a depth of 4,800 meters in the western Indian Ocean on January 26, 1981, using its first research vessel, RV Gaveshani, which was purchased in 1976. Subsequently, work by NIO researchers helped India to gain the status of "Pioneer Investor" from the International Sea Bed Authority. While this research was aimed at placing the country in a strategically enhanced position, it also provided the institute an opportunity to study the marine geology and geophysics of the Indian Ocean. Some of the issues they addressed are the following: Evolution of the Indian tectonic plates and its implications; determination of the time when the Himalayas started rising leading to monsoonal climate of the Indian subcontinent; nature of mid-ocean ridges (where new crusts form); characteristics of marine sedimentary facies; the role of rivers on the Indian subcontinent in marine sediment budget and paleoclimatic evolution as archived in the sediment cores. During the first decade and a half of its founding, besides developing its main campus at Goa, a major project taken up by the institute was organising the first Indian Expedition to Antarctica in 1981. This project, together with exploration for polymetallic nodules, established close ties between NIO and the then Department of Ocean Development and subsequently the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These ties helped the institute to grow while the government expanded the infrastructure for ocean research, technology and services in the country. Since the early 1980s, an important theme for basic research in the institute has been, and continues to be, understanding oceanographic implications of the special characteristics of the North Indian basin, which has some unique features: the basin is strictly tropical, with the Asian landmass restricting it south of about 25 degrees N; it is a relatively small basin when compared to the North/South Atlantic/Pacific and even the South Indian Ocean and, of course, there is the seasonality imposed by the monsoons. In the figure above red areas represent areas with elevation of a few kilometers. The presence of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas influences the monsoons. NIO's scientists have made handsome contributions to understanding the implications of these special features through observations and analyses. The former have included ship-based observations, time-series data collected with moored instruments and satellite data. ORV Sagar Kanya, which was acquired by the Government of India for use by oceanographic research institutions in India, has been playing a major role