India has invited Pakistan and Bangladesh, among other neighboring countries, to participate in the ‘Undivided India’ seminar organized to commemorate 150 years of the India Meteorological Department. This is a first of its kind initiative by the government to put aside differences and come together to celebrate the shared history of the Indian subcontinent.
Invitations have been sent to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Apart from the subcontinent, invitations have also been sent to officials from the Middle East, Central and South West Asia.
Pakistan has confirmed its participation and confirmation is awaited from Bangladesh, news agency Press Trust of India reported. If Dhaka confirms, it will be a historic moment. “We wanted officials from all the countries that were part of undivided India at the time of the establishment of the IMD to be part of the ceremony,” a top IMD official said.
Various ministries of the Government of India have contributed in making this event memorable. While the Finance Ministry has decided to release a special and limited edition Rs 150 commemorative coin to mark the special occasion, the Home Ministry has approved a special tableau on Republic Day to mark 150 years of the Meteorological Department. Has given.
a brief History
India Meteorological Department was established on January 15, 1875. However, weather observatories were established much earlier. The first meteorological observatories were established by the British East India Company. The Calcutta Observatory began in 1785, the Madras Observatory in 1796 and the Bombay Observatory in 1826. Many more were established in the early 19th century, throughout the Indian subcontinent.
The IMD came into existence in 1875 after a cyclone hit Calcutta in 1864, followed by two fatal monsoon failures in 1866 and 1871, which led to famine across Bengal. This was when it was decided by the administration under the British Raj that record keeping and data analysis was needed. Hence collection and analysis of meteorological observations began under one roof – an organization called the India Meteorological Department.
Since its establishment in 1875, the IMD was headquartered in Calcutta. In 1905 it was moved to Shimla, then to Pune in 1928, and finally to New Delhi in 1944, where it has remained ever since.
Over the years the IMD has grown from humble beginnings to become a leading weather forecaster for Asia. Since independence in 1947, IMD has made significant progress in meteorology, communications and scientific innovation.
During the Telegram era, the IMD used to send major weather updates and warnings through Telegram. But it also became a pioneer in weather communications by inaugurating one of the world’s first message-switching computers for global data exchange. It also acquired one of the oldest electronic computers for climate research.
When India’s space agency ISRO established itself, the Meteorological Department was one of the first to collaborate with it. India became the first developing country to launch its own geostationary satellite, INSAT, for round-the-clock weather monitoring and cyclone alerts.
(Inputs from PTI)
