A national seminar-cum-exhibition on "state-of-the-art simulators and emerging trends" was held at the Military College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (MC EME), Hyderabad. Gen Krishna Rao (Retd), ex-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and former Chief of the Army Staff inaugurated the two-day seminar.

Lt Gen RK Mehta, Commandant, Military College of EME, in his welcome address, pointed out that the simulator-based training has not received due attention in the Army though Navy and Air Force have long acknowledged its potential. He said, "The battlefield of today is flooded with sophisticated equipment and concepts. This, coupled with serious resource crunch the military is facing, puts relentless pressure on the training requirements to handle this complex environment. In order to give soldier a feel of the actual battlefield, technology has provided a solution through virtual reality".

Gen Krishan Rao (Retd) in his inaugural address highlighted that recent advances and convergence of technologies like electronics, computers, communication and expert systems have opened new doors in imparting realistic and cost- effective training to soldiers. The development of simulators and computerised war games have helped to provide focused training to the Armed Forces world over. However, the simulation industry in India is still in its infancy. The simulators available in the international market today may promise great realism and total flexibility in training environment, but at a prohibitive price, he added. The ex-Chief of the Army Staff urged the industry, defence and the academia to come closer and face the challenges in simulator development. Later, the General inaugurated the exhibition where a vast spectrum of simulators were on display.

The seminar was well-represented by the three Services, DRDO, public sector undertakings and Mahindra Defence Systems. Altogether, 200 delegates participated in the seminar which was held for the first time in Hyderabad.