic cargo traffic. The major exports are textiles,carpets,boneless meat and main imports are machinery,vegetable oils and chemicals.

    

    3. Mumbai Port: The Mumbai Port is located in the mainland of west Mumbai on the West coast of India with natural deep-water harbor. Mumbai Port is the largest port in India and handles bulk cargo traffic with its four jetties for handling Liquid chemicals, Crude and petroleum products. International container traffic of Mumbai Port is directed to the new and big Nhava Sheva port.

    

    4. Marmagao port- Goa: The main port of Goa,Marmagao port is a best natural harbors of India located in South Goa. Marmagao port is one of the leading iron ores exporter port in India and raw materials too.The port of Marmagao is one of the major attraction of Goa along with the beautiful city of Vasco da Gama and international airport Dabolim. The natural harbor of Goa is one of India’s earliest modern ports.
    

    5. Panambur Port- Karnataka: Panambur Port known as the New Mangalore Port, is a seaport located near to Surathkal railway station in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. New Mangalore Port is a deep water all weather port and the only major port of Karnataka and one of the largest port in India. Port of Mangalore export major commodities like manganese, granite stones, coffee and cashew and main imports includes timber logs,LPG,petroleum products and cargo containers. There is a beautiful beach at south of sea port of Panambur along with the shore of the Arabian Sea.

    

    6. Cochin Port- Kerala: The Cochin port is one of the largest port in India and the major port on the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean sea route. The port of Cochin lies on two islands of Willingdon and Vallarpadam and the largest container transshipment facility in India. Kochi Port is equipped with maritime facilities Cochin Shipyard,Kochi Refineries and Kochi Marina. Kochi city is famous for its traditional spices and well known as the port city of Fort Kochi during the European colonials. It also get its individual Kochi international airport, third international airport in the state of Kerala.

    

    7. Port Blair- Andaman: Port Blair is the capital city of Andaman Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India located at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Port Blair is the youngest sea port in India and one of the 12 major port of the country. The only port of Andaman islands are connected to mainland of India through flight and ship. Port Blair is the principal hub for shipping in the islands of Andaman and the one of the most popular tourist destination with several places of interest around like virgin beaches,scuba diving and water sports.

    

    8. Tuticorin Port- Tamil Nadu: Tuticorin Port is an artificial deep-sea harbour and one of the 12 major ports of India. It is also the second largest port in Tamil Nadu first is Chennai Port and one of the largest container terminal in India. The artificial port of Tuticorin is a all weather port and who receive a large volume of international traffic. Port of Tuticorin are a used to be best port for maritime trade and pearl fishery on the bay of Bengal. The port city is also known as Pearl City and is one of the beautiful sea gateways of India from Tamil Nadu state.

    

    9. Chennai Port: Madras Port is the one of the oldest port of India and the second largest port in the country. Chennai Port also the largest port in the Bay of Bengal and a hub port for cars, big containers and cargo traffic in the east coast of India. Port of the Coromandel Coast handles a variety of cargo containers,automobiles,coal,fertilizers and petroleum products. Chennai Port terminals have lighthouses around,Intra port connectivity,Pipelines and railway terminus.

    

    10. Vizag Port- Andhra Pradesh: The port city Visakhapatnam is located on the southeast coast of India in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Visakhapatnam or Vizag has one of the India’s largest seaport and the oldest shipyard of country. The Visakhapatnam harbors is the only Natural harbors in the bay of Bengal shore. Vizag is second largest city in Andhra, nestled among the great hills of Eastern Ghats and faces the Bay of Bengal.Krishnapatnam Port is a privately built deep water port in Andhra Pradesh.

    

    11. Paradip Port- Orissa: The artificial, deep-water port of east coast of India is located in the Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa state. Port of Paradip is the major port in the east cost shore and situated at the confluence of great river Mahanadi and the Bay of Bengal. Paradip Port has its own railway system,cold handling plant and a national highway connects the port with rest of Indian road networks.

    

    12. Haldia port- West Bengal: Haldia port or Calcutta Port is a major seaport situated near the Hooghly River in the state of West Bengal. Port of Haldia is one of the major trade center for Calcutta and receive bulk cargoes of Chemicals, Petrochemicals and oils. Port of Kolkata is also a base of Indian Coast Guard.