Jharkhand state in India goes
online at the grassroots level
Common service centres would be set
up at each of the 4,562 panchayats in the
state by soon where villagers can avail
services like registration of certificates,
filing commercial taxes among others.
According to R. S. Sharma, Secretary
of IT, 3000 of such centres has already
been set up. Use of GIS for digital
mapping of districts shall also be done to
locate the villages and also to calculate
the amount of rainfall an area receives
in a year to facilitate irrigation. Water
harvesting mapping using GIS shall also
be emphasised. www.telegraphindia.com/
Free software powers this GIS
The Indian Institute of Information
Technology and Management, Kerala,
has launched the State’s first Active
Web GIS service in public domain
using free and open source software
technology. KR Srivathsan, Director
of the institute said, Active Web GIS,
is to make dynamic geographical
information available in a simplified,
open Web nterface. www.hindu.com
GIS for Maharashtra and Gujarat
The Science and Technology Park at the
University of Pune, India has completed
an elaborate GIS mapping of Maharashtra
and Gujarat to aid the National Informatics
Centre’s pan data-based national mapping
programme. The remote-sensing based
GIS mapping of these states shall help
future drafting of development plans,
national level master plans and planning
of infrastructure and road network, said
the official of the Technology Park.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Private companies gear up to
give healthcare a booster dose
With private players foraying into the
field, saving lives will be easier now.
‘Dial 100’ service in Mumbai in which
Rolta is the major private player that has
implemented GIS. This service is provided
by the Mumbai police department for
emergencies and distress situations. The
Mumbai police receive around 30,000
calls everyday. While these emergency
call details are being registered, operators
can also quickly locate the police
patrol vehicle that is nearest to the
reported incident site using data that is
continuously transmitted to the control
room from GPS units fitted to these
vehicles. Now, Rolta is rolling out similar
services in Jammu and Kashmir and
Rajasthan. Rolta is expecting revenues
worth Rs 1,000 crore by the end of March.
ISPRS announces Winner
of Brock Gold Medal
The International
Society for
Photogrammetry
and Remote
Sensing (ISPRS)
has announced,
Professor Dr Armin
Gruen, Chair of Photogrammetry at the
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule
(ETH) Zürich, Switzerland the winner
of the ISPRS Brock Gold Medal for
2008. The Medal is donated by the
American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing, and is awarded for
an outstanding landmark in the evolution
of the photogrammetry, remote sensing
and spatial information sciences.
Prof Roonwal awarded gold medal
by Indian Geophysical Union
Prof. G S Roonwal Visiting faculty at
the inter University Accelator Centre,
New Delhi has been awarded “Dr. H.
N. Siddique” Lecture and gold medal
by the Indian Geophysical Union.
ESRI received “Strong
Positive” rating
ESRI received a Strong Positive
rating, the highest possible, from
Gartner, Inc., the leading provider of
research and analysis on the global
information technology industry.
ESRI received this rating in the report
entitled MarketScope for Public Safety
Geographic nformation Systems, 2H07
by Bradley Williams and Jeff Vining
and published October 31, 2007.
New President of the
GSDI Association
Associate Professor
Dr Abbas Rajabifard
(Department of
Geomatics, University
of Melbourne) has
been elected as the
next President of the
Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI)
Association, a leading international
association in the development of spatial
information and management. Associate
Prof Rajabifard was a member of the GSDI
Board and Treasurer of the Association.
Abbas teaches and research in SDI and
related areas, and is part of Coordinates’
Advisory Team. He was elected Vice-
President (President Elect) of the GSDI
Association in 2008, becoming President
in 2009 at the recent GSDI 10 International
Conference and Board meeting in Trinidad
in February 2008. This appointment, with
his role in the UN sponsored Permanent
Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and
the Pacific as Vice Chair of Working Group
on Spatially Enabled Governments, will
enable him to provide international leading
in the discipline over the next four years.
The International
Society for
Photogrammetry
and Remote
Sensing (ISPRS)
has announced,
Professor Dr Armin
Gruen, Chair of Photogrammetry at the
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule
(ETH) Zürich, Switzerland the winner
of the ISPRS Brock Gold Medal for
2008. The Medal is donated by the
American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing, and is awarded for
an outstanding landmark in the evolution
of the photogrammetry, remote sensing
and spatial information sciences.
Associate Professor
Dr Abbas Rajabifard
(Department of
Geomatics, University
of Melbourne) has
been elected as the
next President of the
Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI)
Association, a leading international
association in the development of spatial
information and management. Associate
Prof Rajabifard was a member of the GSDI
Board and Treasurer of the Association.
Abbas teaches and research in SDI and
related areas, and is part of Coordinates’
Advisory Team. He was elected Vice-
President (President Elect) of the GSDI
Association in 2008, becoming President
in 2009 at the recent GSDI 10 International
Conference and Board meeting in Trinidad
in February 2008. This appointment, with
his role in the UN sponsored Permanent
Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and
the Pacific as Vice Chair of Working Group
on Spatially Enabled Governments, will
enable him to provide international leading
in the discipline over the next four years.