Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Sunil Lanba conferred the gallantry and non-gallantry medals on various Navy personnel here on Wednesday at an Investiture Ceremony held at the naval helicopter base INS Shikra of Western Naval Command (WNC).
The Chief of Naval Staff also awarded the citations to the Naval units which have distinguished themselves during the past year.
Lanba conferred the awards on behalf of President of India Ram Nath Kovind.
The awards were announced on the Republic Day this year. The ceremony was witnessed by senior dignitaries of the Indian Navy and families of the awardees.
The Navy Chief also inspected 50-men Guard of Honour prior to reviewing the parade comprising 18 platoons of Naval personnel drawn from various ships and establishments of Western Naval Command.
On completion of the review, he awarded the medals, citations and CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices to the various recipients. 45 medals which included 18 Nao Sena Medals for Gallantry, 09 Nao Sena Medals for Devotion to Duty and 16 Vishisht Seva Medals for distinguished service, the Capt Ravi Dhir Memorial Gold Medal for Promoting Innovativeness in Flight Safety and the Lt VK Jain Memorial Gold Medal for best-applied research in Naval Technology were presented.
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The CNS also presented Unit Citations to four afloat units, viz. INS Trishul, INS Sahyadri, INAS 322 and INS Tarasa and four ashore units - NSRY (Kochi), INS Utkrosh, INHS Kalyani and Material Organisation (Mumbai) - for delivering exceptional performance over the past one year. Naval Dockyard (Vizag) and INS Dwarka were awarded the 'CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices' for their environment-friendly green initiatives.
"The occasion is of special significance as it has allowed the Navy to formally acknowledge conspicuous acts of gallantry, as well as devotion to duty, of fellow shipmates," Admiral Lanba said while speaking on the occasion.
The Navy Chief also thanked the family members of the award winners for their support to the service personnel in the performance of their duty.