A few days ago, there was a furore about the biggest cyclone in a decade and of bridges being swept away. The Amphan cyclone, as it was called, was predicted to be one of the deadliest. Have you ever wondered who makes all the predictions? To get into a precise prediction and trend analysis, what are the tools we require? Which department takes care of all this?
All this and much more comes under the department of Meteorology which is in turn a branch of Atmospheric Sciences, focusing on predicting weather and climate, and studying the forces that bring about change in our environment.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India takes care of meteorology, weather forecast and seismology. It is also one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres of the World Meteorological Organization. It has the responsibility for forecasting, naming and distribution of warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region.
Education
To get into an undergraduate course, you must have cleared 10+2 with Science stream. The course would be of three to four year duration. You can get into a Master’s course and then linearly progress to a PhD programme in Meteorology. Many institutes offer admission to M.Tech/ M.Sc through a valid GATE score.
You would learn about Fundamentals of Meteorology, Weather Measurement & Analysis, Weather Forecasting, Atmospheric Physics and Thermodynamics, Global Atmosphere, Marine Meteorology etc. You would also study some statistical concepts like data collection, analysis and forecasting; and computer modeling.
The Meteorological Department of India offers many job opportunities for you from technical assistant, Group A and B. If you are graduate or postgraduate in PCM group,you can apply for Technical Assistant, Sr.Tech Asstt in the IMD whereas if you are an M.Phil or Ph.D, you may be eligible to apply for Group A and B Posts.
Some of the posts are:
IMD Scientist:
IMD has recently issued a latest recruitment notification to fill up vacancies for Scientists posts. Interested & eligible applicants can apply online at official site http://www.imd.gov.in. IMD Scientists is for New Delhi, India students.
The minimum qualification has been specified as:
You should have passed a Master’s Degree in Physics / Meteorology / Atmospheric Sciences or equivalent with at least first class (60%) in the qualifying degree. A Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics / Instrumentation /Communication Engineering or equivalent with at least first class (60%) in the qualifying degree. Once selected, students have to go through a 1-year advanced course in Meteorology at IMD campuses in Pune or New Delhi.
The Selection Procedure is of three stages- Prelims Exam, Mains Exam and Interview. Candidates qualifying in the prelims exam will be eligible to appear for the mains exam. After you clear the Mains exam, you will be eligible for the interview.
Filling up of three(03) post of Scientist G in IMD,New Delhi on direct recruitment basis
Owing to Covid, the Ministry of Earth Science (MOES) has extended the last date of receiving applications for Scientist G and other posts on its official website.
SSC Scientific Assistant:
It is Group B GP 4200 Post in IMD and is a combination of scientific cum Met. Observer Post. It includes lots of Work as a Meteorologist with Forecasting and Advanced meteorology. The eligibility criteria is that you should be a citizen of India or a subject of Nepal or Bhutan, a Tibetan refugee. You should be a graduate in Science (with Physics as one of the subjects)/ Computer Science/Information Technology/ Computer Applications OR Diploma in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from a recognized Institution/University or equivalent. However, according to New court Ruling even B.Tech and BE are eligible to apply for SSC Scientific Assistant. You should not exceed the age of 30 years.The qualifying Degree or diploma referred above should be in First Class (60% marks) or 6.75 CGPA on a 10 point scale. The qualifying Degree or Diploma referred above must be of three (3) years duration after (10+2) examination. The applicant must have passed 10+2 Examination from a Recognized Board or equivalent in Science with Physics and Mathematics as core subjects.
The disqualifications to this post are:
No person
a)Who has entered into or contracted a marriage with a person or having a spouse living or
- b) Who having a spouse living has entered into or contracted a marriage with any person
Is eligible for the aforesaid post.
Examination Pattern
The question paper,a computer based, is of two parts, Part – I & Part – II. Both Part-I & Part-II are conducted for a duration of 2 hours. It comprises 200 questions carrying 200 marks for two hours duration. Part ! consists of General Intelligence & Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, English language & Comprehension and General Awareness( 25 questions from each topic). Part II would test you on Physics, Computer Science and Information Technology, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. For 100 marks based on which option out of the 3 disciplines you choose.In case if more than one candidate scores the equal aggregate marks, tie will be resolved by applying using methods like Total marks in the Computer based examination (Part-I & Part-II), Marks in Part-II, Marks in Part-I, Date of birth, with older candidates placed higher and also the first name of the candidates in alphabetical order.
India Meteorological Department Senior Research Fellow (SRF):
For being a Senior Research Fellow, you need to have a Postgraduate degree (MSc/M.Tech) in Meteorology/ Environmental Sciences or M.Sc.(Agriculture) in Agrometeorology/ Agricultural Physics / Agronomy / Soil Science/ Agricultural Statistics or B.Sc.(Ag) with MCA in Computer Science/ Computer Applications from a recognized University / Institution or B.Tech. in Agricultural Engineering / Computer Sciences / Environmental Sciences Desirable : Candidate with knowledge/ experience in Meteorological data processing/ remote sensing/ GIS/ Crop Simulation Modelling preferred.
Institute Watch:
- IIT Delhi
- IIT Kharagpur
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune
- Andhra University, Visakhapatnam
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital
- Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Science (CAOS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
- Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala
- Shivaji University, Vidyanagar, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Sample Questions (English)
SPOTTING ERRORS
Directions for the following 20 items :
Each question in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c). Read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your answer in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter i.e. (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your answer should be indicated as (d).
- He asked her that(a) whether she knew (b) what had happened last week (c) when she was on leave. No error (d)
- Until you do not go to the station(a) to receive him(b) I can hardly feel at ease. (c) No error (d)
- I did not know where they were going(a) nor could I understand (b) why had they left so soon(c). No error (d)
