IMF 22nd Anniversary

The Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) turned 22 in December 2015, and we were indeed fortunate that Vice Admiral HS Bisht, Director General of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) accepted our invitation to be our chief guest and deliver the annual anniversary lecture. Mutually convenient dates were discussed and the anniversary lecture-cum-dinner was fixed for Sunday, the 17th of January, 2016.

Honoured Guests

We had a galaxy of flag and Senior Officers – both serving and retired at the well attended lecture. Prominent amongst these dignitaries were, Lt. Gen. BS Rawat, GOC-in-C Southern Command, VAdm Ashok Kumar, Commandant NDA, Addl DG SPS Basra, Commander Coast Guard Western Seaboard, Vadm V Pasricha, VAdm P Chauhan, RAdm PD Sharma, Cmde H Batra, CO INS Shivaji, Dr. Saxena, Principal Tolani Maritime Institute, Capt SS Naphade, ex- Nautical Advisor and a host of others.

Welcome Address

Cmde Vir welcomed all the guests and after the traditional lighting of the lamp, delivered his welcome address. He spoke about the salient achievements of IMF and how the activities had proliferated in the past 22 years. Cmde Vir also strongly suggested that Ocean Studies by introduced as a part of the curriculum both at school and graduate levels as this was the only way that the level of awareness about the harm being done to our oceans due to human intervention can be brought into focus. The syllabus can be in a gradually escalating form starting from the basic elements and slowly building up through school and then college. He also lauded the efforts of the Council Members, and reminded everyone that the average age of the council had increased from 62 to 82 in the last 22 years. The urgent need for inducting younger members into the council could not have been highlighted in a more appropriate manner.

Address by Chief Guest, VAdm HCS Bisht, DG ICG

Admiral Bisht, although only one year into the job of Director General, was wax eloquent about the growth and future of the Indian Coast Guard, its roles and functions, and its growing importance in the Maritime Domain. His talk, accompanied by a classy presentation kept the audience at rapt attention throughout. Full of information and yet not so much as to choke the listeners’ faculties, the talk was a heady mix of facts that made one proud of the Indian Coast Guard. In fact, at the question-answer session that followed, a senior merchant navy mariner suggested that this presentation should be a compulsory part of professional courses that form a part of the mariners’ syllabus. The Admiral fielded a wide variety of questions from the audience with panache, and was able to clarify the queries that people had.

Cdr Sati Taneja did a fine job as the MC and yours truly proposed the vote of thanks, which was akin to ‘having the last word’,

The lecture was followed by lot of networking over cocktails and a sumptuous dinner, which showcased the culinary skills of the Central Park Hotel, and the menu planning done by Mrs Nalilni Kunte.