Dr Jitendra Singh made these remarks at the Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop in Delhi, where the UK Delegation was led by Ms Christina Scott, British Deputy High Commissioner to India

While inaugurating the 2-day Indo-UK Workshop on “Earth Hazards” here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stressed the need to devise mitigation strategies to minimize human consequences of natural disasters.

Dr Jitendra Singh made these remarks at the Joint Indo-UK Academic Workshop in Delhi, where the UK Delegation was led by Ms Christina Scott, British Deputy High Commissioner to India at the British High Commission in New Delhi.  

Ms Scott was joined by Ms Wendy Matcham, Head of Resilient Environment, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Ms Sukanya Kumar, Acting Director, UK Research and Innovation India, while from the Indian Side, Dr M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr O. P. Mishra, Director, National Center for Seismology, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ms Sukanya Kumar, Acting Director, UK Research and Innovation India took part in the deliberations.

It is a providential coincidence, said Dr Jitendra Singh that the Joint Geoscience Workshop on “Earth Hazards” is happening at a time when India is dealing with the Joshimath incident in Uttarakhand, where the Ministry of Earth Sciences is involved in addressing the issue along with other agencies.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Earth Sciences has adopted a Pro-active stance and established 37 New Seismological Centers (Observatories) in the last two years and now India has 152 such centres for extensive observation facilities generating a huge database for outcome-oriented analytics. He informed that in the next 5 years, 100 more such seismological centres will be opened across the country for improving real-time data monitoring and data collection. India is moving closer to playing a critical role in seismological advancement and understanding, the Minister added.

Dr Jitendra Singh underlined that there is a critical need for fundamental research on the physical processes that lead to failure of the brittle layers beneath the crust and sub-crust, to develop low-cost solutions to identify and quantify the geo-hazards over the vast regions and devise mitigation strategies that are appropriate to widely varying – and rapidly evolving – political, social, and economic contexts. He also added that scientific understanding of the processes behind disasters has grown immensely over the past 50 years, and there is a need for strengthening further international collaborations like the Indo-UK initiative to fight such disasters in future.

The Minister underlined that deep collaboration of Indian scientists with UKRI counterparts on Solid Earth Hazards will enrich our understanding to further develop a way out for mitigating the risk associated with natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, etc.

Dr Jitendra Singh thanked the British High Commissioner for the Joint Workshop and remarked that such academic engagements in India would foster new enthusiasm in young researchers and enable them to forge collaborations and construct multi-disciplinary science proposals, the outcomes of which will help us to move into the future with a better understanding of our planet, armed with new scientific solutions. The Minister further added that with the growing consciousness of the interconnected physics behind the Earth’s processes and its interior dynamics, scientists are enthusiastically pushing frontiers of joint research in different spheres of Earth’s sciences.

Ms Christina Scott said, “building resilience to geo-hazards presents a major challenge that requires collaborative international action by researchers, policymakers, governments, private sectors, and civil societies”

Ms Christina Scott in her remarks said that building resilience to geo-hazards presents a major challenge that requires collaborative international action by researchers, policymakers, governments, private sectors, and civil societies. She said, in this context, the UK earth scientists may significantly contribute to the current understanding of tectonic activity and its relation to geo-hazards in India. The outcome of the workshop will lead to specific scientific problems much relevant to society that would jointly be studied with the UK counterpart to understand the challenges faced by India, Ms Scott added.

Dr M. Ravichandra said that this joint workshop is a fitting environment for both countries to shake hands and forward research in their niche as well as pursue new avenues of multi-disciplinary investigations. He said it will indeed provide an opportunity for experts/academicians from India and the UK to come together and discuss the critical need for fundamental research in different aspects of Solid Earth Hazards for the Indian region.

