Proceedings of the Annual General Body Meeting - 2014

The Federation of Indian Geoscience Associations (FIGA) with its Headquarters at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad was founded with the prime objective of bringing together all the existing societies and scientific associations in the field of Earth Sciences under one roof for the advancement of Earth Sciences in India. Such an overarching body is expected to generate synergy in frontline research across the frontiers of sub-disciplines of Earth Sciences. The Federation aims to act as a statutory union of all the member associations to advance the common cause. The Geological Society of India as one of the premier professional Earth Science Associations in the country came forward to host the inaugural function of FIGA under its auspices at Bangalore on the forenoon of 25 September 2014.

The inaugural function started with an invocation song rendered by Shri Krishnamurthy, Assistant Registrar, IISc, followed by lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries. Shri R.H. Sawkar, Secretary, Geological Society of India, in his opening remarks gave a brief account of the birth and growth of the Geological Society of India and extended a warm welcome to the dignitaries and members of the founding associations of the FIGA and Fellows of the Geological Society of India. This was followed by unveiling of the logo of FIGA by Prof. R. Vaidyanadhan, Vice President of the Geological Society of India.

Dr. Harsh K. Gupta, President, Geological Society of India, in his address welcomed the formation of FIGA and stressed the necessity of a greater role for Earth Sciences in our national endeavours, whether it is town-planning, water-resource management or disaster mitigation and awareness building on issues like global warming/climate change. A greater degree of co-ordination within the Earth System Sciences and with other disciplines and agencies is a pre-requisite for a greater role for Earth Sciences in the country’s development and progress. He hoped that FIGA would in the years to come play such a pivotal role in this direction.

Dr. Shailesh Nayak, the first President of FIGA and Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, in his address highlighted some of the major issues which require the attention of Geoscientists and outlined the role of FIGA in facilitating the growth and development of research in all the sub-disciplines of Earth Sciences. Dr. Nayak also elucidated the contents of the FIGA logo. The inaugural function concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. P. Rajendra Prasad, Secretary General, FIGA.

The following session was devoted to the introduction and remarks by the representatives of the ten founding member Associations/Societies of FIGA. Prof. R. Vaidyanadhan on behalf of Geological Society of India, stressed on the importance of the publication activities of the Societies and in particular of the timely bringing out of scientific journals and recollected some of the events of the early period of the Society. Prof. P. Rajendra Prasad, Secretary, Association of Hydrologists of India, Visakhapatnam, gave brief account of the objectives of the association and its activities, which include organizing national and international seminars, training programmes and publications, apart from research projects. Dr. Kalachand Sain, Hon. Secretary, Indian Geophysical Union, Hyderabad, introduced the objectives and activities of the Union. Mr. A.K. Chaturvedi, Secretary, Association of Exploration Geophysicists, Hyderabad, gave an introduction to the activities of the Association. Representatives of Indian Society of Applied Geochemists, Hyderabad, Palaeontological Society of India, Lucknow and Indian Society of Earthquake Sciences, Gandhinagar also gave brief accounts.

It was also conveyed that the FIGA Governing Council in an earlier meeting, constituted seven commissions to address various issues related to Earth Sciences. Some of the commission members made presentations related to their commissions. Dr. V.P. Mishra, representing the Palaeonto-logical Society of India, the lead association for Geoscience Education, suggested a five member committee with Prof. A. Sahni, Lucknow as convener to suggest improvement in course content, integrated courses and NAAC rating of geoscience departments. He also suggested the necessity and freedom of lateral migration of students among specified universities. Dr. Virendra M. Tiwari, NGRI, made a presentation on Mountain Dynamics. He suggested organizing lectures in high schools, and a workshop at the end of second year with a special volume on “Evolution and Destruction of Indian Mountains over Geological Time Scale”.

The Annual General Meeting of the Geological Society of India for the period 2013-14 was held at 15.30 hrs on 25^th September 2014 at Prof. Satish Dhawan Auditorium in the I.I.Sc. Campus and the meeting was chaired by Dr. Harsh K. Gupta, President, Geological Society of India. At the outset a two minutes silence was observed as a mark of respect for the departed Fellows during the period.

