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CENTRE FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

STUDIES (CDMS)

A Webinar on ‘Twin Disasters – Amphan & COVID–19’ print, non-print and electronic resources to support the academic needs of the
Centre for Disaster Management Studies (CDMS) of the university organized a faculty and students. The UIRC is moving ahead to fulfill its objectives, which
webinar on ‘Twin Disasters – Amphan & COVID – 19’ on June 23, 2020.Prof. is in sync with the mission and vision of the University. It is housed in its state-
Mahesh Verma, Vice-Chancellor of the University,inaugurated the webinar. of-the-art air conditioned building. The UIRC has arich collection of books
“Rules and regulations are in place for various disaster emergencies in our in the area of Science, Engineering, & Technology, Management, Humanities
country. The need is that all the major stakeholders execute them on ground and Social Sciences. The air conditioned reading room of the library houses a
keeping in mind the catastrophic efforts of multiple disasters at one time,” said variety of Indian and Foreign Journals/Magazines to broaden the outlook of its
Prof. Verma. fraternity. A sizable collection of book-banks caters to the academic needs of
the UG and PG students. UIRC is having following collection:
Brigadier L C Patnaik, Chairman – Odisha PSC gave a descriptive account of
the topic with respect to the aspects of governance, management, resources Books, Journals and Digital Resources
and the coastal states which were affected due to the super cyclone. He stressed
upon the need to analyze strategies and develop synergized frameworks that ■ Total Library collection = 83,052
can be enacted in handling such challenging times.Major General R C Padhi, (Including Law and Architecture )
former Additional Surveyor General of India, articulated on how GIS and ■ Print books = 56,646
remote sensing technologies can be a force multiplier in managing a crisis ■ E-books = 12,121
situation.Mr Anil Sinha, former Vice Chairman, Bihar SDMA,threw light ■ Bound print Journals = 9334
on finer nuances of the role state administration can play in formulating ■ Current Journals Foreign & Indian = 338 (Print)
customized plans for every specific region within the state with respect to their ■ E-Journals Foreign & Indian = 14, 995
hazard profile. ■ Popular Magazines = 8
■ CD-ROMs = 3, 073
Experts from National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) elaborated ■ Educational Video Cassette = 84
on the policies, framework, implementation, last mile connectivity and ■ Floppy Diskettes = 171
resilient infrastructure development in the given reference.The webinar was
attended by a number of academicians, research scholars, government officials, UIRC understands the importance of cooperation with other libraries and
eminent persons from the industry from all over the country.The webinar consortiums and continues to nurture existing cooperative relationships and
was significant in the sense that it was an attempt to pave the way for refining, initiate new ones to the benefits of the University students & faculty.Events
aligning and mainstreaming approaches to strengthen resilience to deal Organized By Library :
proactively with disaster situations in future.
Webinar on Global Management Education
The outbreak of the pandemic of COVID19 has brought unprecedented
problems for mankind, and educationists have their task cut out to deal
with these prominent challenges being faced by humanity. This was stated
by Dr Marta Hawkins, founder of In-Light-Of, London, during a webinar
on ‘Global Management Education in post-COVID19 Times’ conducted by
the Directorate of International Affairs of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University in association with Academy of Management, USA, and Sri
Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana on July 09, 2020.
The webinar, which was attended by 120 participants from across the world,
witnessed rigorous deliberations on various facets of global education during
and after the pandemic.

■ The webinar was chaired by Prof. Mahesh Verma, Vice-Chancellor
of the university. In his presidential address, Prof. Verma emphasized on the
need for academic administrators to deal with the contemporary challenge in
an equitable way so that the students from developing and underdeveloped
countries do not suffer. He highlighted the steps being taken by academic
institutions across the world to address the academic, logistics, and
Training Programme for Hospital Preparedness examination related problems.
Centre for Disaster Management Studies (CDMS) of the university organized ■ Ms Cyndi McLeod, CEO of the Global University Systems, maintained
a two–day training programme on Hospital Preparedness on Fire Safety and that the global education is bound to be disrupted by the pandemic. She
Disaster Management. The sole objective of this training programme was to stressed upon the need to use the internet and other technologies for the
prepare hospitals in disaster related emergencies.Prof. Amarjeet Kaur, Director purpose of sustainability in education.
of the centre, informed that more than 50 leading hospitals of Delhi – NCR ■ Dr Marta Hawkins questioned the narrative of calling the
area actively participated in the training programme. The training programme contemporary situation as a ‘new normal’. She argued that the situation of
was conducted by well-known experts on the subject from across the country. job losses, starvation, inequality, racism, and regionalism cannot be termed
Prof. Mahesh Verma, the Vice Chancellor of the University, also graced the as ‘normal’ in any way, and the efforts to term it as ‘new normal’ are part of a
occasion. fascist conspiracy.
■ Prof Anubha Kaushik, Director, International Affairs of Guru Gobind
Centre for Excellence in Robotic Process Automation Singh Indraprastha University, raised the challenges being faced by researchers
The University School of Information, Communication and Technology and academic collaborators during the times of social distancing. She also
(USIC&T) of the university is in the process of establishing ‘Centre of highlighted the environmental issues of the corona virus situation.
Excellence in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)’ in collaboration with Blue ■ Dr Gagan Deep Sharma, representative of the Critical Management
Prism, UK and Netalla Innovations Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru. The establishment of Studies division of the Academy of Management, built a case for looking at the
this centre is aimed at providing RPA developer training to faculty and students ongoing situation with a lens of criticality so that what doesn’t meet the naked
of the university. As a first step towards the concerned department – USIC&T eye can also be understood.
is organising a 12 - day on-line training programme in (RPA) for the students ■ Dr Kathleen Riach, the University of Glasgow illustrated the themes
in e-learning mode starting from May 24, 2020. that researchers may try to address for fighting the crisis being faced.
The virtual inauguration of the training programme was held online. Prof. ■ Dr Ajay Sharma, Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and
P.B. Sharma, the former President AIU and Founder Vice-Chancellor, Management, focused on the economic challenges being faced by the world
Delhi Technological University, Delhi was the ‘Chief Guest’ and Mr. Peter due to the ongoing crisis. He highlighted that the developing economies may
Gartenberg, Managing Director, Blue Prism India was the ‘Guest of Honour’. use this situation as an opportunity to excel in the new global economic order.
The function was presided by Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Verma, Vice-Chancellor, ■ Dr Sanchita Bansal,the University School of Management Studies,
GGSIPU. About 250 students and teachers of the concerned department of contextualized the COVID19 pandemic in relation with the sustainable
the University will be up-skilled in, using RPA tools for automating various development goals of the United Nations. She asserted that this situation may
applications in banking sector, ecommerce, insurance, manufacturing and push the world backward in terms of sustainability, if proactive actions are not
retail sector. The participants will receive RPA developer certificates from Blue taken immediately.
Prism and Netalla after successful completion of the training. ■ Ms Mrinalini Srivastava indicated how educationists need to respond
to the crisis by updating the course curriculum to bring more interdisciplinary.
University Information Resource Centre ■ Ms Mansi Jain moderated the questions of the audience, and
The University Information Resource Centre (UIRC) came into existence in highlighted the importance social responsibility of educators in serving various
September 1999 with the objectives to acquire, preserve and make available sections of the society in these critical times.