Cabinet approves Rs 2,000 cr 'Mission Mausam' to boost weather forecasts

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved "Mission Mausam" on Wednesday to enhance India's ability to predict and respond to extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change. The mission, with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore over two years, will be primarily implemented by three key institutions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) -- the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting. These will be supported by other MoES bodies, such as the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research and the National Institute of Ocean Technology. The mission will focus on improving observations and understanding to deliver highly-accurate and timely weather and climate information across temporal and spatial scales. This includes information on monsoon, air quality, extreme weather events, cyclones and weather