The Union Cabinet on January 5 cleared a ₹4,797-crore programme called ‘Prithvi’ (Earth) that is expected to subsume five existing schemes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
These programmes are to improve and increase long-term observations of the atmosphere, ocean, geosphere, cryosphere and solid earth to track changes in the planet; develop models to understand and predict weather, ocean and climate hazards, and understand the science of climate change; explore polar and high-seas regions of the earth to discover new phenomena and resources; develop technology for exploration and sustainable harnessing of oceanic resources for societal applications; and translate knowledge and insights from Earth Systems science into services for societal, environmental and economic benefit.
“A major component of the Ministry is the Deep Ocean Mission or DOM [one of whose objectives is to send a manned submersible 6,000 metres into the Indian Ocean]. The Prithvi programme broadly subsumes all of our other major activities,” M. Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES, told The Hindu.
The DOM was cleared by the Cabinet in 2021 at an outlay of ₹4,000 crore for five years.
The research and development, and operational (services) activities of MoES are carried out by its 10 Institutes, viz., India Meteorological Department (IMD); National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF); Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE); National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR); National Centre for Seismology (NCS); National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT); Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS); National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR); Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM); and National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS). A fleet of oceanographic and coastal research vessels of the Ministry provide required research support for its schemes.
Satellite for Mauritius
The Cabinet on January 5 also approved an agreement between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) to jointly develop a “small satellite.” The device is expected to cost ₹20 crore and be ready in 15 months.
India and Mauritius have a history of cooperation since the 1980s when ISRO established a ground station in Mauritius for tracking and telemetry support for ISRO’s launch vehicle and satellite missions.
