- Following a slew of accidents including the one involving the submarine INS Sindhuratna which claimed the lives of 2 officers, the then Chief of Naval Staff, D. K. Joshi tendered his resignation.
- Vice-admiral Shekhar Sinha was overlooked owing to the fact that most of the accidents happened at the Western Naval Command, and Admiral R. K. Dhowan was chosen for a 25-month tenure despite him having no experience in heading an operational command.
- His immediate tasks include:
- Boost the dipping morale
- Initiate contracts to replace ageing equipments,(only one of the 13 existing diesel-electric submarines is new)
- Relentlessly pursue procurement issues and push acquisition projects with Ministry so as to avoid delays in production, acquisition and government approvals which causes reduced fleet strength
- Chart a course-correction.
- Bridge the operational gap between submarines, helicopters and minesweepers.
- He has already made clear his intentions of sticking to the standard operating procedures without adopting shortcuts.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/
todays-paper/tp-opinion/tasks- before-the-navy-chief/ article5927317.ece
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