BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THE WCDM-2008: Disaster Management, Infrastructure and Control Society (DMICS) an NGO Research and Development Organization exclusively committed in bringing greater awareness on Disaster Management, both natural and man made organized a historical World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) from 21-24, October-2008, at Hyderabad. This Global Congress is first of its kind in India. The objective of the Congress has been to network national and International resources and expertise, bring them to a common platform for effective and efficient Disaster Management. Bharat Ratna, His Excellency Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, has been the Chief Guest and delivered the inaugural address. Hon%26apos;ble Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, has presided over the congress. The keynote address was delivered by Gen. N.C. Vij, Hon%26apos;ble Vice-Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority NDMA, Govt. of India. The Guest of Honor of the Congress was Lt. Gen. (Dr) J. R. Bharadwaj, Hon%26apos;ble Member, NDMA Govt. of India. Shri Dinesh Kumar, IAS, Commissioner, Disaster Management, Government of AP. Smt. Aruna Bahuguna, IPS, Director General, AP State Fire and Emergency Services, Government of AP, were also present at the conference. This WCDM event was organized by DMICS, Hyderabad, under the chairmanship of Dr. Prahlada, distinguished scientist, Chief Controller, DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, Chairman, Steering Committee. Dr. Dhar Chakrabarthy, IAS, Executive Director, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Chairman, International Committee. Justice P. Rama Krishnam Raju, (Retd.), Judge, High Court of AP, Chairman, Organising Committee. Justice (Retd.) V. Bhasker Rao, High Court of AP, Chairman, Reception Committee. Prof. D.N. Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, JNT University, Hyderabad, Chairman, Technical Committee, and S. Ananda Babu, Convenor. Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, National Disaster Management Authority NDMA, Govt. of India were among the co-hosts. National Institute of Disaster Management NIDM, Govt. of India, Indian Space Research Organization ISRO, Government of India, JNT University, Hyderabad were among the key Prime-Associates. The fact that 50 nations including UN Organizations like UNISDR, SDC, UNICEF and UNFPA participated and deliberated on various themes of the Disasters signifies the global scope of the Congress. Hyderabad declaration presents the essence of the deliberations and recommendations and will be a guiding document for follow-up actions with regards to the various resolutions passed at the Congress apart from valuable information for various governments across the globe. Apart from Hyderabad declaration, there is a detailed compilation of Abstracts/ Proceedings of the congress available at DMICS office for the benefit of Public %26amp; Private Organizations, Universities, Academic Institutions, R%26amp;D Organizations and General Public which will be useful as a Compendium of Reference %26amp; Research.
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