The second meeting of the Geoscience Advisory Council (GAC) held under the chairmanship of Shri Dinsha J.Patel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Mines here today. While addressing the meeting the Minister stressed the importance of mineral resources that play a key role for economic development. The Minister expressed his concern about the scarcity of water which is vital for the well being of the society. He said that Geoscience community should address to the additional availability of water resource.

The Minister also urged scientific community for exploring deep-seated mineral deposits. He desired the members of the council to deliberate on the terms of references of the council and come up with innovative suggestions to guide the Geosciences activities of the country.

The Secretary Shri Vishwapati Trivedi in his address stressed on the relevance of a common forum to bring together the scientific institutions engaged in varied geoscientific activities for the advancement of geosciences for the benefit of humankind. He said that one of the foremost objectives of the GAC is to explore opportunities for long term strategic partnerships or cooperative arrangements with Central and State Ministries, Institutions, Universities and Private sector. In his address, the Secretary also emphasized the issues of exploring new areas of R&D, data management and sharing, environment, augmentation of natural resources and popularizing geosciences among the masses.

The Geoscience Advisory Council (GAC) is the highest policy planning forum to advise the Ministry of Mines and the Geological Survey of India in the matters of Earth Sciences. The Council comprises of Secretary level officials of the Govt. of India and Head of Departments of Governmental organizations and nominated experts who have long standing experience in various disciplines of Earth Sciences. The Council is expected to provide direction for framing concrete policies and appropriate road map for implementing the same.

Various GAC members like Dr.A.K.Singhvi, Prof.Mihir Deb, Prof. S.K.Tandon, Dr.Anupendu Gupta and representatives from different Ministries and Departments expressed their expert opinion on the lines of the Terms of References of the GAC for taking further crystallizing the mandate of GAC

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