This was followed by Mr. R.H. Sawkar, Secretary, Geological Society of India, reading out the notice of the Annual General Meeting and confirmation of the minutes of the previous General Body Meeting held on 16^th November 2013 at the Golden Jubilee Lecture Theatre (GJLT) of Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad. The Annual report for the year 2013-14 was already circulated to all the members. Mr. Sawkar presented the highlights of the activities of the Society during the period of the report, particularly the successful conduct of the International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) organized during September 2013 at Mysore, and the Earth Day programme 2013. He also referred to the Special Publication Series being brought out in lieu of the Memoir Series. The adoption of the report was proposed by Dr. Shailesh Nayak and seconded by Prof. C. Srikantappa

Shri S. Jithendra Kumar, Treasurer, Geological Society of India elucidated the financial position of the Society based on the Audited Accounts submitted to the General Body. He opined that the finances were in a healthy state by the judicious management of the available resources by the Council and Office Bearers. The acceptance of the audited accounts was proposed by Dr. S.K. Bhushan and seconded by Shri T.V. Rajanna. The General Body also approved the retention of the same auditors for the next financial year.

Prof. R.K. Ganjoo, Head, Department of Geology, Jammu University, extended an invitation to the Geological Society of India and its Fellows, on behalf the Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University to host the Annual General Body Meeting of the Society for the year 2015 at Leh, Ladakh during 21^st to 29^th September 2015. A Seminar on “Geology, Tectonics and Climate of Ladakh Himalaya, India” followed by a field-excursion will be organized jointly with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology on the occasion. The President thanked him for the warm invitation.

The Council of Geological Society had selected the following earth scientists for the five awards for the year 2014

H.S. Pareek Award to Dr. Bibhuranjan Nayak, National Metallurgical Lab, Jamshedpur

S.S. Merh Award to Dr. Alpa Sridhar of M.S. University Baroda, Vadodara

M.R. Srinivasa Rao Award to Prof. Divya Prakash, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

JGSI Radhakrishna Prize to Dr. V.V. Sesha Sai, GSI, Hyderabad

S. Narayanaswami Award to Prof. B.C. Sarkar, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

Dr. H.K. Gupta, President, Geological Society of India conferred the Awards to the following after the respective citations were read out by Dr. M.S. Rao on his behalf. S. Narayanaswami Award was conferred on Prof. B.C .Sarkar in absentia as he could not attend the function owing to unavoidable reasons.

H.S. Pareek award given for the best paper appeared in the Society Journal on the coal sciences during the preceding year. The award is being conferred upon Dr. Bibhuranjan Nayak for his paper “Mineral matter and the nature of pyrite in some high-sulfur Tertiary coals of Meghalaya” published in the Jour. Geol. Soc. India, 2013. This paper has brought out the type and mode of occurrence of various mineral matters and has highlighted the origin and significance of pyrite which addresses to the fundamentals of coal science. On the applied aspects, the paper deals the beneficiation strategies in order to reduce ash and the sulfur content. The contributions of Dr. Nayak shall certainly be of help to the coal industries in northeast India. Dr. B. Nayak, Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur has major contributions in the area of mineralogy and ore petrology for which he has received the ‘CSIR-Young Scientist Award’ and the prestigious ‘Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship’, Germany. His contributions in the area of coal science are focused on the “mineral matter and trace elements in coal” which is a vital subject matter that has not got fair attention over the years from the scientific community in India. Recently he drew attention towards association of gold in high-sulfur Tertiary coals of Meghalaya. He highlighted the importance of bacteria and microbes in fixation of trace elements in low-temperature geological environments. His paper on the “Characters of Lower Gondwana coal of Arunachal Pradesh” published in the J. Geol. Soc. India (2009) is the only publication available till date on such Lower Gondwana coals from Himalayan regions of northeast India

While receiving the award Dr. Nayak said:

I feel honored to receive the H.S. Pareek award of the Geological Society of India and humbly I accept it. I thank the President and the other jury members who considered that the work I have done on coal deposits of northeast India is of some relevance to science and the society at large.

