Tamil Nadu is a state at the southern tip of India. The bordering states/territories are Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The island nation of Sri Lanka, which has a significant Tamil minority, lies off the southeast coast. Tamil Nadu was called Madras Presidency in British India, which also included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Upon India s independence, Madras Presidency became Madras state; in 1953, the Telugu-speaking northeastern part of the state became the new state of Andhra Pradesh, and Bellary district became part of Mysore state. In 1956, the state acquired its present borders when the western portion of Madras state, on the Arabian Sea, was divided between Mysore state (later Karnataka) and the new state of Kerala. In July 1967 Madras state was re-named as Tamil Nadu by Madras State assembly and approved by Indian Parliment in August 1968. State politics continue to have a focus on protecting and celebrating the Tamil (and Dravidian) language and culture. Unlike most other parts of the country, Tamil Nadu gets its rainfall largely from the "North-East monsoon" in the months of October-December. Farmers are very dependent on the fickle handful of cyclonic storms that are formed in this season in the Bay of Bengal. Tamil Nadu was one of the states affected by the Asian Tsunami on December 26, 2004 which took away more than 4000 lives and damaging the whole of the southern parts of the state. There is a long standing dispute with Karnataka over the matter of water from the Cauvery River. The river flows south from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, and both regions draw on water from the river, prompting concerns over whether the upper riparian Karnataka has released its fair share of river water to the lower riparian Tamil Nadu. Chennai, which was known until 1996 as Madras, is the 4th largest city of India and the state capital. Also known as auto capital of India. Chennai is the home of Marina Beach, the second longest beach in the world. Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Tirunelveli are other large cities of Tamil Nadu. Silver Beach in Cuddalore is the longest beach next only to Marina and has importance as a tourist attraction. Tamil Nadu is known for its rich tradition of literature, music and dance which continue to flourish today. It is one of the most progressive and industrialized states in India. Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu (as well as one of the official languages of India). Some of the prominent personalities from the state are Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), Subramanya Bharathy, C.V. Raman, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, R K Narayan, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Abdul Kalam, Peraringnar Anna, Thanthai Periyar, Kalaingnar Karunanidhi, A. R. Rahman, Padmashree Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, and Vilayanur Ramachandran. Other mythological and/or ancient personalities include Kannagi, Thiruvalluvar, Kambar and Manuneedhi Chozan. Alan Turing, a prominent figure in Computer Science, spent his early childhood in the then Madras presidency. Tamil Nadu is also home to the large Tamil film industry, producing a huge number of Tamil films each year. Chennai has often been refered to as Kollywood, a conflation of Hollywood and Kodambakkam (the section of Chennai that houses the cinema related facilities).