By TCN News
A high-level delegation of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) today visited Jamia Millia Islamia to discuss the preparatory aspects of the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC) to be held in Delhi, India, from March 2-8, 2020. The delegation comprised of President IUGS, Prof. Dr Qiuming CHENG; Prof. S C Finney, Secretary-General, IUGS and Prof. H Kitazato, Treasurer.
Described as the Olympics of Geosciences, the IGCs are held quadrennially under the aegis of the IUGS through a process of global bidding. India won the bid in 2012 at Brisbane, Australia to host the Congress in 2020. The win is a remarkable achievement as the event makes a come back to the Indian soil after nearly 6 decades much to the excitement of the entire geo-scientific community. The 22nd IGC, which was the first IGC in Asia, was held in India in 1964.
The Organising Committee for the 36th IGC is headed by Padma Shri Prof. V P Dimri, former Director of National Geophysical Research Institute as its President, Dr.P R Golani as its Secretary-General, Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia as the Chair, Scientific Programming Committee, Prof. Somnath Dasgupta, former VC, Assam University as Chair, Field Trip Committee and other eminent geoscientists as Chairs of various other sub-committees.
Chairing the meeting, Prof Talat Ahmad welcomed the international delegation on a four day trip to India and assured the highest level of support from JMI to IUGS and IGC. Prof Ahmad, himself an eminent Earth Scientist said that JMI’s well established Department of Geography will also contribute to this very significant event in 2020. He put on record the efforts made by Geological Survey of India and by its Secretary-General, Dr P. R. Golani.
Prof. Dr CHENG said that he was very satisfied and impressed with the facilities and preparations for the International Geological Congress in 2020. He said that he was very confident about the quality and the pace of preparations.
“It will be the second time that IGC will take place in India. Very few countries have the honour of holding it twice”, Prof CHENG added.
Prof Finney, Secretary-General of IUGS and Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, said that in the last three days of their visit to India, IUGS and IGC members have already established a very good working relationship. He said that he was very happy to note the preparations for 2020 Congress were moving rapidly.
Prof Dimri said that he wanted to thank JMI for the 100% support it has given to IGC. Prof Dasgupta gave the vote of thanks. The session was followed by technical sessions on short courses and themes that would be offered during the 36th IGC.
The event is being jointly funded by the Ministry of Mines (MoM) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with the active support of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), and the Science Academies of the other neighbouring co-host countries, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The delegation, during its visit, inspected the India Expo Mart Limited, the venue for the event and expressed its satisfaction with the facilities available. The mega Congress is conventionally attended by approximately 6,000 delegates.
Earlier, the IUGS dignitaries interacted with Shri Arun Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Mines; Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, senior officers of the two Ministries, and key functionaries of the Organising Committee. They also delivered lectures to a select audience comprising of eminent geoscientists, academics, students and researchers.
The IUGS was given detailed accounts of the progress made on technical, administrative and other fronts by the Organising Committee including the scientific program, field excursions and the legacy & publication programs.
The IUGS team expressed its satisfaction over the entire spectrum of preparatory activities and wished India a very successful IGC.