Mumbai sources reported that the name of the Cyclone ‘Fani’ (pronounced as Foni) was suggested by Bangladesh and it means ‘snake’ or ‘hood of a snake’. Reportedly for cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP which came into effect in 2004. Furthermore the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has devised a mechanism where countries submit a list of names from time to time and names of cyclones are chosen from that pool.

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Apparently India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand send names of tropical cyclones developing in the North Indian Ocean to the regional committee. Presently, each country has suggested eight names for cyclones occurring in future. The name ‘Fani’ was decided from a list containing 64 names. Cyclone Titli was named by Pakistan, which hit Andhra Pradesh and parts of Odisha last year and hence the names given by India are Agni, Akash, Bijli, Jal, Lehar, Megh, Sagar and Vayu.



Moreover while selecting names for cyclones, the nation needs to understand that name is easily understood by the people. WMO said “An important reason why cyclones are named is to help authorities quickly identify storms and keep a track of them because it is easier to remember cyclones by their names than remembering them using technical information like longitude and latitude and after the 64 names are exhausted, the eight countries will propose fresh lists of names”.


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