Vice Admiral Harinder Singh formally handed over charge of the Southern Naval Command to Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh at an impressive ceremonial parade held at the naval base. Vice Admiral Harinder Singh received Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, who arrived at the parade after laying a wreath at the war memorial.

The Vice Admiral inspected a 50-men guard of honour and the 16 platoons on parade. He was also introduced to the Commanding Officers of ships and establishments of the command. The formal handing/taking over ceremony was held at the Headquarters of the Southern Naval Command where Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh was introduced to the Chief of Staff, Flag Officer Sea Training and Chief Staff Officers of HQSNC. Vice Admiral Harinder Singh, thereafter, laid a wreath at the War Memorial and was given a traditional farewell by officers and sailors of the command.

The Lofar (Low Frequency Analysis and Recording) training simulator manufactured by M/s Thales Underwater Systems, France is an advanced state-of-the-art equipment being inducted into the Indian Navy. It will be used to provide training on the Towed Array Sonar in which detection and identification of an enemy submarine is achieved by an analysis of low frequency noises emitted by the target submarine.

Installed at the Anti-Submarine Warfare School at the Naval Base, Kochi, the simulator was formally commissioned by Vice Admiral Harinder Singh. The simulator is a landmark acquisition by the Indian Navy and provides hands-on operator training in a realistic environment. It also provides an integrated analysis facility which would greatly enhance the anti-submarine operations.

INS Garuda, the premier Air Station of the Indian Navy at Kochi, celebrated its 49th anniversary. With its origin dating back to the second World War when the Kochi airfield was built in 1941, the Fleet Air Arm spread its wings and a Royal Naval Air Station was set up at Kochi for the sole purpose of assembling and ferrying out Royal Navy aircraft. This was subsequently decommissioned after World War-II.

In 1953, when the Naval Aviation Arm of the Indian Navy was created, Kochi Airfield was taken over and commissioned as INS Garuda with just two British origin Sealand aircraft. With the subsequent expansion of the Naval Air Arm, INS Garuda assumed the crucial role of training pilots, observers, maintainers and handlers of aircraft and became the cradle of naval aviation in true sense. To perform this arduous role, several schools such as Naval Institute of Aviation Technology, School for Naval Aviation, Observer School and School of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology and other allied facilities function under the aegis of INS Garuda. Besides, Garuda is home to Naval Squadrons 550, 336 and 321 Flight. Recently Coast Guard Squadron 747 has also been activated at INS Garuda.

The anniversary celebrations included the traditional cake-cutting by the youngest sailor and the Commanding Officer, Capt Sudhir Pillai.

Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) has recognised the Signal School of Indian Navy functioning under the Headquarters, Southern Naval Command, Kochi as its Centre for Defence Communication and Electronic Warfare. A Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed at an impressive function held at Talwar Hall of Signal School. This has enhanched the co-operation between the university and the Indian Navy which also indicates the growing civil-military relationship in the country. It also marks an important milestone in the history of Signal School which is the premier professional training institution of the Navy in the fields of communication and electronic warfare. With this, the school has achieved the distinction of being the first professional school of the Indian Navy to be recognised by a university.

Under the MoU, the postgraduate programme of the school namely Long Communication (Long 'C') course will be designated as MSc (Telecom) by the university. It will open up avenues for further studies including admission to research programmes for the Indian Navy's communication officers.

Capt Anand Iyer, Officer-in-Charge, Signal School and Dr KV Kunhikrishnan, Registrar, Cusat signed the MoU on behalf of the Headquarters, Southern Naval Command and CUSAT respectively in the presence of Vice Admiral Harinder Singh, the then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command and Dr N Unnikrishnan Nair, Vice Chancellor of CUSAT.

A summer training camp of the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) Kochi unit was held at Seamanship School at the Naval Base, Kochi. One hundred-and-thirty nine boys and twentyfour girl cadets from various schools in Kochi including 30 cadets with two instructors from Good Shepherd Public School, Ooty participated in the camp. The camp provided an opportunity to the young cadets to learn elementary seamanship and to acquire qualities of self-discipline, leadership and moral courage and a spirit of adventure. They took part in physical training, parade training, swimming, sailing, firing and boat pulling. They also visited INS Mysore and various naval schools at Kochi. The cadets put up a variety entertainment programme including a karate demonstration. On successful completion of the camp, Cmde Prit Pal Singh of the Headquarters, Southern Naval Command, reviewed their passing-out parade.

Sides, a 21-year old guided missile frigate of the US Navy arrived at the Kochi Port on a four-day routine visit. Named after Admiral John H Sides, it is the eighth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class. The ship, with a maximum speed of 30 knots, has a crew of about 180 and is equipped with Harpoon and Standard missiles, anti submarine warfare torpedos and rapid firing guns. She can also embark one or two ASW helicopters and is meant for open ocean patrol, escort for underway replenishment groups, amphibious forces and military convoys. The stay at Kochi provided the crew time for rest and recreation. The sailors of the ship also participated in a variety of community related projects besides sports fixtures with the Indian Navy.

Sides is currently in the midst of a regularly scheduled deployment that includes operations in support of operation Enduring Freedom and the international war on terrorism.

The second section of the Maritime Museum Complex at Fort Kochi has been thrown open to the public. The museum, housed in two well fortified magazines used during the World War-II for storage of ammunition, is located along the boundary wall of INS Dronacharya on the Beach Road which is about one km south of the St Francis Church at Fort Kochi. While the first section dwell in the maritime heritage of India dating back to the Indus Valley civilisation, the second section unfolds the evolution of the Indian Navy from its origin in 1612 AD when Indian Marine was established at Surat to protect trade in the East Indies.

The expedition and exploits of the Navy have been chronologically depicted. The fact that India was a great maritime power between the 3rd century BC to 12th century AD is evident from the far-reaching influence of the Indian culture upto the shores of Java, Sumatra and Bali. A sound-and-light show arranged in the museum highlights the naval
actions over the years, its contribution in uniting the country post-independence, the Junagarh operations, the Goa Liberation and Indo-Pak conflicts of 1965 and 1971. Operations Cactus and Pawan and the strategic manoeuvres during Kargil have also been described in the section 'Navy in Action'. The museum is open to public on all days except Monday.

A two-day workshop on Integrated Logistics Management of Aviation Stores (ILMS (Air) was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Harinder Singh, the then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command at NIAT Auditorium, Kochi. The Flag Officer, Naval Aviation (FONA) Rear Admiral SK Damle presided over the workshop. Senior officers and delegates from Naval Headquarters, HQ Naval Aviation (Goa), premier air stations and Naval repair yards attended the workshop.

The ILMS (Air) software is based on a holistic concept to promote a seamless, accurate and efficient database of the aviation stores that support the numerous types of aircraft and helicopters operated by the Navy. The workshop was aimed at exposing all features of the software to delegates from all operating units of the Navy including ship-borne-flights.

The 22nd Defence-Civilians Athletic Meet was held at Southern Naval Command Stadium. Cmde CM Belliappa, Commodore Super-intendent Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY) Kochi inaugurated the meet. Six teams with about 200 participants from INS Venduruthy, INS Garuda, NSRY (K), NAD (Aluva), NAY(K) and Materials Organisation (Kochi) took part in the meet. The three-day meet included various events for men and women. Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY) was declared the winners and Naval Aircraft Yard won the runners-up trophy. Rear Admiral RP Suthan, Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command, who was the
chief guest at the closing ceremony, gave away the trophies to the winners.