Jaipur, May 1 : A 9-month online diploma course for police officers and police personnel was inaugurated on Monday by Rajasthan Director General of Police (DGP) Umesh Mishra. The programme is being held under the aegis of Sardar Patel University at the police headquarters on Monday morning. The DGP said that keeping in view the increasing cyber crimes in the present digital era, emphasis is being laid on the technical efficiency of the police personnel to prevent them. Mishra expressed confidence that this diploma course would pave the way for increasing police technical efficiency. He congratulated the 50 police personnel selected for this diploma course and said that after completing this course, their cyber knowledge will increase. He also expressed the need to keep this knowledge updated according to the changes in technology. The Director General of Police informed that the Telecom and Technical Branch of the Police Headquarters has been designated as the nodal branch with Chief Information Security Officer. He said that for IT security in the police, an information security cell has been constituted at the Police Telecom Headquarters. This cell is working to maintain the security and confidentiality of the data, digital network and websites of Rajasthan Police. Vice-Chancellor of Sardar Patel Police University Alok Tripathi said that this cyber security diploma course has been designed keeping in mind the needs of police personnel. He said that this course of 9 months in online and offline mode will be completed in two semesters and the experts of the university will be present at the police headquarters once a month to take practical classes and clear the doubts of the participants. Successful participants will be awarded an internationally recognised diploma. DG Cyber Crime and Security, Ravi Prakash Mehrada said that an MoU has been signed with Sardar Patel Police University to conduct this diploma course. He informed that the main objective of this course is to provide the participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to secure various components of cyber space. This course will be useful for understanding the concepts of cyber space, keeping yourself and your data safe. He expressed confidence that this course would prove to be a boon for the police personnel to guard against cyber security threats. /IANS