STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU/HYDERABAD: A group of 14 media professionals from Jammu & Kashmir, led by Tariq Rather, Deputy Director of PIB Srinagar, are currently on a 5-day media tour in Telangana, from 21st to 25th October 2024. On the first day of the tour, the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), An Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. INCOIS provides a range of services including potential fishing zones advisory, storm surge warnings, ocean state forecasts, coral bleaching alerts, tsunami early warnings, and algal bloom information service.
Dr. Tummala Srinivasa Kumar, the Director of INCOIS, shared with the delegation how the organization delivers ocean data, information, and advisory services to various sectors such as society, industry, the government, and the scientific community, through sustained ocean observations and continual improvements in information management and ocean modeling. The delegation also received insights from Ajay, Scientist D, INCOIS, about the organization’s role in providing ocean information and advisory services during disastrous events like tsunamis and storm surges. Scientist Ajay Kumar B provided the journalists a detailed overview of INCOIS’s critical role in providing ocean information and advisory services, which are essential for sectors such as maritime safety, fisheries, coastal zone management, and disaster preparedness. One of the highlights of the visit was a demonstration of the state-of-the-art systems used by INCOIS to monitor and predict oceanic changes in real time, including tsunami early warning systems, storm surge forecasts, and ocean state forecasts. “These systems are vital for mitigating the impact of natural disasters and ensuring the safety of coastal populations” Ajay told journalists. The journalists also learned about the various scientific techniques employed in ocean research, including satellite oceanography, ocean modelling, and data assimilation. This hands-on exposure helped the visiting journalists understand the importance of accurate ocean data for environmental protection, maritime operations, and climate studies. Journalists were also visited the Glider room where scientist provide details information of its use. “Gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles operated remotely to study the sea or ocean temperatures, salinity and geochemical process” scientist said. “These gliders can travel up to 15 km a day, dive to a depth of 1,000-2,000 metres and are operated remotely from the command centre by maneuvreing it both vertically and horizontally at eight centimetres per second” he said adding that they surface every 10 days while measuring state of sea parameters like chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperatures and others with help of the latest biogeochemical sensors.
“While the basic data is transmitted in real time when the gliders surface four-five times a day, the more exhaustive information can be obtained when the battery has to be replaced after nine months,” he said. The media tour aims to provide the participants with a comprehensive understanding of key Central government institutions and landmarks in Hyderabad & Telangana. PIB Jammu & Kashmir is organizing this tour under the Central Sector Scheme ‘Development Communication & Information Dissemination’ to give the media in Jammu & Kashmir the opportunity to witness the development of various Government of India schemes in Telangana.
Earlier in the day, the delegation visited PIB Hyderabad, where Shruti Patil, Additional Director General, briefed them about the organization’s functioning in Telangana. She expressed that the press tour will offer the media in J & K a chance to witness the development of various government of India schemes in Telangana. Dr Manas Krishnakanth, Deputy Director & other officials of PIB Hyderabad also accompanied the Media delegation.
The journalists team included Sanjay Sharma (STATE TIMES), Chander Shekhar, Nishikant Khajuria, Tanveer Ahmad, Firdous Hassan, Sajjad Haider, Rashid Rahil, Haroon Rashid, Gh Jeelani Qadri, Farooq Wani and Arshad Rasool.
