The 3-day GIS training seminar in Nagpur, India from October 16-18, 2011 trained 55 secondary school and college teachers in GIS, GPS, and remote sensing technologies. The training covered fundamentals of GIS concepts and software, GPS use and remote sensing. Teachers learned about map types, scales and elements. Hands-on training with open source QGIS used data from Andhra Pradesh. Field work with GPS was conducted at Putala Lake. The seminar aimed to build technical capacity for teachers and was supported by government organizations.

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3. Nagpur learns to map A three day National Level Data
Users' Seminar and GIS Training for 55 senior secondary school and junior
college teachers from the Vidharba region of India held in Nagpur, from
16 to 18 of October 2011 , turned into a memorable event for all. - Staff Report er
The Data Users' Seminar cum Training women at every level. She added that the
Programme in Nagpur during 16-18 three days' training cum seminar programme
October 2011, was one that turned teachers will provide an interactive platform for the
from around the region into students for participants, especially women , to learn
three days. The teachers from Kendriya and come forward in this exciting world. Dr
Vidyalayas, well known public schools and Smita Sengupta, Senior Scientist , Indian
government and junior colleges in Vidharba Institute of Technology (liT) Bombay, Dr G P
were trained in geographic information Obi Reddy, Senior Scientist and In-charge
system (GIS), global positioning system GIS Section, NBSS & LUP and Shri Vikas
(GPS) and remote sensing technologies that Dabadhe, Project Officer, Maharashtra
are today a part of the school curriculum. Energy Development Agency (M EDA) were
Inaugurating the event, Dr Dipak Sarkar, other speakers at the inaugural session.
Director, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Among those who prominently participated
Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP) laid stress in the sessions included Shri M K Jaiswal,
on the importance of the technical training Assistant Professor, Kavikulguru Institute
for capacity building for school teachers. of Technology and Science, Nagpur
Prof Saraswati Raju , Centre for the Study of and Dr Rahul V Ralegaonkar, Assistant
Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru Professor. Visvesvaraya National Institute of
University (JNU), a resource person for the Technology, Nagpur.
event, pointed out how the field of Science The teachers were trained in the
and Technology systematically has fewer fundamentals of GIS and concepts of
24 . SEPTEMBER ' OCTOBER 2011 · GEOGRAPHY AND YOU

4. DATA U S ERS' WORKSHOP
map were covered in a series of lectures
spanning the three days. The basic
introduction to maps and cartography
included evolution of mapping in
India, definition and type of map
representations and its basic elements.
Cadastral, topographical, and atlas
maps; digital elevation model (OEM);
scales, elements sensitive to context and
those used selectively to assist effective
communication were also included in the
course curriculum.
In the following days discussions were
conducted on hardware and software,
proprietary vs open source and study
through Internet. Open source GIS was
also taught and available software was
highlighted through Open Geospatial
Consortium, Mapnik, FDO, Map Guide
Open Source, UMN Mapserver, GRASS,
QGIS, OSSIM, TerraLlb, PostGIS,
GeoServer, degree, JUMP/OpenJUMP/
Kosma and uDig. Hands on lab training was
imparted on QGIS with the help of data for
the district of Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh.
Global positioning system (GPS) was
also discussed and field work undertaken
at Putala Lake, Nagpur. Knowledge about
space, user and control segment, several
types of GPS- portable, pocket, in-dash,
fitness and cycling, motor cycle, marine-
was imparted. During remote sensing
session , the participants were taught the
fundamentals of the subject, including
types of resolutions, techniques such as
aerial photography, etc. and about the
types of classification such as supervised
and unsupervised.
The seminar and training programme
was organised by Learning in Geography,
Humanities, Technology and Science
(LIGHTS) Research Foundation, an NGO,
and supported by the Natural Resources
and Data Management System (NRDMS),
Department of Science and Technology
(DST), Government of India; Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Ministry
of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Government of India. tI!1
GEOGRAI'HYAN O YOU· SEPTEMBER · OCTOBER 2011 .2 5

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Free GIS Training
Senior secondary Teachers Register Now
Training commences 15 December onwards
O'gil nls,d by
Suppor.ld by
I
-- THE SPATIAL SUPPORT
FOil LOCAL LEVEl PLANNING
Department of
Science & Technology LIGHTS, Research Foundation
Last date of registration for all cities 15 of December 2011. Send enquiries to Iights2003@gmail.comforregistrationguidance.