The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday launched its much-awaited Centre for Excellence in Disaster Research and Resilience, in a bid to provide its students with possibilities to research into a newly emerging area and to generate a new breed of professionals.
The Centre, which was inaugurated by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, will provide research opportunities from various disciplines which will be converging on the study of disaster research in India and beyond."We will be using artificial intelligence by using robotics, modelling, and sensor-based data analytics," the University said in a statement.
"It will develop literature in disaster laws and disaster economics by plucking studies and research from various disciplines which will be converging on the study of disaster research in India and beyond," it added.
In August 2015, JNU had signed an MoU with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for establishing the Centre. The NIDM has provided financial assistance amounting to Rs 4.14 crore to JNU over a three-year period from 2015-16 to 2017-18 to start M.Phil and Ph.D programmes in disaster management for the first time in India.
"The role of institutions is immense in addressing the challenges posed by disasters. The coming together of NIDM and JNU is a good synergy of encouraging research and training mechanisms related to disaster risk management," Rijiju said.
The Centre will conduct activities that will help to build community resilience through better preparedness, legal and governance reforms, enhanced capacity for early detection and warning systems and absorption of indigenous wisdom in administrative systems. "The centre will serve as a transdiciplinar meeting ground which will synchronise the boundaries of social science into natural science," said professor Amita Singh, one of the key founders of the centre.
