Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), presented Gallantry and Distinguished Service awards to Naval personnel on behalf of the President of India at an impressive Naval Investiture Ceremony held at INS Hansa, Goa on April 14, 2024. The awards were conferred to honour and recognize the bravery, leadership, professional achievements and distinguished service of Naval personnel.

A total of 35 personnel were conferred with various awards during the ceremony, which included Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) to Cdr Manish Singh Karki, Cdr Kaustab Banerjee, Lt Cdr Panneerselvam Vishnu Prasanna and Lt Cdr Bhaskar.

During the ceremony, the CNS also presented the Lt V.K. Jain Memorial Gold Medal for pioneering research in the field of Weapon Improvement and Electrical Engineering, as well as the Capt Ravi Dhir Memorial Gold Medal for promoting Flight Safety.

The CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices 2023 was awarded to Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and INS Valsura in the industrial and non-industrial categories respectively.

The CNS also awarded Unit Citations to Naval units for their outstanding service over the past year. The recipients were Indian Naval Ships Teg, Kolkata, Karmuk, Sumedha, Sumitra and Sharda, submarine INS Sindhukesari, flight squadron INAS 550 and shore establishments Chilka, Circars, Eksila, Dronacharya and Naval Ship Repair Yard (Karwar).

The ceremony was attended by spouses and families of the awardees, as well as senior officers of the Indian Navy.

The CNS lauded the award winners for their acts of bravery and distinguished service and also complimented their family members for their unstinted support to the Naval personnel.