IMD forecast lists PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has started referring to its meteorological sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir as “Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad”.
- Muzaffarabad is part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir while Gilgit-Baltistan is also under illegal Pakistani occupation.
IMPORTANT FACTS
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had started mentioning the region in its national weather bulletin ever since Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were made two separate Union territories after the abrogation of Article 370.
- However, it was not explicitly mentioned in the regional forecast for northwest India, which it has started doing now.
- The northwest meteorological division consists of nine sub-divisions — J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi-Chandigarh-Haryana, Punjab, east Uttar Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and west Rajasthan.
SIGNIFICANCE
- It reflects the changed status of Ladakh as a separate Union Territory.
- It comes within days of the Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision to allow the federal government to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.
BRIEF BACKGROUND
- On April 30, Pakistan’s Supreme Court had allowed the federal government’s application to set up a caretaker government and conduct provincial assembly elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.
- However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had lodged a “strong protest” against the decision, saying Pakistani institutions had “no locus standi on territories illegally or forcibly occupied by it”.
- Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the same day, rejecting India’s charges.
ABOUT IMD
- Agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.
- Principal organization responsible for meteorological observations,weather forecasting and seismology.
- HQ-New Delhi
- Director General of Meteorology– Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
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