India's first manned maritime mission 'Samudrayaan' launched

• India's first manned mission 'Samudra Yaan' was launched by Union Minister Jitendra Singh. With this, India joined the list of select countries that have such vehicles to carry out activities under the sea.
• India's first manned ocean mission 'Samudrayaan' was launched in Chennai. With this, India joined the list of select countries like America, Russia, Japan, France and China. 
• A new chapter has begun for India in the potential of marine resources for drinking water, clean energy and a sea-based economy.

Important Takeaways

About 'Samudrayaan'

• The ‘Samudrayaan’ is a part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ pilot project for deep ocean mining for rare minerals.The indigenously developed vehicle is capable of crawling on the sea bed at a depth of six kilometre for 72 hours.