Galileo – the European Programme for Global Navigation Services for civil purposes is an initiative led by European Union. We will provide regular updates to our readers on the Galileo programme. Just as South Korea plans to join Galileo, so do some companies from China and Israel
South Korea to join Galileo
Science and Technology Minister Oh Myung approved a plan to join a satellite- based navigation system project led by the European Union, in a bid to reduce its reliance on the United States’ GPS. The 3.4 billion euro Galileo project is expected to rival the GPS navigation system. South Korea will likely pay at least 5 million euros, or about 6.7 billion won, to participate in the project, the ministry said. If all goes as scheduled, a formal agreement will be sealed within this year. Joining the Galileo project is also expected to help South Korea widen its political, economic and scientific ties with the European Union, the ministry said.
http://english.yna.co.kr

FDI to accelerate mapping in India
The Indian Govt. is going to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the GIS and aerial mapping sectors to prepare an exhaustive database for the entire country. Union Minister of State for Science, Technology and Ocean Development, Kapil Sibal said that opening the sector for FDI would help speed up the area mapping work in the country.
‘‘The map database, being prepared by using GIS, would help tackle future challenges more effectively and improve India’s performance in areas like agriculture and infrastructure,’’ said Sibal. http://cities.expressindia.com

Patong, Thailand gets disaster alert system
The first sites to broadcast warnings in the event of an emergency at Patong beach, Phuket will be operational this month as part of a national disaster early warning system, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA).

These will become the first of between 40 and 50 locations in six provinces facing the Andaman Sea with loudspeakers to broadcast information in the event of a natural disaster such as a tsunami wave.
http://www.bangkokpost.com

Tsunami shifts Bangkok southwest…
Bangkok has moved about nine centimetres (3.5 inches) horizontally southwestwards because of the December 26 earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and sent devastating tsunamis across the Indian Ocean. The tourist island of Phuket also moved 32 centimetres (12.6 inches) southwestwards since the quake, said the Chulalongkorn University researchers, who used GPS satellites to measures the shifts during a January 20-24 survey. Researcher Itthi’s survey engineering department at Chulalongkorn is collecting data from six other locations in Thailand to get a better picture of how the nation’s geography has changed, the Nation newspaper reported.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com