Today I pay my respect to the legendary figure Dr. H.S. Pareek in whose name this award is instituted and who is much more concerned than any of us for the coal petrological studies in India which is slowly diminishing. I would like to read out few sentences from his article “Coal Petrology in India” that appeared in the ICCP News in March 2003. In concluding the article he states “However, in consistence with the international trend, there is progressive and marked decline in coal petrological interests and activity. This is linked with paucity of job opportunities and financial constraints at all levels coupled with industrial needs. The subject of coal petrology has now entered a waning phase after being in glory for a full 50 years”. The award to me, today, is a testimony to that. As I am an ore petrologist to begin with and learnt coal petrology at Tata Steel during initial stages of my professional career I do not see any difference between metallic ores and coal. Both are studied under reflected light microscopy, both have some valuable constituents of economic importance amidst gangue materials. Nevertheless organic petrology has its own complexities with its varied macerals.

On this occasion, I would like to thank the Geological Society of India for this encouragement. Thanks to my teachers, all my well-wishers, and my family members whose support and encouragement made me ‘what I am today’ and standing before this august gathering. Thank you all!

Dr. Alpa Sridhar, a Research Scientist at the Department of Geology, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, has done pioneering work in understanding palaeo-hydrological and climatic changes in Mainland Gujarat during the Holocene. The new data generated through palaeo-flood proxy by her has contributed towards a more vivid understanding of the fluvial response to short- term climatic variations in this part of the country. Her research has also focused on establishing relations between the river terraces and the point bars to the dimensions of the channel that formed them and also estimate the related discharge of the channel then through regime based palaeo-hydrological estimation methods. Using this approach she has attempted to appreciate the changing hydrological regime and the tectonic impact during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in the alluvial river basins of western India. She has been able to identify four phases of high magnitude events in Mainland Gujarat Rivers (Sabarmati, Mahi and Narmada River basins) between 5 and 2 ka and another major phase of flooding coinciding with the Medieval Warm Period and that the extreme hydrological events have occurred in response to excess monsoon periods largely controlled by the regional climatic conditions. The other significant aspect of her studies has been linking of the Quaternary Geology information to societal cause by generating a data base of flood events in the river basins of western India for the past few millennia. It has been through her efforts that novel but definitive sites for palaeo flood slack water deposits in the Gujarat Alluvial Plains have been identified. Dr. Alpa Sridhar has been working in this very important but less recognized field of palaeo-hydrological and palaeo-flood analysis which has wider implications on modeling future climatic changes and better predictions and is currently addressing the late Holocene climatic variations and their impact on flood magnitude and frequency in various hydroclimatic regions of Gujarat.

While receiving the Award Dr. Alpa Sridhar said:

I feel honoured and privileged to be the recipient of the prestigious S. S. Merh Award for the year 2014. It is a moment of great pride to be receiving this award, instituted in the name of Prof. S. S. Merh, an eminent researcher in Quaternary Geology who was also the founder of the Geology Department at the M. S. University where I learnt my first lessons of Geology. With a deep sense of gratitude, I thank the President and the Members of Council of the Society to have considered my contribution significant for this honour.

The defining moment in my research was the launch of the Women Scientist Scheme by the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi and I am amongst the first to have received this fellowship in the year 2003. This opportunity came to me as a ray of hope at a very apt instance when I was almost out of the academic pursuit. I sincerely appreciate DST for this initiative and thank all subject experts who have since then supported me and my work failing which I would not have been here today. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a very proficient and encouraging mentor in Prof. L.S. Chamyal who in fact, made me aware of the scope for palaeo-hydrological studies in the fluvial systems of the alluvial plains of Gujarat. I am beholden to him for his untiring motivation and diligent guidance. During the last ten years I have been working with an objective to understand the river response to extreme hydrological events related to climate change and my future endeavour would be to generate a data base of past flood events for better management practices in the rivers of Gujarat.

I would like to thank all my colleagues, friends and especially my sisters for their best wishes and support. I owe this award to the blessings of my two sets of parents, their faith in me and the freedom of work they have always ensured. My husband, Dr. Sridhar has been the strength behind all my efforts and my son, Dhruvashish the reason for my perseverance.

