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 The
post was vacant for a couple of months as the
previous incumbent, Vice Admiral Anil Chopra,
moved to Vishakhapatnam as Commander in Chief
of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet from Vice Admiral
Anup Singh on his retirement Oct 31.
Adm Murlidharan was the Chief of Personnel at
the Integrated Headquarters (IHQ), Ministry of
Defence, till now and earlier served as the first
Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala.
Commissioned into the Navy in 1975, Adm Murlidharan
has has held several significant operational and
staff appointments during his career of three
and half decades. The operational appointments
have included the command of Indian Naval Ships
Chatak, Sharda and Ranvijay, Fleet Operations
Officer of the Western Fleet and Principal Director
of Naval Operations.
After the 26/11 terror attacks, ICG has become
very important and the Government has directed
the force to build formidable capability to deter
and punish terrorists and attackers. ICG has been
sanctioned new ships, aircraft, helicopters, and
new generation offensive and defensive weapons.
Appropriate budgetry support has been sanctioned
by the Government for ICG's comprehensive modernisation.
As a naval paramilitary force, ICG works closely
with the Indian Navy, which has the overall responsibility
to protect the country's shores and maritime interests.
It may be noted that Naval Chief Admiral Nirmal
Verma, who is also the Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff Committe (COSC), told India
Strategic recently that the armed
forces' key emphasis was on building capability
with new generation systems.
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