Passing out ceremony of 138th course of NDA conducted in Pune in scaled-down manner

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 30 (ANI): The 138th course of National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla, Pune conducted a scaled-down passing out ceremony for its cadets on Saturday, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 335 cadets graduated from the Academy, included 226 Army cadets, 44 Naval cadets and 65 Air Force cadets. 20 cadets from friendly foreign countries like Bhutan, Tajikistan, Maldives, Vietnam and more were also part of the passing out ceremony.
In view of the restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the passing out ceremony, which is otherwise considered a "landmark event" of the academy, had to be modified in a scaled-down manner. While keeping the sentiment and symbolism of the occasion intact, the military procedures were improvised and adapted to ensure 'Do Gaj ki Doori', the mandated social distancing.
The ceremony was conducted at the Habibullah Hall of the Academy. The Commandant, NDA, Lt Asit Mistry, AVSM, SM, VSM, presided over the function, which was attended only by the cadets of the passing out course and limited members of the faculty at NDA.
The hallmark of the ceremony was award of medals to the meritorious cadets. While the military drill was at its best, the medals were awarded without any physical contact.
According to the release, Battalion Cadet Captain Shivam Kumar won the President's Gold Medal for standing first in overall order of merit. Battalion Cadet Captain Mukesh Kumar won the President's Silver Medal for standing second and Battalion Cadet Captain Parth Gupta won the President's Bronze Medal for standing third.
While addressing the passing out cadets, the Commandant, NDA, brought the importance if a military leader to quickly adapt to any situation and face the challenge head on. He explained that even this adversity has immense training value for a military leader, and further highlighted impeccable integrity, sense of responsibility, self-discipline, moral corage and empathy as essential ingredients of a good military officer to successfully lead his men in war and peace.
In view of the vulnerabilities and travel restrictions, it was decided that all the passing out cadets would move from NDA directly to the respective Service Academy. (ANI)