The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) organized a virtual session on “The Oceans and the Monsoon” on Thursday, June 25, 2020, from 5 p.m. to 6.15 p.m(IST). Mr Moulik D. Berkana, Cultural Affairs Officer, the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, presented the opening remarks followed by a Special Address by Dr M. Rajeevan, Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi.

Prof Amit Tandon served as one of the panellists in this. The other panellists of this webinar included Dr R Venkatesan (NIOT and Professional Excellence fellowship scholar, UMassD) and Shikha Singh ( Scientist-C at IITM and currently a member of Tandon Labs as a Fulbright Doctoral scholar with UMassD as the host institution).

The session was about how Oceans around India play a crucial role in bringing and sustaining Monsoons and how oceanic patterns should be used as an indicator for agriculture and policies. This session also addressed the challenges faced for predicting the onset of Monsoon and the amplitude of intraseasonal variations amidst the time that this seasonal phenomenon is currently active over the Indian Subcontinent.

A total of 1164 people registered and there were 599 attendees from India and USA.

One can find the recorded version of this webinar here.

From L to R: Ms Shikha Singh, Prof Amit Tandon, Dr. R. Venkatesan, Mr. Moulik Berkhana, and the Secretary MoES Dr. M. Rajeevan