Cyclone Biparjoy

June 9, 2023

Context:

According to an Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) advisory, the cyclone Biparjoy would result in squally weather with wind speeds reaching 35-45 kmph along the coastline of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

The name ‘Biparjoy’ was suggested by Bangladesh and the word means ‘disaster’ or ‘calamity’ in Bengali.
After Bangladesh, the next cyclone will be named ‘Tej’ based on India’s suggestion.

Naming of cyclones:

The naming of cyclones is done by countries on a rotational basis, following certain existing guidelines.
Advisory issuing bodies: Worldwide, there are six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) mandated for issuing advisories and naming of tropical cyclones.
IMD as RMSC: It is one of the six RSMCs to provide tropical cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 member countries under the WMO/Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP) Panel.
Member Countries which names cyclones:
1. Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
2. The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD in 2020 was provided by these countries — 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries.

RSMC, New Delhi is also mandated to name the Tropical Cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean (NIO), including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Rules to be followed while naming cyclones:

The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious believes, (c) cultures and (d) gender.
Name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of population over the globe.
It should not be very rude and cruel in nature.
It should be short, easy to pronounce and should not be offensive to any member.
The maximum length of the name will be eight letters.

News Source: Indian Express