Need for Army to keep pace with technological changes stressed

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 25. The need for soldier-engineers to update their knowledge and skills and keep pace with rapid technological changes was stressed by the Osmania University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. D. C. Reddy, here on Wednesday.

He was delivering the convocation address at the graduation ceremony of the 70th Degree Engineering course of the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering, after presenting degrees to 41 graduating officers. Three of them, Lt. Bimal Raj Puri, Lt. Ananda Juggiah and Lt. Mohd Ramiz, were from the armed forces of Nepal, Mauritius and Maldives respectively.

He also presented medals and certificates to meritorious graduates. Capt. S. Bhargava bagged the maximum including the prestigious DG EME Gold Medal (first in overall academics), the Capt. N. K. Agarwal Memorial Trophy (best all-rounder student), the Commandant's Silver Medal (first in order of merit in Electronics stream) and a certificate for the best project in Electronic stream entitled "E- Commerce" alongwith Capt. Chetan Dewan.

Capt. A. Anthony won two awards, the Commandant's Silver Medal for being first in order of merit and the Co-Curricular Technical Activities (CCTA) award, both in the mechanical stream. Capt. P. K. Roy bagged the CCTA award in the electronics stream. The best project certificate in the mechanical stream went to the team comprising Capt. Narpal Singh, Capt. B. K. Shukla, Capt. Nitin Sharma and Lt. Bimal Rajpuri. There was a display of these projects.

Prof. Reddy said there had been remarkable growth in the frontline technologies of the Army like stealth and night vision technologies, smart weapons, real time command central communication systems, surveillance and high altitude adaptation. This had necessitated the engineer graduates to make constant endeavour to update and reinforce their knowledge so painstakingly gained over the years of study at the MCEME.

"One has to keep pace with developments or one runs the risk of being left behind and subsequently fossilized. As we move into a knowledge-based society, the acquisition of knowledge and assimilation of the latest technology should be your persistent effort and continuous objective", he told the officers.

While performing their onerous duties, he wanted them not to forget about man management. "Men are your biggest assets, especially these days when most of the units are deployed in active counter-insurgency operations". He complimented the MCEME for maintaining high academic and training standards and for receiving ISO-9001 Certification, the Golden Peacock Training Award and the Golden Peacock National Quality Award.

Lt. Gen. D. B. Singh, Commandant, MCEME, said on an average 400 officers and over 3000 other ranks received training in the college every year. In the just completed 70th degree course, 41 officers have graduated. In addition, 16 have qualified for M. Tech of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The MCEME has also introduced 10 plus 2 Technical Entry Scheme during this training year and the first batch of cadets (who had undergone one year military training at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun) have already joined in July 2000 for the four year degree engineering course.

He said the alumni of the college have vindicated the quality of training obtained here both in peace and war. The three wars and numerous operations have seen the EME contributing its technical skills in support of the war machine.

(EOM)/

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