MoES Foundation Day: IMD/observational and service improvements including 13 IMD Centres of Excellence and cyclone warning upgradation
MoES marked its 20th Foundation Day with new IMD Centres of Excellence, cyclone warning upgrade to an Area Cyclone Warning Centre, and new forecasting platforms and animal disease risk forecasting via a MoU.
- A Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) provides cyclone warnings, while an Area Cyclone Warning Centre (ACWC) is set up to cover a wider region with warning services.
- Weather Driven Animal Disease Risk Forecasting Unit (WAADRU) is meant to use weather inputs to predict district-level livestock disease risk, for up to two months.
- IMD NOVA is a web platform for thunderstorm nowcasts, with tracking, validation, and archiving using lightning-network inputs and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) data.
What happened (MoES Foundation Day announcements)
The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) marked its 20th Foundation Day with official announcements on operational and service improvements by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and partner institutions. The announcements covered capacity building (new IMD Centres of Excellence), early warning coverage upgrade for cyclones, and new forecasting tools for thunderstorm nowcasts and animal disease risk.
UPSC can frame these announcements as improvements in meteorological decision-support: cyclone warning coverage expansion, verified thunderstorm nowcasting using real-time lightning and AWS data, and application of weather signals to livestock disease risk forecasting. The key exam skill is to connect meteorological capability to disaster risk reduction and public-service outcomes.