25th International Cartographic Congress of Indian National Cartographic Association
28th November – 1st December 2005
Sagar, Madhaya Pradesh
India
The 25th International Cartographic Congress of INCA was held between 28th November to 1st December, 2005 at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. The theme of the congress was “bridging the digital divide and taking cartography to grassroots level.” The spirit and message behind it is that the vertical growth of India in these fields should be commensurately broad-based also.
The four-day event was organized by the Department of General and Applied Geography and the Department of Applied Geology of Dr. Hari Singh Gour University at Sagar, MP. All professionals from varied fields of cartography/GIS and allied subjects as well as varied disciplines of application Geography, Geology, Resource Management, Development and Environment Planning etc. were the attendees to the congress.
The Honourable Governor of MP, Dr. Balram Jakhad, graced the inaugural session, by inaugurating the Golden Jubilee Hall. This was followed by the technical sessions.
Prof. J.L.Jain, President INCA, Dean Faculty of Science and Professor Geography, Sagar, welcomed the guests of honour and while speaking on INCA’s growth, the congress theme, origin and trend of cartography in India and the future roles of cartography and cartographers said, “What is looming large on the cartographic horizon is the paradigm shift from fixed, frozen and immaculately finished map to geospatial data.” Further he added, “While things are changing fast and steady in the cartographic world, geoscientists cannot afford to ignore these portentous changes. They have to rise and take upon impending challenge-of coping with them.”
While Prof. B. Arunachalam gave a lecture on the theme of “Indian prelude to British Cadestral and Revenue Maps” on Todarmal. Dr. Prithvish Nag, Director, NATMO gave a lecture on the theme of “Thematic Mapping and Cartography” in the memory of S P Chaterjee, popularly known as the “Father of Indian Geography”. There was a keynote address by Major General Gopal Rao and a address by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. D P Singh, followed by a vote of thanks by Dr. B L Bunkar, Registrar, .
Besides, the technical sessions, poster session was also organized. Other highlights of the congress were an exhibition, which aimed at displaying products, instruments, literature and other exhibits related to cartography, remote sensing and GIS; a post congress tour to the Marble Rocks at Jabalpur and Khajuraho; Map Quiz Prizes-2005 and release of books; cultural programme; and a vendor’s session.