Bhubaneswar to have GIS-based holdings’ assessment
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Orissa, India is putting in place a GIS-based system which will create maps for the individual properties in the Capital. www.orissa.gov.in/ourbmc/

National Geo Data Regulatory Authority Bill
The 8th National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) meet was held at New Delhi during 22-23 Dec 2008. The meeting was organised by Ministry of Science and Technology in association with FICCI. The meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Mr Kapil Sibal. In his address, Mr Sibal told the gathering the government was preparing a legislation on sharing of geospatial data amongst different agencies – public and private. A bill in this regard, National Geospatial Data Regulatory Authority Bill, is to be introduced in the next session of Parliament and is likely to be cleared by the Cabinet by February 2009. The inaugural session was also addressed by Dr K Kasturirangan, Member of Parliament and Dr T Ramasamy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology. During the meet, the Indian Geo-portal was also launched.

New GIS software from India
The Space Applications Centre and Scanpoint Geomatics in Ahmedabad have released a new product, IGIS. It has been developed to a requirement from Indian Space research Organisation for a GIS software that could ingest data from its satellites and turn out information products. It contains an integrated image processing engine and a GIS. www.scanpointgeomatics.com

Kathmandu goes digital with online city-guide
Savant Associates has unveiled mapmandu.com, the first online cityguide of Kathmandu. It uses an interactive mapping engine to facilitate localized search of destinations in Kathmandu on a digitalized map. It provides the users with up-to-date online information and other extensive services on various aspects of city life in Kathmandu. http://www.nepalnews.com

India map in 3D satellite imagery
A new project to map all areas in the country using a three-dimensional satellite imagery would be launched soon, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal said. http://www.hindu.com/

EMRI joins hands with GEOMED for enhancing emergency response service
Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) and GEOMED Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH signed an MoU to work together on shared goals regarding the improvement of GIS based emergency health systems data utilization and related research and emergency response services internationally.
GEOMED’s focus is on the development and application of geography-based methods and technologies in public health and health care. Research and development projects deal with planning
and allocation of resources in emergency or secondary care, innovative health monitoring and surveillance applications or decision support in the context of urban health. Continuous cooperations exist
with research institutions, health services and authorities across Europe, Northern America as well as in India and China.
PHR to map health medical centres with GIS in Yemen

Yemen Partners for Health Reforms (PHR) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is training a group of decision makers in the Health Ministry Bureau,
launched a course to target provinces that are instructed in the use the GIS in order to map the health medical centers in all Yemen’s provinces. www.yobserver.com
AU Professors to evaluate GIS project

To ensure quality and take guidance in the implementation of the GIS project, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is contemplating hiring the services of faculty of the civil engineering department of Andhra University. The VMC had asked the civil engineering department to evaluate the job of Hyderabad-based Speck Systems, which was entrusted the task of satellite imaging
of the city. The VMC would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the civil engineering department of the university shortly. the latter would play the role of a ‘third party’ in implementing the project. www.thehindu.com

Introducing GIS for IP based network alert notification

Desktop Alert Inc. a premier provider of network centric emergency mass notification systems to the US government pronounced that it has completed its GIS for implementation with the Desktop Alert Mass Notification System being the first such implementation worldwide. It employs industry standards for GIS mapping systems. The new product has been built on using AJAX technologies along with detailed street and aerial imagery data, and an open API. It allows customization of the map output along with the ability to add situational awareness and response capabilities using application-specific data to the map. www.desktopalert.net

Credent aids in Myanmar’s cyclone relief work

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After NARGIS cyclone hit Myanmar and took the lives of about 100,000, an estimated 1.5 million victims are trying to survive in midst of chaos. Credent plans to extend assistance in the cyclone affected regions by providing the related map data from available resources including local organizations and the web. The development of the maps and GIS data is currently under Credent expense. To strengthen the provision of this vital information, any funding received will greatly improve the speed of the work. www.credent-asia.com/

China to investigate Google for illegal maps

China has launched an investigation into online mapping services by Google and Sohu in an effort to protect state secrets and territorial integrity. According to vice head, State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, authorities hope to get rid of online maps that wrongly depict China’s borders or that reveal military secrets. The government began the investigation into the problematic maps in April and will continue it until the end of the year. Min cited five areas of concern – Taiwan, the Spratlys and Paracels island chains in the South China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. http://afp.google.com/

Geospatial data to go online with Brunei Spatial Data Infrastructure launch

BSDI is the technology, standards, access system and protocols necessary to harmonise all of the Sultanate’s geospatial databases and make them available on the internet. It is facilitated by the Ministry of Development and led by the Department of Survey in partnership with the Land and Town and Country Planning. BSDI will publish base layers of geographic data such as elevations, transportation systems and water bodies that provide context and reference information for Brunei Darussalam. http://www.brunei-online.com