THE MINISTER OF FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND
MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES
(Dr. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *163 REGARDING ‘OPERATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY’ FOR ANSWER ON 7TH MARCH, 2018.
(a) Yes. Madam. A proposal for signing agreement with UNESCO has been approved towards setting up of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), to build manpower capacity in marine, coastal sustainability and response to marine natural hazards, particularly for the countries in the Indian Ocean rim and islands region as well as Africa.
(b) The centre is currently operational with facilities available at Indian Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad. So far, over 771 scientists including 655 from India and 116 from 36 other countries have been trained at this centre in various aspects of operational oceanography. A wide range of training programs are envisaged by ITCOocean covering different areas of ocean science and services which include natural oceanic disasters such as Tsunami.
A state-of-the-art e-class room facility with capacity of 48 participants has been established at INCOIS, Hyderabad. In December 2012, the ITCOocean project was approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) for implementation at an estimated cost of Rs. 100 crores during 12th Plan. So far, expenditure to a tune of Rs. 23 crores has been incurred. At present, the other infrastructure facilities like building and training hostel are being established. The construction work is expected to be completed by December 2018.
A decision for upgrading ITCOocean centre as Category-2 Centre of UNESCO was adopted during the 29th Assembly of IOC, UNESCO, Paris on 27th June 2017. The proposal also was approved by the 39th Session of UNESCO General Conference held on 7th November 2017. Accordingly, the Union Cabinet approved the establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography, as a Category-2 Centre (C2C) of UNESCO, in Hyderabad on 15th December 2017.
(c) Yes. Madam
(d) The ITCOocean will target the following trainees: (i) university students who would like to pursue their career in (operational) oceanography. Priority will be given to students from mainly Indian Ocean rim countries; (ii) staff of operational oceanographic centers and related facilities; (iii) staff of government departments involved with oceanographic services and marine activities; (iv) decision makers who need familiarization with oceanographic data; (v) people involved in ocean state forecasts, hazard related warnings, and coastal planners; (vi) staff of other operational oceanographic centers; and (vii) who need familiarization with operational oceanographic products. The ITCOocean will initially focus on offering short term courses spanning from 1 to 4 weeks. A “certificate of participation” will be issued jointly by INCOIS and UNESCO/IOC to participants who have completed the course, meant for staff of operational oceanographic centres. In addition to the courses jointly planned and conducted with UNESCO/IOC, INCOIS shall also conduct short term courses either its own or in collaboration with the relevant organizations that promote capacity building and education in ocean sciences.
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