Earth Sciences Celebrates Foundation Day

Earth Sciences Celebrates Foundation Day
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is celebrating its foundation day tomorrow. It was formed in 2006 from a merger of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and Earth Risk Evaluation Centre (EREC), and the Ministry of Ocean Development. It is one of the youngest ministries of the Government of India. The Earth Commission, under which the Ministry of Earth Sciences works in Mission Mode based on Commission structure, is responsible for formulating policies, oversee implementation of policies and programs in mission mode, and ensure the necessary interdisciplinary integration.

The Ministry will celebrate its Foundation Day tomorrow. An Exhibition has been organized depicting various activities of the Ministry. National award and Certificate of Merit to distinguished scientists in various fields of ‘Ocean Science and Technology’ and ‘Atmospheric Science and Technology’ will be conferred tomorrow. The Ministry organized drawing competition all over the country. The winner school children will also receive their prizes on this occasion.Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh willbe the Chief Guest of this celebration. Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser will deliver Foundation Day Lecture. Dr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of state for Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences will preside the function.

The Ministry is mandated to provide the nation with best possible services in forecasting the monsoons and other weather/climate parameters, ocean state, earthquakes, tsunamis and other phenomena related to earth systems through well integrated programmes. The Ministry also deals with science and technology for exploration and exploitation of ocean resources (living and non-Fliving), and play nodal role for Antarctic/Arctic and Southern Ocean research. The Ministry mandate is to look after Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean Science & Technology and Seismology in an integrated manner. MoES aims to create a framework for understanding the complex interactions among key elements of the Earth System, namely ocean, atmosphere and solid earth, by encompassing national programmes in Ocean science, meteorology, climate, environment and seismology.

The other Units under the Ministry of Earth Sciences are National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Chennai, National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) Goa, and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) Hyderabad, Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Project Directorate (ICMAM-PD) Chennai, and Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) Kochi under the Ocean Science and Technology sector.