Government of India Ministry of Earth Sciences India Meteorological Department PRESS RELEASE, 14th January 2015 Celebration of 140th Foundation Day of IMD Chief Guest : Dr.Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences India Meteorological Department is celebrating its 140th Foundation Day on 15th January 2015 with a view to promote awareness about the advancements achieved in the field of Weather Monitoring & Forecasting and the new initiatives taken by the Department for further accelerating its capabilities & services. On this occasion, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences will be the Chief Guest and Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary; Ministry of Earth Sciences will preside over the function. In the last few years, IMD has received worldwide appreciation from various stake holders, National & International Meteorological agencies, disaster managers, user organizations, media and public at large for its improvement in services, dissemination systems and accuracy of weather forecast and warnings with increase in lead time upto 5 days. IMD has made rapid strides in its modernisation programme and has replaced old analog systems with modern state of art digital observational, forecasting and dissemination platforms. A high speed broadband communication network has enabled seamless integration of web enabled services in our offices located across various parts of the country and thus ensuring effective and quick delivery system. Some of the initiatives and achievements of the year 2014 are as follows: Accurate short, medium, extended & long range forecast of Monsoon 2014 and accurate prediction of extreme weather events like heavy rainfall in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam & Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat and hailstorm over Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra.  Percentage Correct (PC) skill score for Short Range Heavy Rainfall Warnings, issued during monsoon 2014, was 88%. 2  Accurate prediction of Hudhud, Nilofer and other cyclonic storms & Region-wise Severe Weather Warnings.  IMD has successfully issued tailor made forecasts for Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra, Char Dham Yatra, Sh Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra, various sports events, mountaineering expeditions etc.  District-wise Agromet Advisories disseminated under the aegis of “Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva” to 70.6 Lakh farmers through SMS.  Tourist Forecast for 109 destinations (7 days), Public Weather Forecast for 318 cities (7 days), NOWCAST for 130 cities being issued.  10 Drishti systems for RVR are under installation at different airports and two Automatic Weather Observation Systems (AWOS) already installed.  134 Cyclone Warning Dissemination Systems (CWDS) have been installed.  Public Weather System has been upgraded and warnings/alerts for fog, thunderstorms, cyclones and other severe weather events being disseminated through SMS, mobile apps. and IVRS technology.  Projects are being implemented for improving the Mountain Weather Services; Severe Weather Warnings, Block Level Weather Advisories etc.  7 more DWRs are being installed in the current year and more are planned under the ongoing 12th Plan scheme.  Developing Real Time Analysis of Products and Information Dissemination (RAPID) system which has capabilities of web enabled environment for quick visualization and analysis of INSAT-3D, Kalpana-1 and INSAT-3A satellites. It will enable the common man to view the weather prevailing along railway routes, national highways, etc. particularly during the fog time in winter season.  Developing Customised Rainfall Information System (CRIS) to generate tailor made rainfall products, which will be helpful in planning agricultural activities, flood forecasting and water management. Hon’ble Union Minister will give awards to the best employees, best offices of IMD and to the school children for various competitions.