date 4 Low Temperature Thermal
Desalination (LTTD) plants
successfully in the country, one
each at Kavaratti, Minicoy, Agatti,
Lakshadweep and at Northern
Chenai Thermal Power Station
(NCTPS), Chennai. The technology
is completely indigenous, robust
and environment friendly. Out of
this four plants, the Minicoy and
Agatti plants were established
in April 2011 and July 2011,
respectively. The capacity of each
of these LTTD plants is 1 lakh litre
per day of potable water.
What is South Pole Scientific
Expedition?
India had successfully
completed a scientific expedition to
the South Pole during NovemberDecember 2010. It was a very
important expedition as it was part
of the international celebration of
centenary of man’s reaching South
Pole in 1911.The first expedition to
the South Pole started in 1902 and
completed in 1911.This expedition
was scientific in nature and was
carried out with ice trucks, ice
vehicles which travel 80 to 90 km/
hour against the first expedition
which was an adventure expedition
where dogs and sledges were used.
The 8-member team collected
valuable atmospheric aerosol
data and several short ice cores
in the course of its transect from
the Schiramcher Oasis to the South
Pole.
What is India’s preparedness to
monitor Tsunami and is Tsunami
Early Warning System in place
now?
A state-of-the-art Tsunami
Wa r n i n g S y s t e m w a s m a d e
operational in September 2007 has
been in continuous operation to
forewarn of an impending disaster
in less than 10 minutes of an
occurrence of an earthquake. The
National Tsunami Early Warning
Centre (NTEWC) is operated 24x7.
So this ensures that the warning of a
possibility of a Tsunami is given out
ahead of it actually hitting the coast,
allowing people to evacuate and take
necessary precaution.
What is Monsoon Mission?
The ESSO has launched the
Monsoon Mission for improving the
predictability of the Indian Monsoon.
Better monsoon prediction will help
the Nation in taking advance action
in preparing for the agricultural
and other impacts of the monsoon.
It consists of two sub-themesSeasonal and Intra-seasonal
Monsoon Forecast and Medium
Range Forecast. The mission will
support focused research by national
and international research groups
with definitive objectives and
deliverables to improve models in
the medium range as well as in the
extended and seasonal range scales
through setting up of a framework
for generating dynamical forecasts
and improving skill of forecasts.
The Mission will also support
observational programme that
will result in better understanding
of the processes. Under the
Mission, Indian Institute of
Tropical Meteorology (IITM)
will coordinate and lead the effort
for improving the forecasts on
seasonal and intra seasonal scale.
National Centre for Medium Range
Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)
will lead and coordinate the efforts
for improving the forecasts in
the medium range scale. These
will be made operational by the
India Meteorological Department
(IMD). In a bid to improve the
skill of the forecasts in various
temporal and spatial ranges,
proposals will be invited from
national as well as international
Institutes on very specific projects
and deliverables. Provisions for
funding the national as well as
the international partners will be
provided. These partners will be
allowed to use the HPC facility
at IITM and NCMRWF which
will be suitably enhanced for
the purpose. A National Steering
group is being put in place to steer
the programme and review the
progress of the mission.
q
Yojana
Forthcoming
Issues
April 2012
&
May 2012
April 2012
Union Budget 2012-13 (Special Issue)
May 2012
Environment and Development
24
YOJANA March 2012