PESHAWAR:The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has invited qualified women to apply for its upcoming theoretical and hands-on training on the use of Earth observation (EO) and geospatial information technology (GIT). This exclusive training event, scheduled for June 13-16, is open only to women from the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan, says a press release issued here on Wednesday. The four-day training course will provide young and early-career women with theoretical and practical knowledge to use EO data and GIT, with real-world examples from the HKH region. The 2023 edition will be conducted entirely online via Zoom. In the context of emerging environmental issues, participants can expect to learn a wide range of topics that can complement solutions and decision-making, including principles of geographic information systems (GIS), basic remote sensing (RS) concepts, image calculation and spectral indices, and mapping using open-source tools. This builds on training is being organized for the past five years, ‘Empowering women in geospatial information technology’ (WoGIT) under our SERVIR Hindu Kush Himalaya (SERVIR-HKH) Initiative. In 2021, ICIMOD expanded the training to five HKH countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. In March 2022, we organized an advanced training session for our 2021 alumni, and a regional WoGIT training in August 2022, reaching 400 women. For the 2023 training, 200 young women with an academic background in geography, science, engineering, surveying, environmental science, and/or information technology will be provided the opportunity. Those who are interested in applying for this opportunity can use the form available at this link: https://servir.icimod.org/wogit-application-form/. The deadline for the submission of applications is May 26.

ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stressed for practical steps to ensure full benefits of the bumper wheat crop to the farmers.

He expressed these views while talking to Caretaker Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Mohsin Naqvi who called on him here.

During the meeting, the Punjab caretaker CM briefed the PM about the procurement of wheat production in the province.

Shehbaz Sharif expressed satisfaction over the bumper wheat crop production in the province.

Overall law and order situation in Punjab and other matters of mutual interest also came under discussion during the meeting.