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Monday, Dec 03, 2007
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Navy Mela held at INS Rajali

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Special Arrangement

In CELEBRATION: Visitors watching an aerobatic display during the Navy Mela at the Naval Air Station in Arakkonam on Saturday.

VELLORE: An aerobatic display, a pictorial exhibition of the activities of the Navy, inter-school quiz competition and entertainment programmes formed the highlights of a ‘Navy Mela’ organised at the Naval Air Station, INS Rajali, in Arakkonam on Saturday and Sunday.

The events were part of the Navy Week celebrations, which will culminate in the Navy Day on Tuesday.

It is celebrated every year on December 4 to commemorate the valiant maritime operations of the Navy during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

The Naval Air Station (NAS) in Arakkonam, which was commissioned by the then President R. Venkataraman on March 11, 1992, was named INS Rajali, after a bird of the hawk family predominant in the Tamil Nadu coastal belt. The NAS houses the Long Range Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft TU 142 M and the Dornier aircraft.

It is also the home for Navy’s Helicopter Training School .

While the TU 142 M aircraft protect our national maritime assets over the entire Indian Ocean, the Helicopter Training School squadron provide ab-initio induction training for the pilots. The Dornier Squadron, first of its kind along the East Coast, undertakes short range maritime reconnaissance, casualty evacuation and search and rescue operation.

The Air Station has over the years evolved into a fully operational air base and was awarded the unit citation by the Chief of Naval Staff in December 2002.

The Navy Day At Home reception, forming the culmination of the Navy Week celebrations, is scheduled at 5.15 p.m. on Tuesday.

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