Dear ISRM Members, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Greetings from Indian National Group of ISRM! On behalf of the Indian National Group of International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, it is an honour for me to cordially invite the ISRM family, rock mechanics community and the accompanying persons, to attend the ISRM International Symposium and 13th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium (ARMS13), being held during September 22-27 September 2024 at New Delhi, India. I would also like to invite all the Departmental Heads of premier academic institutions, research laboratories and professionals dealing with rock engineering in all over the globe as well as in India to attend this event. Considerable activities in the field of rock mechanics are in progress all over the globe, mainly due to the execution of infrastructure projects for water resources development for irrigation, flood control and hydropower generation, construction of highways and road tunnels in mountainous areas, sub-surface excavations for underground railway and for mining purposes. India is a vibrant nation with enormous opportunities in the field of Rock Engineering in near future. Liberalization of economy has further facilitated planning and execution of many large scale projects in India. The symposium is being organized in the backdrop of increasing problems being faced by design and practicing engineers during construction of excavations in rock in difficult ground conditions, urban setting, proximal to critical structures, and environmental issues. Several techniques and approaches have been developed and tried to address the problems. Detailed and accurate field information is essential for estimating reliable design parameters under such circumstances. Strata monitoring plays a critical role in correcting and calibrating the models. Recent trends in instrumentation, particularly remote and smart monitoring with diagnostic alert features, have added an important dimension in the design and development of rock engineering practices. The symposium will focus on advances and innovative applied research on rock mechanics and rock engineering to address the problems and challenges posed in excavation of openings in rock for mining engineering, civil engineering and infrastructure development projects, and will discuss solutions to overcome these problems. Past experiences will be shared, and application of new innovative technologies will be explored. The objective of the symposium is to bring together the practicing engineers, planning and design engineers, researchers, academicians, consultants in the field of rock mechanics and rock engineering. The symposium will provide a showcase of recent developments and advances in rock mechanics and innovative applications in rock engineering. It will offer an international forum for exchanging new ideas and exploring the future directions in rock mechanics and engineering. Short courses, workshops, industrial exhibitions and technical visits will also be organized and special programs have been planned for the accompanying persons. Delegates would enjoy social evening programs followed by gala dinners. The delegates will also have opportunity to discover beautiful and impressive tourist sites in New Delhi and other parts of India to get a taste of the rich cultural heritage of the country during different tours being organized for the foreign guests to explore India. Attractive programs will be provided for young researchers and students, including the student night, poster and paper competitions. I am looking forward to welcoming and meeting the ISRM family, old members as well as newcomers in New Delhi in September 2024.

Prof. Mahendra Singh
President
Indian National Group of ISRM
IIT Roorkee