Indian in race for top role at Chinese body

BEIJING: A leading Indian geophysicist is in the race for a top job at China Earthquake Administration (CEA), which formulates national development strategies and guidelines and sets standards for quake preparedness and disaster mitigation.

Paramesh Banerjee is among four scientists shortlisted to head the Institute of Geophysics, CEA’S main scientific organisation, state media reported.

If he is selected, he will likely be the first Indian to head such an institution directly under the State Council or China’s cabinet.

Banerjee is currently technical director at the Earth Observatory of Singapore and president of the Asian Seismological Commission. An alumnus of the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, he earlier worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun.

“He (Banerjee) has a doctoral degree in applied geophysics and leads a team of scientists and engineers who are responsible for design, installation, maintenance and data processing for all types of geophysical and geochemical field instrumentation networks, monitoring volcanoes and tectonically active regions in South and Southeast Asia,” China Daily newspaper reported.

Speaking to reporters after he and the other candidates were interviewed by experts of the Institute of Geophysics on Monday, Banerjee said as the world’s second largest economy,”china should not have so many people dying from earthquakes”.

China is frequently struck by temblors and has experienced some of the biggest ones over the years. In May 2008, an earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province killed almost 70,000 people.

China could also take a leadership role in earthquake research and the results could be used to prevent deaths in other developing countries, he said.