8-Nov-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh chairs the first ever Joint Society Meeting of Autonomous Institutes (IITM, INCOIS, NCESS, NCPOR, and NIOT) of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in New Delhi

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh today convened the first ever Joint Society Meeting of Autonomous Institutes (IITM, INCOIS, NCESS, NCPOR, NIOT) of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and called for breaking the "silos" to work with integration and "whole of government" approach.

All the five autonomous bodies Societies, that is, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) have been merged into a single Society of MoES.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the move is in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directive to avoid duplication and working in silos and to aim for greater integration to achieve the maximum output. He said, PM Modi not only has a natural predilection for science but is also forthcoming in supporting and promoting science and technology based initiatives and projects in the last 7-8 years.

Apart from Dr Jitendra Singh, who is the President of the Society, Members, Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Shri S. Somanath, Secretary, Department of Space, Dr. N Kalaiselvi, DG, CSIR and Secretary DSIR, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO, Bengaluru, Dr. P. S. Goel, Former Secretary, MoES, Dr. Harsh K Gupta, Former Secretary, DOD/MoES, Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Former Secretary, MoES & Director, NIAS, Bengaluru, Dr. GA Ramadass, Director, NIOT, Dr. T Srinivasa Kumar, Director, INCOIS, Dr. R. Krishnan, Director, IITM, Prof. Jyotiranjan S Ray, Director, NCESS, Dr. Thamban Meloth, Director, NCPOR took part in today’s deliberations.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken the notion of “Marine Surveillance” to a new level, where Space applications are also being deployed to share the valuable inputs with the Security Agencies. The Minister informed that Oceansat will be launched on 26th of November, 2022 and installation of a NASA-ISRO Radar System is at an advanced stage. He also informed greater use of Global Navigation Satellite System, GNSS, as one of the key sources of position information, alongside radio navigation systems, which exchange information with nearby ships and land-based vessel traffic services (VTS) on a vessel's position, course and speed.

Taking a review of the Design and Development of Manned Submersible – MATSYA 6000, Dr Jitendra Singh said, completion of all testing to proceed for shallow water testing of manned submersible during the first quarter of 2024 using the NIOT-MoES research vessel ORV Sagar Nidhi. He informed that based on the ongoing progress, it is expected that all the long lead components shall get realised by the third quarter of 2023 to proceed for the subcomponent integration and testing by following due DNV approved interface procedures.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, for the benefit of ocean scientific community, under the Deep Ocean Mission’s SAMUDRAYAAN program of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the deep-water human submersible MATSYA6000 is designed and developed indigenously by National Institute of Ocean Technology, an autonomous institute under MoES. The battery-powered submersible MATSYA 6000 shall have the capability to carry three persons upto 6000 m water depth and perform scientific exploration with a normal endurance period of 12h and emergency support for 96 hours. Manned submersible have the advantages of carrying scientists to deep sea areas for research on life in extreme environments by biological sampling, habitat analysis and in situ experiments for ocean mineral exploration.

Secretary, MoES, Dr M Ravichandra said that considering the complexity in the depth rated component custom design, realisation and testing of other subsystems; contract were signed for the long lead items with national and international agencies for the subcomponents realization. Titanium Alloy personnel sphere for 6000 m operation capability is under progress with VSSC-ISRO. A design document is submitted to DNV for approval and ingot material processing is being carried out at MIDHANI and forging is planned at L&T. Electron Beam Welding facility augmentation is being completed at LPSC-ISRO.

4-Aug-2022: Harnessing Ocean Resources

Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has taken many initiatives to harness the potential of Ocean resources.

Under the schemes “Ocean—Services, Modelling, Application, Resources and Technology (O-SMART)” and “Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)” of MoES, resource inventories for energy, fisheries, and minerals have been taken up. Government of India signed a 15 year contract with International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of polymetallic nodules from Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) in 2002. Extensive survey and other developmental activities have been carried out in 75000 sq km area retained by India in CIOB. MoES has undertaken exploration and other developmental activities related to Polymetallic Sulphides under a 15 years contract signed in 2016 with International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of Polymetallic Sulphides in the allotted area of 10,000 sq km along Central Indian Ridge (CIR) & Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) region of the Indian Ocean.

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under MoES has developed, demonstrated and operated unmanned remotely operated systems to harness ocean resources. Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) of MoES explored the deep-sea living resources under Marine Living Resources Programme (MLRP). The programme covers the regular monitoring of the Indian ecosystems covering pelagic to deep sea realms vis-à-vis documenting the taxonomic information and development of technology for harnessing resources.

