The 17th Meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) was held under the chairmanship of Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India. The meeting focused on ‘Trans-Himalayan Research for Informed Decision Making to predict and mitigate disasters.’ The meeting explored strategies for understanding and finding effective solutions to reduce impact of disasters in the Trans-Himalayan Range. Presentations were made by eminent speakers working in this domain including Dr. Kalachand Sain, Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun; Kireet Kumar, Scientist ‘G’, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora and Dr. Anil V. Kulkarni, Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc Bangalore. Valuable inputs were also received from Dr. M. N. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India; Shri Kamal Kishore, Member, National Disaster Management Authority; Dr. Jemimah Ebenezer, Scientific Officer 'G', Head, Simulation & Wireless Network Section, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam and Dr. Virendra M. Tiwari, Director, CSIR – National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad.