Visit of Royal Norwegian Consulate General and Delegation

The Norwegian Consul General in Mumbai Mr Arne Jan Flolo visited CSIR-NIO (CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography), Goa, along with his business delegation on 26 October 2021. The Norwegian delegation includes Dr Tone Helene Aarvik, Consul; Rahul Maheshwari, Advisor-Economic Affairs; and Ashok EATI, NB & CMC Manager, DNV, Mumbai.

Prof. Sunil Singh, Director, CSIR-NIO chaired the meeting. Dr Sanil Kumar, Scientist G & Head, PME; Dr V.J. Loveson, Scientist G & Head, ISTAG and Dr Mangesh Gauns, Head Biological Oceanography Division attended the meeting. 

The agenda for discussion included scope for Norwegian participation in mutually-interested projects, the status of existing projects/MoU with Norwegian institutions and identifying new projects for future collaboration.

Prof. Singh presented an overview of R&D fields of interest of CSIR-NIO. There were fruitful discussions on various aspects related to basic research and the blue economy.

Earlier, the Norwegian delegation led by Ms Ann Ollestad, former Consul General of Norway in Mumbai, visited the headquarters of CSIR-NIO in December 2017. Mr Flolo’s visit was a continuation of the ongoing Indian and Norwegian dialogue on collaborating on issues related to maritime cooperation, clean energy, and sustainable development. India and Norway have signed several MoUs including establishing the India Ocean Dialogue and Joint Task Force on Blue Economy. 

The proposed meeting will, hopefully, serve as a step forward for more concrete actions in future collaboration between the two countries.

Visit of the First Secretary, Embassy of the Dominican Republic

The First Secretary and Head of cultural affairs of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in India, Ms Ana Mercedes Ferrand Linares visited CSIR-NIO on 26 November 2021.

A discussion meeting was arranged with Prof. Sunil Singh Director, CSIR-NIO. 

After narrating the expertise of CSIR-NIO in various R&D fields in oceanography, the discussion was focused on the mutual fields of research interest to both countries. Support to study coastal geomorphology and dynamics, marine ecosystem monitoring and restoration and coastal hydrological modelling were also discussed.

In continuation, a series of virtual meetings and visits are to be planned for more detailing scientific collaboration, leading to an MoU.

Visit of Dr Olivier Fudym, Attaché for Scientific and Academic Cooperation for West India at the Embassy of France/French Institute in India

India and France share common interests in the field of Marine sciences- blue economy, ocean exploration, monitoring of oceans and the sustainability of coastal ecosystems. In this connection, Dr Olivier Fudym, the Attaché for Scientific and Academic Cooperation for West India at the Embassy of France/French Institute in India, visited the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, India, Goa, on 6 December 2021.

Professor Sunil Singh outlined the earlier and ongoing scientific collaborations with France with CSIR-NIO. He gave an insight into the mutual research work and database modelling on hydrothermal studies in mid-oceanic ridges during the last several years.    It was agreed to move forward to strengthen the scientific collaboration in bio-geochemistry, gas hydrates and ecological conservation studies. To follow-up, several online meetings are proposed in the coming days.