Lok Sabha passes Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 amid Opposition protest seeking debate on price rise | India News,The Indian Express
As soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm on Friday following the second adjournment of the day, the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, was taken up for consideration after Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh moved it for consideration.
Amid protests by Opposition members seeking a debate on price rise, Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, which seeks to extend the application of domestic laws to research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region. This was the first bill passed this session.
As soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm on Friday following the second adjournment of the day, the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, was taken up for consideration after Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh moved it for consideration.
Replying to the brief debate on the bill, Singh said the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 and India became a signatory in 1983.
“The main objective of the treaty was that Antarctica is not used for military activity or there is no other misuse, to ensure the demilitarisation of the area. The other objective was to prevent nations from indulging in mining activity or any other illegal activity,” the minister said.
“This is more or less no man’s land. No one should use that land for nuclear explosion. Basically its (treaty’s) objective was to ensure that those countries that have institutions there, they restrict themselves to research or experiments related to climate and geography,” he said.
Rating: 5