Dr. Divya Prakash has made significant scientific contributions in the field of metamorphic petrology for the last 25 years at Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University. His research work, focused on petrological evolution of granulite facies rocks from southern granulite terrain. He demonstrated Ultrahigh Temperature granulites from Madurai block and recorded spectacular ‘frozen-in’ reaction textures from sapphirine-bearing granulites. In a first of its kind, he has used mineral-chemical data by combining chemographic relationships of the Maduari granulites. His work on the application of potential geothermobarometric sensors supplemented with texturally constrained P-T vectors, has contributed in UHT characterization of the southern granulite terrain. The SHRIMP U-Pb data presented by him for the metapelitic granulites of Madurai gave evidence for an Archaean/Palaeoproterozoic crust formation and Pan African thermal event for this region. The novel colour-coded compositional mapping for reaction textures to understand the element mobility pattern has added a new dimension to the study of diffusional processes. Dr. Prakash has carried out detailed petrological studies of Precambrian terrains of India, eg. Southern India (In parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh), Bihar and Eastern Ghats Belt. Dr. Prakash also worked on lesser Himalaya and central crystalline zone of Himalaya. Prakash’s work has been internationally recognized in the form of JSPS Post-Doc fellow at Japan (in 2001) and as chair, Hutton symposium at Toyoashi and International Symposium on Gondwana and Island Arc at Yokohama.

While receiving the Award Dr. Divya Prakash said:

I feel deeply honoured and delighted to receive ‘M.R. Srinivasa Rao Award’ “for the year 2014 from the Geological Society of India. I am highly indebted to the President of the Geological Society of India, Prof. H.K. Gupta and the Council members for bestowing this honour.

I started my research work on Metamorphic Petrology by studying South Indian granulites. Subsequently, I was fortunate to receive JSPS post-doctoral fellowship at Yokohama, Japan to work with Prof. M. Arima on Mg-Al granulites, as crucibles of lower crustal material, covering large tracts in southern India and providing a unique laboratory for studying ultrahigh temperature metamorphic terranes. These Sapphirine-bearing granulites are seen today as new eyes into the Earth’s deep crust and memory chips of granulites conceal extraordinary potential information about their early history.

At this moment I remember all my teachers who have imparted not only geological training but have also showed the real path of art-of-living. My interest in metamorphic petrology goes back to 1980s when I was a naive student in the Department of Geology, BHU when Prof. R. S. Sharma, Prof. R.K. Lal and Prof. Anand Mohan were my teachers. Their patience and encouragement are to a great extent responsible for my career choice and career values. I can never forget the help and blessings which I got from my mother. It would be unfair if I don’t mention about my wife Mrs. Seema, who helped me overcome all the struggles and to my daughter, Dakshita, who has supported me throughout.

Presenting JGSI-Radhakrishna Prize to Dr. V.V. Sesha Sai, Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad for his paper entitled “Proterozoic Granite Magmatism along the Terrane Boundary Tectonic Zone to the East of Cuddapah Basin, Andhr Pradesh – Petrotectonic Implications for Precambrian Crustal Growth in Nellore Schist Belt of Eastern Dharwar Craton”, the President said:

Dr. Sesha Sai, during his initial stint at Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) was involved in exploration for coal and lignite in south India. Subsequently he joined Geological Survey of India, Eastern Region where he reported a significant subsurface occurrence of native gold mineralisation at Babaikundi-Birgaon area, Ranchi district, Jharkhand. At GSI’s southern region he delineated a linear zone of Proterozoic granite magmatism along the contact of the two tectonically contrasting terranes - the Archaean Nellore Schist Belt NSB) and the Proterozoic Cuddapah Basin in eastern Dharwar Craton. He has reported a Titanium-niobium rich mineral Niobokuplestkite-an astrophyllite group of minerals for the first time in Indian subcontinent from Podili Alkaline Complex in Andhra Pradesh. As a National Working Group member of IGCP-510 project he contributed towards understanding of the nature of occurrence, mineralogical and chemical characteristics of A-type granites in India. His other significant contributions include (i) field and laboratory studies of the troctolite-cumulus gabbro - sheeted dyke sequence with oceanic plagiogranite of Kandra Igneous Complex and proved its oceanic nature and its tectonic contact with the adjoining NSB (ii) study of ore mineral assemblage and paragenetic sequence of PGE mineralisation within chrome-spinel rich layers in the Archaean Sittampundi layered Anorthosite Complex, Tamil Nadu; (iii) nature and petrogenetic significance of the 130 Sq. Km. Neoproetrozoic Khyllang granite pluton of Meghalaya (iv) reporting of the occurrence of two significant phases of pyroclastic volcanic activity associated with the Vempalle Formation in Papaghni sub basin and (v) gold exploration in the Veligallu schist belt.

