ICHL- The first conference on Humanitarian Logistics in India

Flash floods in Uttarakhand (2013). Tsunami in South-east Asia (2004). Earthquake in Haiti (2010). Earthquake in Japan (2011). These are some of the deadliest disasters that have occurred over the past decade. With the disasters come human, livestock and property losses and the task of rebuilding the disaster affected areas. But the biggest task in the aftermath of any disaster, natural or man made, is relief work.

Countries across the world have been on the lookout for reducing the impact of man made and natural disasters by developing mechanisms to deal with such disasters. However the responses to the previous disasters which have occurred in India show our lack of preparation. The worst part is that such preparation is hardly given any importance. Humanitarian logistics is the key to cope up with such disasters. It specializes in organizing the warehousing and delivery of supplies during natural disasters or complex emergencies to the affected area and people. The supplies include food, water, life-saving drugs and other necessary amenities.  Time has come, for policy makers, Government bodies, academia, and practitioners to meet on a common platform to deliberate on this key issue of Humanitarian Logistics. 

In wake of this, IIM Raipur is organizing International Conference on Humanitarian Logistics (IHCL) on 2^nd December 2013 and 3^rd December 2013. ICHL 2013 is the first conference organized in India on Humanitarian Logistics and will provide the platform to various stakeholders to deliberate on the same.

The conference aims at providing an essential update on natural and manmade disaster, future trends, disaster response, and preparedness and governance issues. Planning, co-ordinating and delivering the essential amenities in good condition, quality and quantity at the right place and right time are few of the key strategic issues in humanitarian logistics. ICHL will help in identifying and providing keen insights into these strategic issues to the various stake holders. ICHL will provide an opportunity for professionals to meet colleagues and peers in a positive environment fostering  learning and sharing.

The conference will be a mix of panel discussions and technical issues. Panel discussion on Right to food: Value chain perspective will have extensive talks amongst prominent personalities on food security act and the key strategic issues such as procurement, transportation, storage and delivery involved in its implementation.  The second panel discussion will be on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Operations. The speakers in this panel will deliberate on the role played by stakeholders such as governments, NGOs, international relief agencies etc. in improvising, learning, unlearning and relearning from the disaster experience. This will equip the various stakeholders with effective preparedness in dealing with future disasters. The panelists in the discussion on Strategic Issues in Humanitarian Logistics will dwell upon strategic organizational, operations and managerial challenges faced during the humanitarian crises to keep the material flows, financial flows and information flows up and running. The panelists in the final discussion on Managing Humanitarian Logistics will explore alternate ways of planning, designing, preparing, coordinating: strategic alliance, response, execution, performance and accountability, to outwit the various  problems faced during the crises.

ICHL 2013 thus promises to be an eye opener to the importance of Humanitarian Logistics in disaster relief and management.

The World without God: Bidding Farewell to the Master

16 Nov, 2013, 8:00 AM

Finally, the day has come. I know that the wearing track of Wankhede, along with the feeble Caribbean batting line-up will make sure that this will be his last day on a cricket ground after a marathon service of 24 years to the game. I still remember, way back in early 90’s, when I was a kid, a ‘Boost’ TV commercial introduced me to a curly-haired young cricketer, who would later become the ‘God of Cricket.’ Eager eyes, child-like agility, elegant strokeplay, aggression ahead of its time, profound humility and immense love for the game; be it 1996 world cup semi-final, where he was the lone-warrior against a dominating Sri Lankan bowling, or his 1998 heroics against the mighty Australians that made Shane Warne reveal that Sachin haunts him in his dreams, he carried the burden of the expectations of the nation, with sheer pride and true grit. Who can forget his precious 136 runs at Chennai against Pakistan in 1999, despite being injured, like a wounded soldier, resolute Sachin kept his struggle on and took the team very close to the victory, though the team collapsed with his departure. Against the same opposition in World Cup 2003, he tore their bowling attack apart and exhibited supremacy over the lethal Pakistani bowling attack with his swashbuckling innings of 98 of just 75 balls. 

Injuries are part and parcel of every cricketer’s life. Sachin too, had to struggle with tennis elbow problem and there was a time when it appeared that he would never be able to play his natural game again. It reminds me of the famous article (February 2006) titled ‘Endulkar’ writing him off and proclaiming that his retirement was near. But again it was his unconquerable will with which he fought back. Resurgent Sachin silenced all the critics with his fabulous performances in 2007. In 2010, at the age of 37, he was awarded ICC cricketer of the year award. On 2^nd April, 2011, India won the world cup and he was the highest run getter for India with 482 runs in 9 matches. 

With more than 34000 international runs, a century of centuries and most of the batting records in his name, Sachin is set to bid adieu to the game. We are on the verge of the culmination of an era that witnessed the indomitable spirit of the ‘little master’, who earned a godlike stature in India with his unfading grace and truest form of dedication. It is 9:30 AM now, and I am entering my class in spite of knowing that the match will surely be over in next two hours, and very soon, he will be hanging up his boots ending one of the greatest cricket careers ever seen, and I will be sitting in a corner of the classroom, 1200 km away from Wankhede, along with 1 billion other teary eyed devout, giving him an emotional send off .God is great!

This article is written by Siddhartha Tiwari, PGP 2013-15. He can be reached at pgp13055.siddhrtha@iimraipur.ac.in .