President’s Colour crowns INA’s golden jubilee

Hyderabad: The President’s Colour - the highest honour bestowed upon any military unit - was received by Indian Naval Academy Cadet Capt. Sushil Singh on behalf of the INA at an impressive parade comprising 730 cadets of INA and a 150-man Guard of Honour on Wednesday.

President Ram Nath Kovind, also the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces, presented the coveted award.

He congratulated INA, including the incumbents and their predecessors, on the celebration of the 50 trail-blazing years.

President Kovind said, “The fine parade resonates well with the high reputation this Academy has earned for itself in a relatively short span of time. The President’s Colour should serve as the motivating symbol to inspire and mould a generation of officers that will pass out from this world class institution”.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Admiral Karambir Singh, Minister for Ports, Museums, Archaeology and Archives, Ramachandran Kadannappally, Vice-Admiral AK Chawla, and other senior service and civilian dignitaries graced the occasion.

A colourful presentation was rendered by NCC Cadets of 32nd Battallion, Kerala and students from Sainik School, Kodagu and local schools of Payyannur.

Naval ships Magar and Sujata and Coast Guard’s Sarathi were anchored off Ettikkulam Bay to mark the momentous occasion.

Award of the President’s Colour to Indian Naval Academy is a recognition of the yeoman service rendered by the institution in shaping the leadership of the Navy by training naval officers over the last fifty years at three different locations - Kochi, Goa and Ezhimala.

The Naval Academy was first established at a temporary location at Kochi in 1969. With the increase in strength of the trainees, the Naval Academy was relocated to INS Mandovi at Goa in 1986. The Indian Naval Academy (INA) found its permanent home at Ezhimala, Kerala and was inaugurated on January 8, 2009.INA, Ezhimala, over a period of 10 years has commissioned 5930 officers, into Indian Navy and Coast Guard including 531 women officers.

INA presently boasts of 963 trainees, including 44 women trainees, and 26 trainees from friendly foreign countries.

Indian Navy was the first of the three-armed forces to be awarded the President’s Colour on May 27, 1951. Besides the INA, Southern Naval Command, Eastern Naval Command, Western Naval Command, the Western & Eastern Fleet as well as the Submarine Arm are the units of the Indian navy to be awarded similarly soon.

A special postal cover was also released by the President to commemorate the occasion.