On January 12, 2024, a senior officer from the Indian Army, Major General Salil Seth said that the best marching contingent for the 76th Army Day parade scheduled to be held on January 15, 2024, will be selected using Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence or (AI) is being used for the first time to identify the best marching drills and identify the best contingent at the parade.
Monitoring Drills
“There is a correct pattern of doing drills, raising your hands to the certain level, raising you legs to a certain level, doing movement with your weapon within a certain timeframe. We are capturing the individual movement with the camera and then the computer software using the AI will give marks for each and every movement. This also will be supervised by humans. We have done two to three practises,” the officer said.
About Indian Army Day
Major General Seth said that January 15 every year is observed as the Indian Army Day. This is celebrated and commemorated when Field Marshal KM Cariappa took over the charge of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Roy Bucher, the last British Commander in Chief in 1947, this becoming the Indian Commander in Chief post-independence.
Venue for the Parade
Major General Salil Seth, who is the General Officer Commander of Madhya UP Subarea Lucknow, said that this time the Indian Army is celebrating the 76th Army Day in the city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh on January 15. “The event is being conducted outside the national capital for the second time as per of the Government of India initiatives to take major movements from the capital to different parts of the country. This will lead to greater visibility for these events and large involvement of local citizens,” he said.
Activities Involved
The 76th Army Day Parade will commence with a wreath laying ceremony at the SMRITI War memorial by the Army Chief General Manoj Pande to pay homage to all personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. He will then review the Army Day parade at the parade ground of 11 Gorkha Rifles regimental centre in Lucknow and will present gallantry awards for individual acts of bravery and sacrifice.
In addition, the unit citations will also be awarded to the units for special and exceptional performance under active operational circumstances. The parade this year will witness six marching contingents, a military band comprising five regimental brass bands and three pipe bands. The marching contingents include: 50 (1) PARA Brigade, Sikh Light Infantry Regiment Centre, JAT Regiment Centre, Garhwal Rifle Regiment Centre, Bengal Engineer Group and Army Ari Defence Centre.
The five regimental brass and military bands are Punjab Regimental Centre, Grenadier Regiment Centre, BIHAR Regiment Centre, Sikh Light Infantry Regiment centre, Kumaon Regiment Centre and Sikh Regimental Centre. The five regimental pipe bands are SIKH Regiment Centre, SIKH LI Regiment Centre, JAT Regiment Centre, KUMAON Regimental Centre and 1 Signal Training Centre.
Other Activities
“Towards fulfilling the aim of the Army Day being conducted here in Lucknow, we have reached out to the general public to increase the awareness of the Indian Army wherein starting November 2023 onwards various events were organized in the complete central command Area of Responsibility (AOR) so far,” he said.
Various school outreach programs will be organized where the Indian Army gallantry awards winners spoke to the next generation and motivated them. In addition, blood donation camps were organized for the masses, tree plantation initiatives at various stations and a quiz competition will be conducted for local populace through the radio.
