INDIAN
METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT - GEOGRAPHY
News:
Chasing monsoon for 150
years: The origin story of India Meteorological Department
What's
in the news?
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It has been a long journey from those
early days and IMD now has evolved into a massive organisation, running
hundreds of permanent observatories and thousands of automatic weather
stations, covering every nook and corner of the country.
Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD):
●
IMD was established in 1875.
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It is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal
government agency in all matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects.
Head:
●
The Director
General of Meteorology is the Head of the India Meteorological Department.
Headquarters - Delhi
Regional
Centers:
●
There are 6 Regional Meteorological
Centres, each under a Deputy Director General with headquarters at Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta,
Nagpur and Guwahati.
Nodal
Ministry
- Ministry
of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Mandate
of IMD:
●
To take meteorological observations and to
provide current and forecast
meteorological information for weather-sensitive activities like
agriculture, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.
●
To warn
against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, dust storms,
heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves.
●
To provide
meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource
management, industries, oil exploration and other nation-building activities.
●
To conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied
disciplines.
Other
Key Takeaways:
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IMD is also one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres of the
World Meteorological Organization.
○
The Regional Specialized Meteorological
Centre (RSMC) of Tropical Cyclones in New Delhi is responsible for naming the
cyclones in the northern Indian ocean region.