Currently he is serving in Geological Survey of India, Training Institute, Hyderabad as a faculty member in Petrology Division.

While receiving the Award Dr. V.V. SeshaSai said:

I feel privileged and honoured to receive the prestigious “JGSI Radhakrishna Award” for the year 2014. At the outset, I express my deep sense of thankfulness to the President and Members of the Council of the Geological Society of India. The award is instituted in the name of Padma Shri Dr. B.P. Radhakrishna, “the doyen of Indian geology”; well known for his deep involvement and selfless service to improve the standard of geological research in India. Hence, I feel humbled.

I acknowledge my parent department the Geological Survey of India, for giving me the opportunity and needed facility to work on the research topic. At this moment, I remember Dr.S.K. Mazumder, Senior Deputy Director General (Retd.), GSI, for encouraging me to take up research work in the field of petrology.

I started my career in MECL and was involved in detailed exploration for coal in Godavari valley coal field and lignite in Tamil Nadu during 1990-1992. At GSI, I was a member of the team exploring for gold in the Precambrian Singhbhum Craton where, I cherish reporting a significant subsurface occurrence of native gold mineralisation at Babaikundi-Birgaon-Bhurungtanr area in Singhbhum Craton.

I also had the opportunity to work in Eastern Dharwar Craton where I delineated linear zone of Proterozoic granites along the junction of the two tectonically contrasting terranes of Archaean Nellore schist belt and the Proterozoic Cuddapah Basin. I thank Dr.T.R.K.Chetty, Scientist (Emeritus), CSIR-NGRI, for encouraging me to view my work on “Proterozoic granite magmatism” from the point of regional geological significance. My association with IGCP-510 project as National Working Group member encouraged me to understand the significance of mineralogical and chemical characteristics of A-type granitoids, Proving the oceanic crust nature of Kandra Igneous Complex, reporting the occurrence of two significant phases of pyroclastic volcanic activity in the Cuddapah Basin and contributing in ascertaining the ore mineral assemblage and paragenetic sequence of PGE mineralisation in the Archaean Sittampundi layered Anorthosite Complex gave me immense satisfaction. Serving as faculty in Petrology at GSI, Training Institute, helped me to update and publish my research works.

I dedicate this success to my beloved parents, who supported me to pursue research and share this happiness with my wife Annapurna, children, Surya and Uday.

Prof. Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar initially served in MECL and HZL for eight years before joining the Department of Applied Geology at ISM Dhanbad in December 1989 and served as its Head for three years from 2010 to 2012. His main areas of research include Geostatistics, GIS and Mining Geology under the broad field of Economic Geology.

He earned his Ph.D degree in Geostatistics and DIC in Mineral Resources Engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London in 1988 where he developed an Integrated Geo-logical-Geostatistical System, GEXSYS and had applied it to five contrasting mineral deposits viz. (i) Rampura-Agucha stratiform type zinc-lead deposit, Rajasthan (ii) Quellaveco porphyry type copper deposit, Peru, (iii) Hogranch low grade disseminated type gold deposit, Nevada, (iv) Tel vein type gold deposit, British Columbia, and (v) Mfamosing bedded type limestone deposit, Cross River state, Nigeria. Subsequently, the integrated system has been successfully applied for mineral deposit modeling, mineral inventory estimation and exploration optimization to a variety of mineral commodities in India. Geologically complex grade distributions within a deposit are often modelled without paying much attention to the deposit geology and controls of mineralization and without incorporating geostatistical modelling procedures. The reasons for this could be either ignorance of usage of such procedures or inflexible to cope anything other than simple assay values per drill section. Semi-variography with due consideration to deposit geology is able to quantify the characteristics of spatial continuity via nugget effect, range, sill and directional anisotropy which in turn is able to provide a spatial model of geological influences that are used in modelling of mineral deposits.

