Investiture ceremony held at Southern Naval Command

The Naval Investiture Ceremony for 2018 was held at the Southern Naval Command (SNC) here today,during which 38 gallantry and non-gallantry awards and citations to naval units were presented to the winners by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff.

Admiral Lanba, also chairman, Chiefs of Staff committee, conferred the awards, announced on Republic Day this year to meritorious naval personnel, as well as citations to naval units, which had distinguished themselves in the past year.

A Guard of Honour by 50 men was held as part of the ceremony, which was inspected by Admiral Lanba prior to reviewing the parade, comprising 24 platoons of naval personnel drawn from various ships, training schools and establishments of SNC, a defence release said here.

On completion of the review, the CNS awarded the medals and citations to the recipients, it said.

The 38 medals included four nausena medals for gallantry, 13 Nao Sena Medals for devotion to duty and 16 Vishisht Seva Medals for distinguished service.

Admiral Lanba also presented unit citations to five operational units: INS Tabar, INS Kirch,INS Sharda (ships), INS Sindhugosh (submarine), and Indian Naval Air Squadron 310.

Citations were also presented to four shore establishments: INS Shivaji at Lonavala, Naval Aircraft Yard, Goa, INS Kattabomman, Tirunelveli and INS Jarawa in Andaman & Nicobar Command, for delivering exceptional performance over the past one year.

Naval Ship Repair Yard, Kochi and INS Tunir at Karanja, Maharashtra were awarded the 'CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices' for their environment friendly, green initiatives.

Admiral Lanba said the occasion is of special significance as it allowed the Navy to formally acknowledge conspicuous acts of gallantry, as well as devotion to duty, of fellow shipmates.

He thanked family members of award winners for their support to the service personnel in their performance of duty.

He said the Indian Navy is acknowledged the world over as a professional force,primarily due to contributions of the men and women in service and not merely due to the sophisticated equipment it held.

Admiral Lanba hoped the example set by the award winners would inspire everyone else to achieve excellence in their respective fields.

The ceremony was also attended by Flag Officers, Commanding Officers of various ships and establishments and a large number of service and civilian personnel and their families apart from close relatives of the award winners.