New Delhi: The finance ministry has just set the stage for Maitri II, India’s fourth research centre in Antarctica. The facility is due to come up by 2029—marking yet another coming-of-age moment for scientific missions carried out in the region.

Currently, India’s research infrastructure consists of Maitri, which was built in 1989, and Dakshin Gangotri, which was completed in 2012. Back in 2017, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, who was then the Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) , announced that Maitri, which had then been around for nearly 30 years, would be “replaced”. Yet, it was only last year that Union minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed the development—a much-needed refurbishment. The new-and-improved Maitri II is said to have better working and living con

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