Mrutyunjay Mohapatra appointed Director General of IMD

Renowned scientist, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra is appointed as Director-General the India Meteorological Department (IMD). His appointment order was issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

About Mrutyunjay Mohapatra

• The 54-year-old cyclone warning specialist is Scientist ‘G’ (grade) in IMD. Prior to joining IMD, he worked at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in Chandipur.
• He is appointed as chief of IMD and will assume charge of the post on or after 1 August 2019 for a period of five years.
• He leads the Cyclone Warning Division (CWD) of the IMD and is well known as ‘Cyclone Man‘ for his cyclone forecasts. In past six years, CWD has given accurate forecasts on cyclones such as Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Titli (2018) which hit the eastern coast.
• Focus Areas: He seeks to strengthen the IMD’s infrastructure and improve dissemination of weather-related information with focus on sector-related forecast and giving impact-based prediction in all areas. By sector-related forecasts, IMD intends to give predictions on specific areas like information for transport systems (like trains). At present IMD gives impact-based predictions only for cyclones.

About India Meteorological Department

• It is an agency of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• It is responsible for meteorological observations, seismology and weather and climate related forecasts for the country.
• It is mandated to warn against severe weather phenomenon like cold and heat-waves, dust storms, cyclones, heavy rain and snow and others.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2019