VIJAYAWADA: Though Ukraine long-range drone strikes hit St. Petersburg’s naval facilities and oil terminals, Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh continued his tour schedule in Russia.
When Lokesh and his team were on their way to the St. Petersburg summit from Moscow, Ukrainian drones hit vital installations early on Wednesday, hours before international guests gathered for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a major annual business and economic event held in Russia, often referred to as “Russian Davos”.
Despite Ukraine drone strikes, Lokesh was determined to attend the event and honour his commitment to investors.
Sources close to Lokesh informed that there was a Ukraine drone strike aimed around St. Petersburg so that the economic summit could be derailed and international participants could be frightened.
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“At that time, we were on our way to the airport to board the flight to St. Petersburg. Lokesh told us we would go ahead anyway, since meetings were committed with investors and it would be unprofessional to back out of the event. The Indian embassy/Consulate had also agreed with our decision, and hence we went ahead. It has worked very well for us as Andhra Pradesh is the only State delegation from India at the St. Petersburg Summit.
As part of his visit to Russia, Lokesh on Saturday held a series of high-level meetings in Moscow with leading Russian technology and innovation organisations, exploring opportunities for collaboration in artificial intelligence, smart mobility, digital governance, and future-ready education.
Lokesh met a senior delegation of Yandex, one of Russia’s leading technology companies. The discussions focused on implementing Yandex’s advanced smart traffic management systems, predictive transit scheduling, and AI-driven public safety analytics in Andhra Pradesh.
Lokesh proposed exploring the implementation of these technologies in Amaravati and the upcoming AI Data Centre ecosystem in Visakhapatnam.
As part of his Moscow tour, the HRD Minister visited School 21, an innovative coding and software development academy operated by Sber. The institution offers free programming education and follows a peer-to-peer learning model inspired by the globally acclaimed French coding school École 42. He interacted with students and faculty members to gain first-hand knowledge of its unique educational practices.
Lokesh also toured SberCity, Russia’s premier technology and innovation hub. He was welcomed by Sberbank Vice President and Director of Research and Innovation Albert Efimov, SberCity Chief Information Officer Evgeniy Chulanov, and Deputy Director General Ilya Pulner.
Lokesh reviewed several cutting-edge technological solutions, including advanced ATM systems.