The meeting titled “ALMA era for astrophysics begins” was held at the venue of the General Assembly of International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague, Czech Republic. In the meeting, a briefing on the background and current status of the ALMA project was given by Massimo Tarenghi, ALMA Project Director, Hans Rykaczewski, European Project Manger, and Ryohei Kawabe, interim ALMA Project Scientist, followed by a report of regional activities such as workshops by Al Wootten, North American Project Scientist, Tom Wilson, European Project Scientist, and Seiichi Sakamoto, Associate Professor of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. In the afternoon session of the general assembly, votes to determine the definition of planets were taken. The picture shows the program of the assembly, the proposal on the new definition of planets, and a ballot, which were handed out to IAU members. The assembly was televised by TV networks from various countries and attracted extraordinary worldwide attention.