Geological Survey of India (GSI) under Ministry of Mines has delineated prospective offshore areas within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India for marine mineral resources like lime mud, heavy mineral placers [ilmenite, monazite, rutile, sillimanite, garnet, zircon], and construction sand. Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has taken several initiatives over the years for development of marine fisheries in sustainable manner.

27-Jul-2021: Ministry of Earth Sciences celebrates its 15th Foundation Day

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) celebrated its 15th Foundation Day at Prithvi Bhavan Headquarters in New Delhi today. The Ministry launched multiple societally beneficial initiatives in the presence of Dr Jitendra Singh, Honourable Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology;(Ind Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, PP/DoPT, Atomic Energy, Space, who was the Chief Guest at the event. He encouraged MoES to expand, enhance, and promote services to society, especially weather, climate, ocean, and seismology, bringing in more socio-economic benefits to the country.

The event was marked by a lecture by Dr Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), entitled ‘WMO, Disasters, Climate and COP-26’, that discussed the pressing issue of climate change and its impact.

The Union Minister Dr Singh launched the MoES-ESSDP (Earth System Science Data Portal), an integrated digital web portal of MoES institutes, which makes available data on various themes of earth system science for public use. The portal has been developed using the latest information technology tools and is available at https://incois.gov.in/essdp. The portal is aligned with the Digital India initiative of the Government of India to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It would facilitate search and retrieval of earth system science data (of atmosphere, ocean, poles, geosciences and seismology) for societal benefit in a big way.

Dr Singh also launched a new MoES website that would provide a more user-friendly interface and cyber secure experience to the public. With Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES, and other dignitaries, Dr Singh released a book entitled Hydrocarbon fluid inclusions in petroliferous basins. This book discusses new tools for oil exploration and is a valuable reference for researchers studying fluid inclusion and oil prospecting. The book is authored by Dr V Nandakumar, Scientist G/Group Head and Former Director of National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Thiruvananthapuram, and Dr Jayanthi JL, Project Scientist at NCESS.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), MoES, introduced a new mobile app named ‘Pune Weather Live’, which would provide real-time and location-specific weather updates for Pune city. The app, released by Dr Rajeevan, captures live data from more than 80 weather stations, including information on rainfall.

Winners of the MoES National Awards were also announced at the event. The MoES Life Time Excellence Award was conferred to Dr Satish Shetye, Former Director of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa and Former VC of Goa University for his exemplary work on Indian monsoons. Dr Sunil Kumar Singh, Director, CSIR-NIO, Goa, received the National Award for Ocean Sciences; Dr R Krishnan, Scientist G and Executive Director, Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, for Atmospheric Science and Technology; Dr Kalachand Sain, Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology received the honour in the field of Geoscience and Technology; and Dr M V Ramanamurthy, Director, National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai, in the field of Ocean Technology. Dr Thara Prabhakaran, Scientist F, IITM, Pune and Dr Vandana Prasad, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, shared the Anna Mani award recognising woman scientists. Young Researcher awards were presented to Dr Waliur Rahaman, Scientist E, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa and Dr Kandula V Subrahmanyam, Space Physics Laboratory, ISRO.

Certificates of Merit were presented to Dr Supriyo Chakraborty, Scientist F, IITM, Pune; Dr O P Sreejith, Scientist E, IMD, Pune; Dr Sudheer Joseph, Scientist F, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad; Dr S B Pranesh, Scientist E, National Institute for Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai; Dr Avinash Kumar, Scientist E, NCPOR, Goa; and Dr S Kaliraj, Scientist C, NCESS, Thiruvananthapuram.

29-Jul-2020: MoES National Awards for excellence in Earth System Science Announced

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is mandated to provide the nation with the best possible services for weather, climate, ocean, coastal and natural hazards, for the Public Safety and socio-economic benefits. The Ministry also deals with exploration and sustainable harnessing of ocean resources (living and non-living) and plays a nodal role for Antarctic/Arctic/Himalayas and Southern Ocean research.

MoES aims to provide due recognition and platform to major scientific contributions made by eminent scientists/engineers in various fields of Earth System Science and also to encourage women and young researchers for coming into the mainstream of Earth System Science.  In view of above, the Ministry has instituted the Life Time Excellence Award, National Awards in the field of Atmospheric Science & Technology; Ocean Science; Geoscience & Technology; and Ocean Technology/Polar Science, Two Young Researcher awards and Dr. Anna Mani National Award for Woman Scientist.

This year the Life Time Excellence Award is being awarded to Professor Ashok Sahni for his significant contribution in the field of Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology and Biostratigraphy. He obtained his MSc (Hons) in Geology from Lucknow University and PhD in Geology from the University of Minnesota. He was appointed Lecturer at Lucknow University in 1968 and thereafter worked as Reader till 1979. He was Humboldt Research Fellow, Palaeontology Institute at the University Bonn (1977-78). He was Professor of Paleobiology and In-charge, Scanning Electron Microscope Facilities, Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh (1979-2003) where he continues as be Emeritus Professor.

