By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 15: The Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSITI), Shillong, conducted a three-day training workshop, with an aim to educate stakeholders and user agencies on the practical applications of geoscience data.
The event, which was held at the Regional Training Division, GSI, North Eastern Region (NER), Shillong, and culminated on Wednesday, focused on the ‘Utility of National Geoscience Data Repository Portal (NGDR) and its Applications’.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. SK Kulshreshtha, Deputy Director General & RMH-III, GSI, NER, Shillong, in the presence of RL Sarkar, Deputy Director General & RMH-II, and Dr. BN Mahanta, Director, RTD, NER, GSI, Shillong.
A total of 21 trainees from various state departments of geology and mining from Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, as well as representatives from central organisations such as NESAC, AMD, CGWB, MECL, faculties from NEHU, and private exploration agencies participated in the workshop.
During the concluding session, Additional Director General & HOD, NER, GK Kesari, encouraged all stakeholder organisations to utilise the NGDR portal and engage actively in the mineral exploration process. He also distributed certificates to all participants.
It may be mentioned that the NGDR is a flagship initiative conceptualised by the Ministry of Mines under the National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP) of 2016. It is designed to host all exploration-related geoscientific data to expedite, enhance, and facilitate mineral exploration across the country. The Geological Survey of India is the nodal agency for implementing NGDR, which involves digitising legacy data and standardising exploration data into GIS-compatible formats to leverage emerging technologies such as AI and ML.