Monday, January 30, 2012

Shri Dinsha J.Patel to Inaugurate 50th meeting of the Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB)
Shri Dinsha J. Patel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Mines will inaugurate the 50th Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting of the Geological Survey of India on 2nd February 2012 at ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi.
The 50th Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting of the Geological Survey of India is being held on 2-3 February 2012. The Minister will also inaugurate the exhibition being organized at the venue on both these days on the theme of ‘Gems, Gemstones, Precious Metals, REE and Technology Metals/Minerals’ in which GSI and its sister organizations will showcase their activities on the theme. Shri Vishwapati Trivedi, Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Mines will chair the meeting on both the days. This is an important platform where of the progress of work carried out by GSI till date during the Field Season 2010-12 will be reviewed and the Annual Field Season Programme for 2012-13 will be finalized. The meeting will be attended by members from the Central Ministries, State Directorates of Mining and Geology, industry, related PSUs, and other stakeholders. The outcome of the 12 CGPB Committee (Group I-XII) meetings held during the period Nov 2011 - Jan 2012 will also be presented by the Conveners of these committees.

It may be mentioned that the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, vide notification dated 13th March 2009 has revamped/reconstituted the CGPB Committee into 12 theme-based groups with an objective to enable the States and other Stakeholders to accrue benefit from wider participation and interaction with GSI to further their activities and avoid duplication. It would also provide a forum for better coordination between Central and State level stakeholders by encouraging the regular functioning of State level Geological Programming Boards, set up by the State Governments. It was decided that the 12 Committees for the various sub-sectors would comprise members and invitees from the concerned States and Agencies engaged in activities in the field relevant to that particular sector.

It is a matter of pride that during the current field season, GSI which was founded way back in 1851 with the prime task of locating coal resources of the country, has made three important findings namely, discovery of copper mineralization in the Khera Block, Mundiyawas-Khera area, Alwar district, Rajasthan; gold deposits with an average grade of 3 g/t in the Ajjanahalli schist belt of Tumkur district, Karnataka; and gold mineralization, with a surface average value of 4 g/t in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. GSI’s endeavor in taking up hyperspectral mapping of the country besides the national geomorphological mapping programe, is a matter of pride. Further, with the operationalisation of the heliborne survey and acquisition of blue water ocean-going vessel by GSI, the search for mineral resources both on shore and offshore is all set to gain momentum. GSI is also in the process of making its Chemical Labs ISO compliant. It is important to mention that the MoM /GSI have entered into a number of MoUs with a host of other countries like Canada, Republic of Columbia and Saudi Arabia for international cooperation in the fields of mineral exploration, geosciences involving societal issues, transfer of technology and capacity building.

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