The 27th Defence management seminar was held at the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad. The residential programme of two weeks duration was attended by fifteen senior officers of the rank of Major General/Rear Admirals/Air Vice Marshals and civilian officers from the Ministry of Defence.

Inaugurating the seminar, Air Vice Marshal HPS Sidhu, Commandant, CDM stated that from a modest beginning in 1970, the college grew to be a centre of excellence in defence management being one of the few institutions of its kind in the world. He added that the seminar was an excellent opportunity to derive maximum benefit from the experienced participants by interactive lectures, discussions, case studies and brainstorming sessions which would help all in updating management concepts and techniques in the defence services. The Commandant impressed upon the participants the need for realistic visualisation of structuring and employment of the defence forces at strategic level. He also highlighted that globalisation and emerging information technology advancements have thrown up various challenges to military leadership in the current resource-constrained environment.

During the programme, the participants were exposed to the latest concepts and contemporary thoughts on various aspects of defence management. The aspects of effective resource utilisation, civil-military interface and enhancement of leadership effectiveness in defence services were deliberated at length. A number of eminent guest speakers including Prof FD Vakil, Dr BL Maheshwari, Dr YRK Reddy and Dr T Narasimha Rao addressed the participants on various contemporary issues.

In his valedictory address, Air Marshal TJ Master, AOC-in-C, Training Command, IAF stressed that the nation looked up to defence services to provide role models for value based and enlightened leadership. He also added that jointmanship in the Indian Defence Services carries a lot of meaning in today’s defence environment. The need for a joint approach in implementation of the GoM report on review of the entire security set-up within our country was also highlighted. After the valedictory address, Air Marshal TJ Master visited the new CDM complex and inaugurated the MIG 21 aircraft war trophy presented to the college by IAF.