Ms Wendy Matcham, Head of Resilient Environment, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) said in her remarks that the aim of this workshop is to scope the potential areas of focus of research between the UK and India. She said it would be noteworthy to mention that UKRI has already engaged them in a similar kind of collaboration on activities of MoES related to atmospheric science and hydrological science.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has constituted a team of scientists representing the National Center for Seismology (NCS) New Delhi, the Borehole Geophysical Research Laboratory (BGRL) Karad, the National Center for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) Thiruvananthpuram, and the National Center for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) Goa to interact with the team of visiting experts/scientists from the UK during the workshop in the line to develop collaborations and frame unique research projects on Solid Earth Hazards.

During the two days workshop experts/scientists from both countries shall have deliberations on different aspects of the solid earth hazards. The identified potential areas of focus for this programme of research may include, but are not limited to Physics of rock failure: Earthquakes, Landslides, combining data sets from the laboratory, remote-sensing, and field observations; the development of Earth Observation and AI techniques to identify geo-hazards, map vulnerabilities, explore mitigation strategies, and guide responses to disasters; Sensor technologies for dense monitoring of crustal deformation; Improved quantification of hazards and risks; Dynamic scenarios – guiding long-term development of cities and regions in response to geo-hazards; Hazard potential of tsunami-genic zones; Study of ionospheric disturbance by studying TEC using GPS and Study of the focal mechanism using real-time GPS &SMA data.

The history of instrumental earthquake monitoring in India dates back to 1898 when the first seismological observatory of the country was established at Alipore (Calcutta) on 1 December 1898 after the 1897 great Shillong plateau earthquake of magnitude of 8.7, the deadliest and the highest magnitude earthquake in the history of Indian earthquakes so far recorded till date.

The National Centre for Seismology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal agency of the Government of India (GoI), for monitoring earthquakes in and around the country. For this purpose, NCS maintains a National Seismological Network (NSN) consisting of 152 observatories spread across the country. The information on earthquakes reported by NCS is being disseminated to the concerned central and state disaster authorities in the least possible time to initiate adequate mitigation measures.

As part of its mandate, the NCW examines various jails throughout India, paying close attention to ensuring the rights of women inmates

The National Commission for Women (NCW) organized an All India meeting with the Director Generals (DG) and Inspector Generals (IG) of Prisons on ‘Police Administration in Light of the Rights of Women Prisoners’ to discuss provisions that impact the welfare of women inmates in prisons. The meeting was attended by around 16 DGs/IGs of Prisons and representatives from States across India along with officials from DLSAs, NGOs and academia.

The meeting was chaired by the Chairperson, of NCW, Ms Rekha Sharma, and also attended by Shri Asholi Chalai, Joint Secretary of NCW, and Shri James Miahlung, Deputy Secretary of the NCW. In her inaugural address, Ms Sharma emphasized the importance of ensuring that women prisoners have access to all necessary amenities. She called on the Director General (DG) of Prisons to facilitate the economic rehabilitation and reintegration of these women with their families and society after their release from prison.

As part of its mandate, the NCW examines various jails throughout India, paying close attention to ensuring the rights of women inmates.

The DGs and Inspectors General (IGs) presented the best practices adopted by the states with regard to the amenities offered to inmates, counselling services, skill development training for female inmates, and the reintegration of these women into society.

During the meeting, several suggestions were made to improve the condition of women inmates. These suggestions included hiring more prison staff, focusing on the mental health problems faced by inmates, addressing infrastructure problems of prisons, giving inmates access to quality legal aid and assistance, and ensuring that they receive robust vocational training.

The commission will be taking recommendations forward to ensure that necessary steps are taken to improve the welfare of women inmates in prisons.

The recommendations also included facilitating more in-person meetings of inmates with their family members, providing recreational facilities to the inmates, exploring the possibility of more open prisons and halfway homes, looking into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for inmates’ welfare, and establishing links between the prisons administration and the District Legal Services Authority.

The meeting covered a wide range of topics, including the overcrowding in prisons, the availability of proper sanitation and hygiene facilities for women prisoners, and the appointment of trained and sensitive staff, particularly female officers and guards in these prisons.

The meeting also discussed new skill development training, legal assistance and aid for under trials, and the need to provide employment opportunities to the inmates.

The Commission will be taking all the recommendations discussed during the meeting forward to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to improve the welfare of women inmates in prisons.