Kolkata :
One of his primary responsibilities is to encourage youngsters from West Bengal to join the Indian Navy and what better way to do this from the INS Netaji Subhas, the only military establishment in the country to be named after the Bengal icon. In a way, it was fateful that Commodore Suprobho K De took over as naval officer-in-charge (NOIC), West Bengal, on Monday. A day later, INS Netaji Subhas that De now commands celebrated its 42nd birthday.
“We shall continue to visit schools and colleges to encourage students to take up the Navy as a career. We would like more youth from West Bengal to join the Navy. A Naval Selection Board is also coming up at Diamond Harbour. This will be very crucial for youth in the eastern part of the country who now have to travel to Bhopal to get selected. The selection board will also provide employment and business opportunities for people of the area,” Cmde De said before attending a cake cutting ceremony and barakhana with officers and other ranks of INS Netaji Subhas.
The naval base in Kolkata is also in charge of warships that berth at the ports of Kolkata and Haldia. The NOIC also liasons with the civil administration on several issues including humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The Navy office in Kolkata also keeps a watch on shipping activities in the Bay of Bengal and security aspects. The Navy has also been eyeing a Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Sagar for better monitoring of the region. Sagar will also have a missile battery once the island is connected to the mainland by a road-cum-rail bridge.
The naval base in Kolkata was first set up at Marine House prior to World War II. The strategic importance of the Kolkata port during the war made it necessary for the Allied presence in India to bring up this naval presence to safeguard and strengthen its maritime assets in the east of the country which would also augment the capability to provide logistic support to Allied units and later Indian naval ships operating in the Bay of Bengal. Later the HMIS Hoogly was renamed INS Hoogly. On July 5, 1974, it was rechristened INS Netaji Subhas.
Cmde De, who was commissioned in 1985, is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, the Defence Services Staff College and Naval War College. A gunnery specialist, his previous appointment was as station commander of INS Angre, Mumbai. An alumnus of Sainik School, Purulia, he is married to Bandana De and they have a son who is an IPS Probationer.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / Jayanta Gupta / July 05th, 2016