Significant achievements made by Prof. Sarkar in the field of Economic Geology include exploration modeling using geostatistical techniques including prediction modeling of mineral resources using Zipf’s law and fractal regression. He developed Computerised Mineral Exploration System and/or exploration strategies for iron ores and lead-zinc deposits of India, Coal in Jharia Coalfield, copper mineralisation in Singhbhum Belt, Jhabua phosphorite deposit, Madhya Pradesh; mica in Nellore Mica belt, Gudur, Andhra Pradesh, gold prospect of Gurahar Pahar in Mahakoshal greenstone belt, polymetallic nodules from parts of Central Indian Ocean Basin, bauxite deposits, Lohardaga District, Jharkand, gold mineralisation at Hutti mine, Karnataka, Chromite Deposit, Boula, Orissa.

In recognition of his scholarship, impeccable devotion to the development of geostatistics and outstanding contribution in the field of Economic Geology, Prof. Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar is being conferred with the prestigious S. Narayana Swami Award for the year 2014 by the Society.

While accepting the Award Prof. Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar conveyed the following:

I feel deeply privileged and greatly honoured to receive the prestigious S. Narayana Swami Award for the year 2014. I am highly indebted to the Geological Society of India for bestowing this honour. On this momentous occasion, I take this opportunity to thank all my mentors, teachers and well wishers who taught me not only geology but have also showed the journey path from knowledge gain to knowledge implementation.

My interest in Geostatistics goes back to my days at IIT Kharagpur when I had the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of geostatistics from Late Professor S V L N Rao. I was privileged while I was working as geologist in Hindustan Zinc Limited to implement my geostatistical concepts in ore body modeling of lead-zinc deposits of the country. I am extremely grateful to my PhD supervisor, Dr. Jeff O’Leary who introduced me to the various developments in geostatistics. His patience and encouragement are to a great extent responsible for my career values. I owe my deep sense of gratitude to Late Prof. D. G. Krige and late Prof. M. David who gave me encouragement during my early days in my teaching profession at ISM Dhanbad. I am greatly privileged to be a Teacher in ISM Dhanbad, which has provided all I wanted to be.

I am indebted for the blessings which I got from my parents and have from my family members. It would be incomplete if I don’t mention about my wife, Mrs. Chaitali Sarkar, who has all through encouraged me to overcome all the struggles and to my daughter, Vasundhara, who has been a source of inspiration to me throughout.

I am totally overwhelmed to receive the prestigious S. Narayana Swami Award for the year 2014.

In conclusion, Prof. B. Mahabaleswar, Editor, Geological Society of India proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the Chair, Fellows, and the Office bearers for their active participation in the proceedings of the AGM.

To coincide with the AGM, as has been customary in the past, a National Seminar on “Disaster Management - Science and Technology Tools in Preparedness, Early Warning and Mitigation Measures” was organized during 26-27 September. The topic for the seminar was chosen keeping in view the natural disaster suffered by the country in recent past of the Uttarakhand deluge and its aftermath. To make matters worse, the country suffered another major disaster during the Kashmir floods shortly before the National Seminar thus making the deliberations at once topical and of current interest.

Shri Gaurav Gupta, IAS, Secretary, Revenue Department (Disaster Management), Government of Karnataka graced the occasion as Chief Guest at the inaugural function on the forenoon of 26^th September. Dr. Satheesh C. Shenoi, Director, INCOIS, Hyderabad and Shri M. Raju, Dy. Director General, GSI, Kolkata were the other guests of honour. The function was presided over by Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, President, Geological Society of India.

Shri V.S. Prakash, Registrar, IIITB and formerly Head of the Karnataka Disaster Management Centre and Co-Convener of the Seminar extended a warm welcome to the dignitaries and the delegates. He recounted the history and growth of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) and the prompt real-time forecasts of various parameters and early warning systems backed by fail-safe communications to mitigate natural as well as man-made disasters.

Shri Gaurav Gupta, in his inaugural address recalled more recent as well as past natural disasters like floods, droughts, cyclones, tsunamis and landslides. With increasing public awareness and a robust forecasting system, loss of human life has been minimized in the recent past although much needs to be done in the training, updating of technologies and greater coordination among various agencies. Dr. Satheesh C. Shenoi, in his address portrayed the recent developments in the Indian Ocean Region for tsunami early warning, storm surge warnings, coral bleaching alerts, real-time acquisition of seismic data and potential fishing zones in the seas around us.

