Cabinet nod to Unesco oceanography training centre in Hyderabad

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday approved the establishment of an International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography in Hyderabad by Unesco.

"The establishment of Unesco Category-2 centre will provide an opportunity for India to emerge as a leading country in the Indian Ocean. This will also help India to forge cooperation and improve engagement among the counties of the Indian Ocean, including South Asian and African states bordering the Indian Ocean," an official release said.

Operational oceanography is an activity of conducting systematic oceanographic studies for providing information services to various sectors such as fishermen, disaster management, shipping, ports, coastal states, navy, coast guard, environment and offshore industries for their day-to-day operations.

The government will provide assistance in areas of capacity building and training, knowledge-sharing and exchange of information.

The centre aims to respond to the worldwide increasing need to build technical and management capacity to address marine and coastal sustainability issues and prepare the region for and react efficiently to marine natural hazards, the release said.

The centre could contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal-14 (SDG 14) related to building marine scientific research capacity apart from generating employment opportunities within and outside India.

--IANS

mak/tsb/bg