"GREAT ARC" FESTIVAL
OPENS IN U.K.
The Festival of "Great
Arc" has opened in Britain with the Minister for Human Resource
Development and Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
formally inaugurating an exhibition and a film show in London.
The six-month long event will move to five cities in Britain,
commemorating the Survey of the Indian Sub-continent two centuries
ago, by Colonel Lambton and George Everest.
Colonel Lambton laid
out his first baseline at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai on 10th
April 1802, initiating the great scientific activity know as the
"Great Trigonometrical Survey of India". Described as one of the
most audacious scientific projects ever undertaken, its objective
was to define the Great Arc of the Meridian, 2400 km of inch-perfect
survey, from the bottom of the sub-continent to the measurement
of the highest point on earth. It took 50 years to complete under
the final supervision of George Everest, after whom that point
is named.
In his opening remarks
Dr. Joshi said, this survey is sometimes seen as the spine of
India’s infrastructural development. At the global level he said,
the "Great Arc" is deemed to have significantly advanced scientific
knowledge of the planet. It also symbolises the excitement, the
spirit of adventure and discovery, which impels the scientific
quest, Dr. Joshi said.
He expressed the
hope that the commemorative event will bring together experts
and scientists from all over the world, especially from India
and the U.K., to share latest developments in Geo-sciences with
the application of emerging technologies such as remote sensing,
geographical positioning system and Geo-informatics.
One of the oldest
survey and mapping Agencies in the world, i.e. the Survey of India,
236 years old, is globally known for beginning systematic topographic
mapping.