Shri M. Raju, who represented the Director General, Geological Survey of India, briefed about the activities of Geological Survey of India in disaster management, particularly in mapping and monitoring landslides-prone areas, mapping and delineation of active faults and in earthquake prone regions of the country.

Dr. Harsh K. Gupta in his presidential address recounted the history and evolution of the national disaster management policy in the country to eventually build a robust, disaster resilient India by utilizing latest technologies and building a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response. The inaugural session of the National Seminar ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Shri R.H. Sawkar.

The four technical sessions that followed were devoted to specific topics (three sessions on 26.9. and one on 27.9) and were addressed by the experts in the respective fields shown below:

• I. Weather Related Disasters

• II. Geological Hazards

• III. Biological Hazards &

• IV. Multi-Hazard Management

The seminar participants were drawn mainly from actual agencies involved on the ground in disaster management like engineers/scientists from the Revenue Departments, personnel from State Disaster Management Centers, earth-scientists from Mines and Geology Departments, scientists from academia and administrators at different levels.

Dr. P. Goswami, Chief Scientist, CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute, Bangalore [formerly CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modeling and Computer Simulation (CMMACS)] chaired the session on the weather related disasters. In his address, he stressed on the need for a proactive disaster management with actionable forecasts in giving precise location and time of onset of an event. He elaborated on the concept of Integrated Disaster Assessment and Forecast (IDAF) and a road map for the same.

Dr. Rajeevan, Scientist, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi stressed on the increasing frequency of extreme weather events in recent past due perhaps to global warming. The existing network of pulse Doppler radar stations for weather forecasting needs expansion to improve precision in terms of magnitude and locational accuracy. The tracking and forecasts on Cyclone Phailin in 2013 played no small role in preventing loss of life and property in a significant way.

Prof. Srinivasulu, from the Institute of Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, presented a detailed global study of the geological records of extreme wave events like tsunamis and storm surges with special reference to South- and South-East Asia with several well illustrated examples and proposed a cyclic nature of these phenomena.

Dr. Satheesh C. Shenoi, Head of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad who chaired the second session, made a detailed presentation on the state of art facilities established by INCOIS on land and in the seas in our region. The early warning forecasts of INCOIS are provided to all Indian Ocean rim countries on real-time basis. He also made a special mention of India’s role in UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Coordination Group on Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Systems (ICG/IOTWS).

Shri K.V. Maruthi, presented the work being carried out by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in Karnataka and Goa in landslide monitoring and mitigation efforts. Shri M. Raju, also from GSI, presented a detailed review of the systematic work initiated by his organization in several parts of the country as a nodal agency for the delineation and mapping of landslide prone areas in the broad context of disaster management. He also referred to the work being carried out by GSI in micro-zonation mapping of seismic hazards in urban areas and studies on active-fault systems in the context of seismic risks.

Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, who has been actively involved in policy matters relating to Disaster Management in the country, in his brief talk on natural hazards with special reference to earthquakes pleaded for preventive steps like Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) of lifeline buildings/structures like hospitals, schools etc., in our densely populated urban centers in the proximity of seismic hazard zones for strengthening and retro-fitting. He shuddered at the prospect of an intensity >7 earthquake in the sub-Himalayan belt 250-300 km north of the National Capital Region Delhi and the sort of damage to life and property it may cause. Many structures and dwellings that have mushroomed in the wake of growth and development in our urban conglomerations have often ignored essential earthquake-engineering guidelines for civil construction works.

The technical session on Biological hazards was chaired by Prof. R Vaidyanadahn. Prof. V.V. Belavadi, a noted Entomologist from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore made a presentation on “Biological hazards are NOT limited to Infectious Diseases and Allergies”. He highlighted that biological hazards that affect food security are either due to natural factors, accidental introduction, intentional introduction that turn out to be disastrous, or due to human errors with many interesting examples from India and other parts of the world.

