Future military officers must be trained in modern tech: Lucknow varsity V-C

Pune: Urging the National Defence Academy (NDA) cadets that it was necessary to be prepared to face new challenges while joining the military service, Lucknow University vice-chancellor Alok Kumar Rai on Friday emphasised the passing out cadets that it was essential for them to be familiar with modern technology and artificial intelligence that has been newly incorporated along with traditional warfare skills in the field of military studies.

Rai was addressing the convocation ceremony of the 147th batch of the NDA held at the Habibullah Hall on Friday where Rai said that the nature of war has changed and now it also includes cyber attacks. The vice-chancellor said that the future military officers must always be ready to meet the emerging challenges.

During his address, the chief guest congratulated the cadets of the passing out course on the successful completion of their rigorous training at one of the prestigious training academies. He lauded their dedication and resilience and expressed his sincere gratitude to the parents for motivating their wards to join the prestigious ‘Tri Service’ training institute of the Indian Armed Forces.

A total of 359 cadets are passing out from NDA this term. Among them, 222 were conferred the Bachelor’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) which includes 83 in science, 85 in computer science and 54 in arts streams. In addition, 15 cadets from friendly foreign countries were also awarded degrees during the convocation ceremony. Cadets from the BTech stream comprising 131 of the Indian Navy and Air Force received three-year course completion certificates. These cadets will be awarded the BTech degree upon completion of one year training at their respective pre-commissioning training academics — Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala and Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, respectively.

The Commandant’s Silver Medal was awarded to Cadet Yuvraj Singh Chauhan in science, Cadet Shashi Shekhar Singh in computer science, Cadet Gurkirat Singh in social science and Cadet Siddhant Jakhar in BTech for standing first in their respective streams. Among the cadets from friendly countries, Mohammad Shafi Ahmed, a cadet from Bangladesh, came first. The convocation ceremony of the 147th batch will be held on Saturday, and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh will be present. The chief guest was welcomed by Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh, Commandant, NDA.