KARACHI, Dec 23: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir has said that with the induction of modern systems, Pakistan Navy (PN) has entered a new era in the field of electronic warfare.

Admiral Bashir made this observation while addressing the annual prize distribution ceremony of the Pakistan Navy’s Communication and Electronic Warfare Proficiency Competition 2008 held at Bahria Auditorium here on Tuesday.

He said: “Enormous advancement in the field of communication over the past two decades has had predominant impact on the conduct of military operations, particularly at sea.

“Latest communication networks combined with surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities have become an inescapable necessity for a balanced navy in the contemporary world.”

He said the Pakistan Navy had put in substantial efforts in augmenting its communication and electronic warfare infrastructure.

“The Navy is acquiring state-of-the-art equipment, and modern radios and telecommunication equipment are being introduced for gradual replacement of the old ones,” he said.

Commenting on this annual exercise of the Pakistan Navy, the chief of the naval staff said that such professional competitions provide a good opportunity for navy personnel to excel in their respective fields and prove their mettle.

He urged sailors to effectively utilise modern communication and electronic warfare equipment to gain maximum operational advantage.

He congratulated the winners and appreciated their preparation to undertake their assigned tasks.

Earlier, in his welcome address Signals Director Capt Adnan Jalil Baloch highlighted the salient features of the annual competition. Later, the chief guest gave away prizes to the winners.

The communications proficiency trophy for the year 2008 was awarded to Karachi Wireless team.

In electronic warfare proficiency competition, the first position was secured by PNS Haider team.

A large number of senior naval officers, chief petty officers and sailors attended the event.

International conference

A two-day international conference started at the Bahria University Karachi campus on Tuesday.

The moot has been jointly organised by Bahria University and IEEE Karachi section in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission.

The chief guest at the inauguration ceremony was retired Vice Admiral Farooq Rashid, Rector, Bahria University.

He said that mastering the skills in technology and engineering was the need of the hour.

“We must not overlook our responsibility to keep ourselves abreast of the latest technological trends in the world,” he said.

Admiral Farooq said organising the multi-topic conference at Bahria University was a sign of the organisers’ commitment towards the issue and also proved importance and need of joint efforts to promote the culture of research and development in the field of technology and engineering.

He said that such conferences work as catalysts for professionals and researchers in the field of science and technology, in general, and engineering in particular.

The rector of the Bahria University stated that the conference had attracted researchers from all over the world who were presenting their papers in different fields which would accelerate research activities and collaborations within and outside the country.

The director of the Bahria University, Karachi campus, retired Capt Ashfaq Agha, said that the conference had received overwhelming response from all around the world.

He said they had received 215 research papers in different fields of engineering sciences and technology and after a rigorous technical review, only 141 papers were accepted on the basis of their relevance, originality, and novelty.

Renowned researchers who are presenting their papers at the conference would cover diversified subjects that include communication systems and techniques, wireless and mobile communication systems, digital signal processing, image processing and recognition, photonics and opto-electronics, embedded systems and VLSI, nanotechnologies, biomedical engineering, power electronics, satellite engineering and technology, multimedia systems, electromagnetics, biometrics and information security, laser and fibre optics, theoretical and applied information technology, distributed and grid computing, algorithms, tools and applications, artificial intelligence, broadband networks, computer graphics, control and automation, soft computing, network and information technology, theoretical computer science, simulation and modelling and semiconductor materials and devices.

Prof (Dr) Junaid Ahmed Zubairi, department of computer science, Fredonia, NY, US, Syed Ammar Hussain Jaffri, director, NR3C, FIA, Dr Zia Khan corporate application engineering Synopsys Inc. Mountain View, California, US, and Dr Qamar-ul Wahab, Linkoping University, Sweden read their papers in the conference.—APP