KOCHI: The Naval Investiture Ceremony for 2018 was held at the Southern Naval Command (SNC), Kochi, on Tuesday. Admiral Sunil Lanba, chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), on behalf of the President of India, conferred various gallantry and non-gallantry awards, announced on Republic Day this year to meritorious naval personnel as well as citations to naval units, which had distinguished themselves during the past year.
There was a 50-men Guard of Honour during the impressive ceremonial parade, held as part of the ceremony, which was inspected by Admiral Lanba. He reviewed the parade comprising 24 platoons of naval personnel, drawn from various ships, training schools and establishments of SNC. On completion of the review, the CNS awarded the medals and citations to the proud recipients.
A total of 38 medals which included 4 Nao Sena medals for gallantry, 13 Nao Sena medals for devotion to duty and 16 Vishisht Seva Medals for distinguished service besides two Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and one Jeevan Raksha Padak for courage displayed in saving lives, one Captain Ravi Dhir Memorial Gold Medal for promoting innovativeness in Flight Safety and Lieutenant V K Jain Memorial Gold Medal for best applied research in naval technology were presented.