The session on Multi-Hazard Management was chaired by Dr. M. Prithviraj, Executive Secretary, Karnataka State Centre for Science and Technology (KSCST), Bangalore. Dr. K. J. Ramesh, Advisor, Atmospheric Science, MoES, presented the initiatives taken in multi-hazard early warning and risk management by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. He elaborated on the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) for storm surges and cyclones. The Ministry of Earth Sciences is constantly fostering an integrated approach in the study of Earth Systems to aid in increasingly reliable forecasting of monsoons, extreme weather events like cyclones and earthquake related events like tsunamis along the coastal tracts in the framework of global geodynamics, and evolutionary changes in oceans and atmosphere in time and space.

Dr. Viswanath, IAS, Commissioner, Department of Labour, Government of Karnataka, shared his personal experience in the management of a major deluge related flood disaster in Bagalkot. He narrated at length the heavy rainfall induced flood damage, measures undertaken by the district administration in rescue, relief and rehabilitation. He also referred to the measures undertaken to alleviate the chronic draught situation in the Kolar district.

Shri V.S. Prakash, formerly Director of KSNDMC, shared the pioneering efforts made by the State Centre, which is the first of its kind in India to initiate a ward-level weather monitoring and forecast on real-time basis with updates at every 15 minutes.

Ms. Pallavi Kulkarni, a young researcher from Pune University made a very absorbing presentation on large flood events in South Asia based on a comparative study of the active archives of the DFO (Dartmouth Flood Observatory and the Central Water Commission (CWC) reports. She pointed out the usefulness of the data which provides detailed locations with maps and regular updates. In his concluding remarks on the session, Dr. Prithviraj suggested video recording of the presentations by the Society for making them available online for a wider section of public, including the student community.

The concluding session was chaired by Shri S.V. Srikantia, Vice-President, Geological Society of India along with Shri R.H. Sawkar and Shri V.S. Prakash.

Dr. M.S.Rao, summarized the key issues brought out in the four technical sessions of the National Seminar for facilitating an interactive discourse with the participants.

Shri. M. H. R. Rao, formerly Chief Mining Engineer, Kolar Gold Fields, shared his rich experience in metal as well as non-metal (Coal) mining, each with its own set of specific hazards. Rigorous safety protocols and trained manpower will go a long way in mitigating mining hazards. He stressed that complacency leads to major loss of life and property in an inherently hazard-prone enterprise as mining. Prof. B.C. Prabhakar, of the Geology Department, Bangalore University highlighted the environmental pollution hazards in the wake of rapid urbanization and industrialization. Growth of population and un-planned and ill-coordinated development where scientific/geological inputs are woefully lacking, leads to disaster-prone situations eventually.

Mr. Srikantia, shared his personal experience of his field-party caught up in a blizzard in the Bara Shingli glacier area of Himachal Himalaya. He stressed on the psychological strength and leadership qualities required in facing such grim situations which is often ignored in training as well in post-disaster rehabilitation. Shri R.H. Sawkar and Dr. V.S. Prakash also participated in the interactive session with the participants relating to drought monitoring and natural hazard management methodologies, technologies and the human resource aspects.

Dr. H.S.M. Prakash, the Organizing Secretary of the National Seminar and Director, Geological Survey of India, proposed a hearty vote of thanks to all the dignitaries, key-note speakers and participants in the Seminar, which was held at a crucial time when the country has faced several natural disasters at close intervals. A lot of ground was covered during the seminar and the consensus was that we are more aware today than ever before on the natural disasters front though we have to cover a long way in terms of building public awareness, training in disciplined behavior during disasters and utilization of state of art technologies along with the utilization of social media for risk communication while forecasting and a continuous effort to improve our prognostic models to make them more reliable and robust.

Based on the presentations made at the Seminar, one can summarize the salient research areas of contemporary Natural Hazard Science as follows:

1. Widening Hazard Monitoring Networks. 2. Open access to near real-time data

3. Improved methods of risk communication including use of social media 4. More geoscientific involvement at all stages 5. Joining global projects in disaster management (like Global Earthquake Model Project, Constructive interference barriers to Tsunamis etc.) and finally building greater public awareness and training (particularly involving school-children) as a continuous process including the psychological aspects of coping with natural disasters and crisis situations.