The National Award for Ocean Science & technology is being awarded to Dr. V. V. S. S. Sarma, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Vishakhapatnam and Dr. M. Ravichandran, Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa. Dr. Sarma has made significant contributions in understanding biogeochemistry of the Indian Ocean. Dr. Ravichandran has led the Formulation and Execution of Indian Argo Project and Implementation of Ocean Data assimilation and Modelling for operational ocean services

The National Award for Atmospheric Science & technology will be presented to Dr. S. Suresh Babu, Scientist-SF, VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram. He has made outstanding contributions towards understanding the radiative impacts of black carbon aerosols on atmospheric stability and climate.

The National award for Geoscience & technology will be presented to N. V. Chalapathi Rao Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has carried out an enduring research on deeper mantle petrology and geochemistry.

The National Award for Ocean Technology will be presented to Dr. M. A. Atmanand, Director, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai. He has done pioneering work in the area of deep sea technologies. 

Dr. Lidita D. S. Khandeparker, Senior Scientist, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa will receive the Anna Mani award for woman scientist. She has made significant contributions in the field of aquatic microbial ecology, Marine biofilms and their relevance in the oceans.

The Young Researcher Awards will be presented to Dr. Indra Sekhar Sen, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Dr. Arvind Singh Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for their outstanding work in Earth System Science.

27-Jul-2020: Ministry of Earth Sciences launches Mobile App "Mausam” for India Meteorological Department on its Foundation Day Celebrations

India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken various initiatives in recent years for improvement in dissemination of weather forecast and warning services based on latest tools and technologies. To further enhance this initiative, Ministry of Earth Sciences feels proud to launch the mobile App "Mausam” for India Meteorological Department.

This mobile app is available both on Playstore and Appstore.

This Mobile App is dedicated to the general public and designed to communicate the weather information and forecasts in a lucid manner without technical jargons.

Users can access observed weather, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events.

The MAUSAM mobile App has the following 5 services:

1. Current Weather -Current temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction for 200 cities updated 8 times a day. Information on Sunrise/ sunset and moonrise/ moonset are also given.
2. Nowcast- Three hourly warnings of localized weather phenomena and their intensity issued for about 800 stations, and districts of India by State Meteorological Centres of IMD. In case of severe weather, its impact also is included in the warning.
3. City Forecast – Past 24 hours and 7 day forecast of weather conditions around 450 cities in India.
4. Warnings- Alerts issued twice a day for all districts for the next five days in colour code (Red, Orange and Yellow) to warn citizens of approaching dangerous weather. The colour code Red is the most severe category urging authorities to take action, Orange code prompts authorities and public to be alert and Yellow code prompts authorities and public to keep themselves updated.
5. Radar products: Latest Station wise radar products updated every 10 minutes.

The Mausam mobile app will be an important tool for dissemination of weather information and warnings in an attractive and user friendly manner which will meet the requirements of public.

The mobile app has been designed and developed jointly by ICRISAT’s Digital Agriculture & Youth (DAY) team, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and India Meteorological Department.

27-Jul-2020: MoES-Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet) Launched on the Foundation Day of Ministry of Earth Sciences

Under the Digital India initiative of Government of India, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) aims to develop a World-Class Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet).Keeping in mind the spectacular developments in information technology, the traditional libraries of the MoES system will be upgraded into a top-notch Knowledge Resource Centres (KRC). KRCs will be connected with each other and integrated into the KRCNet portal. It will be a single point entry to the intellectual world of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

The resources and services of MoES system will be accessible 24X7 through a one point dynamic, updated and integrated KRCNet portal. A pilot project has been developed at MoES headquarters which will be integrated with other MoES institutes.

Salient objectives of the KRCNet:

• Establish a Total Quality Management (TQM) system by securing ISO certification for documenting MoES knowledge resources, its maintenance, easy retrieval and dissemination.
• Collect, collate, analyze, index, store and disseminate the intellectual resources, products and project outputs available in MoES headquarter and its institutes.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date meta-data of the print & digital resources available in MoES headquarter and MoES institutes, including MoES services.
• Provide 24X7 access to the subscribed knowledge contents through the KRCNet portal.
• Application of information analytical tools & techniques like bibliometrics, scientometrics, big-data analytics, social media analytics etc., for policy formulation, report preparation and information dissemination.
• Periodically organize training workshops to popularize usage of electronic journals, databases, digital products, data analytics etc.