Team Herald
PANJIM: In a first of its kind research project, India will conduct a joint marine research with Bangladesh in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to collect oceanographic data and understand the marine ecology of the Bay of Bengal, which is crucial to understand climate change and monsoon pattern in India.
India and Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a result of which Indo-Bangladesh collaboration in marine sciences has been initiated. A team of scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will head to the Bay of Bengal in October-November on Research Vessel (RV) Sindhu Sadhana. The cruise will involve 29 scientists-10 from Bangladesh and 19 from India.
As part of the initiative, a delegation from Bangladesh headed by Minister of Science and Technology Yeafesh Osman is on visit to NIO.
“India and Bangladesh are engaged in an active collaboration in the area of ocean research through NIO, Goa which is a constituent laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India and Dhaka University (DU), Bangladesh since September 2014,” press note by NIO reads.
On June 7, the two countries signed MoU that envisages to carry out joint research in Bay of Bengal oceanography and to conduct of multi-disciplinary oceanographic cruises in the northern Bay of Bengal for hands-on training for Dhaka University (DU) staff and students on oceanographic data and sample collection, analysis and interpretation
“A joint oceanographic cruise is planned during October-November by NIO and DU onboard Indian research ship RV Sindhu Sadhana in the northern Bay of Bengal,” the press note stated.
The broad objectives of the joint cruise is to impart training to the students, researchers and young faculties of DU in the collection of oceanographic data and samples onboard Indian Research Ship RV Sindhu Sadhana using various onboard instruments. To conduct joint oceanographic research using the data collected from the most data-deficit regions of the northern Bay of Bengal within the shelf-slope regions of Bangladeshi waters, to understand the physical, chemical, biological, geological and Paleoceanography of this region.
