The Savitribai Phule Pune University's (SPPU), Department of Defence and Strategic Studies (DDSS) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) Headquarters, New Delhi, signed two MOUs on Saturday, 29th February, 2020, at 11:00 a.m, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Hall, Main Building, SPPU. The first being an MOU to establish the first ever Chair of Excellence in India, in the name of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh and the second being an MOU for Resident Scholar Programme (RSP) for air force officers, at DDSS, SPPU.
The Chair of Excellence has set a tone to enhance further collaborations between the armed forces and the academia.
The MOU was signed by the Hon'ble Vice Chancellor, SPPU, Prof. (Dr.) Nitin Karmalkar and Air Marshal Amit Dev, AVSM VSM, Air Officer Incharge Personnel, Indian Air Force.
The MOU signing ceremony took place in the august presence of the following delegates from SPPU and delegates from the Indian Air Force: Air Chief Marshal (Retd) PV Naik, PVSM VSM; Air Marshal (Retd) Bhushan Gokhale, PVSM AVSM VM; Air Marshal (Retd) SS Soman, PVSM AVSM VM; Air Vice Marshal LN Sharma, AVSM, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Education), Indian Air Force; Air Commodore SP Bhandare, Air Office Commanding, 9BRD Air Force, Pune; Group Captain Shakti Sharma, Indian Air Force; Air Vice Marshal V Rajhans, VSM, Commandant MILIT; Air Vice Marshal M Ranade, AVSM VM, Air Officer Commanding ADV HQ SWAC, Indian Air Force; Mr. Rakesh Kumar, IDAS PIFA, Indian Air Force and Air Commodore R Bhasin, VM, Air Officer Commanding 2 Wg Air Force, Pune were present.
Hon'ble Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) N.S. Umarani; Registrar, SPPU, Prof. (Dr.) Prafulla Pawar; Finance and Accounts Officer, SPPU, CA Atul Patankar; Member of Management Council, Shri. Rajesh Pande, Shri. Prasanjit Fadanavis; Dean, Faculty of Commerce and Management, SPPU, Prof. (Dr.) Parag Kalkar; Brig Hemant Mahajan; Former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman & UAE, Shrinivas Sohoni; Lt Gen A L Chavan; Former Heads, DDSS, Professor A.S. Dalvi, Professor Shrikant Paranjpe and other university officials were also present.