Syllabus Section: Geography

 

Why in news?

The 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) departed for the South Pole from Marmagao Port, Goa with 43 members on board recently. India has two stations on the polar continent of Antarctica — Maitri and Bharati — which are being operated under the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Objective:

The focus of the 40th Scientific Expedition to the white continent will be to support the ongoing scientific projects on geology, climate change, electric and magnetic flux measurements, ocean observations, environmental monitoring. It also aims at resupplying the of fuel, food, and to accomplish the return of the winter crew.

India in Antarctica:

• India began its Antarctic expeditions in 1981 and the first team to the continent comprised of a team of 21 scientists.
• The Antarctic Program of India has known to have built 3 permanent research base stations in the continent- Maitri, Dakshin Gangotri, and Bharati.
• India, as of today, has two operational stations in Antarctica names Bharati and Maitri.
• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research-NCPOR in Goa manages the entire Indian Antarctic Program.
• The 39th expedition to the continent was launched in 2019 and after completing its mission, it returned to India in May 2020.

 

Source: Down to earth