Forays in International Arena

Bringing synergy at the global level cooperation in earthquake studies was a bigger challenge and a big opportunity, too. Chairing the Steering Committee of the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (G-SHAP) during 1992–1999 was very challenging and the outcome was very satisfying. Promoted during the United Nations initiative of International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), about 500 scientists worked globally to produce the first Global Seismic Hazard Map in 1999, which has been very helpful all these years. I had the honor of hosting the 1997 Rajiv Gandhi memorial public lecture at Hyderabad, delivered by French Noble Laureate Jean-Marie Lehn at Ravindra Bharti Auditorium. The lecture was presided over by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. Asia, being highly vulnerable to earthquake disasters needed a platform to discus and exchange ideas to address the issue. Without waiting for an opportunity to arise, Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) was created in 1996, and I had the honor of being the Founder President. Two years later, an Assembly of ASC was hosted at the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad in 1998 and after 25 years a Silver Jubilee commemoration volume of ASC was published in 2021 in the Journal of Indian Geological Society. These activities provided impetus for further hosting of lectures by Noble Laureates and conferences like that of Chapman in 1998 on ‘Stable Continental Region Earthquakes’. As a Chair of the Planning Group of International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) two important documents addressing the issues of floods, earthquakes and landslides in the Asia-pacific region were brought out in 2006. Another common platform for scientists in Asia including the countries in Oceania regions was created in 2003. The Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) today, promotes geoscience studies for the benefit of humanity for Asia- Oceania region. I was elected the President of AOGS in 2010. Successful Annual conventions were held at Taipei (2011) and Singapore (2012). The Singapore convention was the first to be jointly convened with the American Geophysical Union. I have a very long association with the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) having attended all General Assemblies held every four years since 1979 in Canberra, Australia to 2023 at Berlin, Germany. In 2011 I was elected as the President of IUGG. Several new initiatives were taken in the 4 years of my presidency including IUGG Gold Medal to an individual for outstanding contributions to geodesy and geophysics, Honorary Fellowship for deserving individuals, a Union Commission on Climate and Environmental Change and many more. IUGG’s Secretariat was set up at GFZ, Potsdam, Germany that was a long pending requirement. The 2015 IUGG GA held at Prague, Czech Republic was a grand success, with Noble Laureates and eminent scientists’ attendance. Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics (ESEG) was planned and edited by me in 2011. Published by Springer in two volumes, it had over 200 entries. Phenomenal success of ESEG with over 80,000 downloads by 2018 and several new works necessitated bringing out the second edition in 2021 with over 250 entries in two volumes and 1950 pages.