India Navy appointed first woman commanding officer in naval ship, says Admiral R Hari Kumar

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navy remains on an aspirational and dynamic trajectory into the future," Admiral Kumar was quoted by PTI as saying. He said the overall strength of women Agniveers has now crossed the 1,000-mark, adding that the Indian Navy's first batch of Agniveers graduated from the premier-winning establishment, INS Chilka, in March this year.

"And importantly, this (first) batch of Agniveers includes 272 female Agniveer trainees as well...And going further, the second batch of Agniveers had a total of 454 women and I want to say that with the third batch, which has just been inducted, we have now crossed over 1000 women affiliates in the navy," Admiral Kumar said. Addressing a press conference ahead of Navy Day, Admiral Kumar asserted that these statistics stand testament to the Indian Navy's philosophy of ‘all roles and all ranks’ with regard to the deployment of women in the service, both for officers and for personnel below the rank of officer.

"Take a look at the year gone by, and you'd agree that 2023 has been a remarkable year for our nation. Leaving a mark across various sectors and spheres, be it the economic front, diplomacy, or sports arena," Admiral Kumar was quoted by PTI as saying.

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Admiral Kumar said the Indian Navy's ships, submarines, and aircraft have sustained a high operational tempo in the strategic waters in the last one year. "Our ships have been persistently present across the