Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh chaired the Second General Body Meeting of the Earth System Sciences Council (ESSC), emphasizing the need for citizen-centric science communication to transform India's scientific achievements into accessible narratives for the public. The meeting reviewed annual reports and audited accounts for FY 2025-26 of the five constituent institutions: National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), and National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).
Significant progress was reported in India's Deep Ocean Mission, particularly the development of MATSYA-6000, the country's 6,000-metre depth-rated human submersible. Indian aquanauts successfully completed dives to 4,025 metres and 5,002 metres during the Indo-French expedition aboard the submersible Nautile, marking a substantial advancement in deep-sea exploration capabilities. NIOT also reported advances in indigenous ocean technologies including desalination solutions for Lakshadweep, offshore fish cage technologies, oceanographic instrumentation, deep-sea mineral exploration, and ocean thermal energy conversion.
Under Mission Mausam and the PRITHVI programme, scientific advances included developments in the Bharat Forecasting System, advanced numerical weather prediction, and atmospheric observation networks. IITM's research is strengthening weather and climate forecasting through improved modelling systems, expanded observation infrastructure, and emerging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications aimed at improving forecasting capabilities and scientific preparedness for weather and climate-related challenges.
INCOIS reported expanding ocean information and advisory services for fishing communities, coastal populations, and maritime stakeholders, including multilingual marine advisories, fishing-related information, swell-surge inundation forecasts, and ocean observation products. NCESS presented scientific contributions in earth sciences including research on landslides, tectonic processes, ocean structures, atmospheric aerosols, and rainfall over the Western Ghats, alongside development of scientific laboratories and research facilities.
NCPOR's achievements included the 45th Indian Antarctic Expedition involving 95 members, the 16th Indian Arctic Expedition, glacier monitoring in the Himalayas, and scientific investigations in the Southern Ocean. Research on polar environments, glacier dynamics, ocean-atmosphere interactions, and carbon cycling continues to contribute to understanding climate change and global environmental processes, strengthening India's contribution to international polar research.
Dr. Jitendra Singh proposed a mission-mode approach for Polar and Solid Earth Sciences to accelerate scientific outcomes and encouraged greater coordination among institutional communication teams, regular interaction with media professionals, and the use of creative formats to communicate scientific achievements more effectively.