What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1: Samudrayaan: Indian Aquanauts’ exploration of the deep.

Context:

Recently two Indian “aquanauts” travelled deep into the Atlantic Ocean aboard the French vessel, Nautile. This will aid India’s Samudrayaan Project, which aims to send three humans to the depths of 6000 meters by 2027.

Background of the Project:

• With its long coastline of about 11000km, Indian government has long pushed for blue economywhich aims to harness the ocean resources for economic growth.
• The deep ocean consist the unexplored minerals, fuels and biodiversity resources. Modern telecommunications require the undersea cables, which are laid on ocean floor.
• Currently only five countries have deep sea exploration capabilities namely, US, Russia, China, France, and Japan.
• India has launched Samudrayaan project as a part of Deep Sea missionapproved by the cabinet in 2021.

About Deep Sea Mission:

• This mission was launched by Ministry of Earth Sciencesat the estimated cost of Rs.4, 077 for the period of five years.
• It aims to develop technologies for deep sea mining and underwater vehicle, including crewed submersible.
• It aims to enhance the ocean climate change advisory service, with observations and models for future climate projections.
• Conduct Deep ocean surveys, mainly to look for Poly-Metallic Nodules. These nodules comprise layers of iron and manganese hydroxides and are found on the ocean floor. It contains materials such as nickel rare earths and cobalt.
• Develop technologies to derive energy and fresh water from ocean.
• It aims to establish an advanced marine station for building capacities in ocean biology and engineering.

Deep Ocean Submersible Vehicle MATSYA -6000:

• It is developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). It will take the aquanauts into the deep ocean.
• Designed like a fish, it will comprise a “personnel sphere” with diameter of 2.1 meters to house the humans. The vehicle will be capable of sustaining three humans for 12-hour missions. In case of emergencies, system aboard can sustain aquanauts for 96 hours.
• Initially, a steel sphere will be used to carry humans to the depth of 500 meters. However, steel is not strong enough to bear the atmospheric pressure at 6000 meters under the sea. The actual personnel sphere will be made of a titanium alloy.

Challenges of Deep Sea exploration:

• Vessel development: A vehicle needs to be developed which must be capable of sustaining life in deep sea. A titanium alloy with 80mm thickness is chosen due to its strength. Titanium is rare metal with limited supply. Also the thickness of 80mm needs to be the same across the sphere. Even 0.2mm deviation could lead to collapse of vehicle under such intense pressures.
• Maintaining Environment: The oxygen and carbon dioxide levels need to regulate in the vehicle as aquanauts will be restricted to personnel sphere. Scrubbers will be used to absorb harmful gases. Also the packed rebreathers will recirculate exhaled air after removing carbon dioxide using the mechanisms similar to deep sea-divers.
• Aquanaut health: Aquanaut health must be ensured as they require operating in stressed environment where ocean pressure is significantly high compared to atmospheric pressure. They may not be able to eat or drink a lot during the mission as they cannot access washroom.
• Acoustic Phone: Radio waves, which are used in normal life, cannot be used in deep-sea communication. Acoustic phone use information-laden sound wavesto a receiver placed just underneath the surface of the water.

Way Forward:

India has already developed the indigenous acoustic phone. Now, this deep underwater exploration by Indian aquanauts will provide information for the development of MATSYA-6000. India should collaborate with countries having deep sea exploration capabilities to harness ocean resources. Deep sea exploration will boost the blue economy.

 

Editorial 2: The India- Japan partnership

Context:

PM Modi is set to visit Japan for the Annual Bilateral summit with his Japanese counterpart. He last travelled to Japan in 2018 for bilateral summit. Thereafter, he will visit to China for Heads of State Council meeting of SCO.

Historical ties and Shared vision:

• Japan and India have civilization ties with shared values, trust and modern strategic outlook.
• Both countries have elevated their bilateral relations to Global partnershipin 2000, which was further elevated to Strategic and Global Partnership in 2006. Further it was upgraded to Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014.
• Both countries are Asia’s two leading democracies with historical ties. They have a shared view in the regional and global outlooks.
• India with its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative views Japan as a connectivity pillar. Japan also shares the India’s vision of Indo-Pacific in its Fee and Open Indo-Pacific policy.
• Both countries are members of multilateral platforms such as International Solar Alliance, QUAD, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

Defense and Security Cooperation:

• They have signed multiple agreements such as Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services Agreement in 2020, and co-development of UNICORN naval mast in 2024.
• They are mutually part of many exercises such as Malabar (with US and Australia), Milan (multilateral naval), JIMEX (bilateral maritime).
• They regularly conduct Defense minister’s visits, army chiefs’ visit, and Joint service talks.
• In the light of changing global security scenario, existing defense cooperation must be updated.

Trade and Investment:

• Bilateral trade for FY 2023-24 was $22.8 billion. In Apr-Jan 2024-25, it stood at $21 billion. This demonstrates stability in bilateral trade.
• Bilateral trade has trade deficit favoring Japan.
• India’s major exports include chemicals, vehicles, and aluminum and sea food. Major imports for India include machinery, steel, copper and artifacts.
• Japan is India’s fifth largest source of FDI with annual investment of $43.2 billion up to December, 2024.
• They are focusing on emerging areas such as semiconductors, AI, critical minerals, telecommunications and clean energy.
• Both countries have already achieved the target of investment 5 trillion yen in Public and private investments by 2026.

Development and Infrastructure Cooperation:

• Japan is India’s largest overseas development assistance partnerwith total assistance of $4.5 billion in 2023-4.
• High speed rail network from Mumbai to Ahmadabadis the symbol of advanced technology transfer and skill development.
• They are willing to launch a mobility partnership covering railways, roads.

Multilateral Cooperation:

• They are part of many initiatives such as International Solar Alliance, QUAD, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

People-to-People Contacts:

• Both the countries have celebrated 2023-24 as Year of Tourism Exchange with theme “Connecting Himalayas with Mount Fuji”.
• There are many university and academic partnership platforms such as Universities Forum promoting student exchanges. The Skill Connect platform launched in 2023 connects skilled Indian workers to Japanese employers.
• There is Indian Diasporaof 54,000 Indians living in Japan. This includes IT professionals, college students.

Way Forward:

Both India and Japan share the historical ties that date back to ancient India. Amid global uncertainty caused by arbitrary tariff imposition, wars, natural calamities, both these countries must boost their cooperation to address these global challenges in a mutually beneficial way. Also, it will help countering the China which poses a security threat to both the countries.