OUR HISTORY-1970s

1. Organisation of NPS: - Some time in mid 1979,the, then, Cdr. S Shekhar now Cmde. (Retd) and the then Lcdr, now Cdr (Retd), U.N Acharya initiated the formation of the NPS. Cdr S Shekhar was in INS Virbahu and Lcdr U.N Acharya was serving his sea time as Electrical Officer on board INS Kavaratti. The, then, Capt., now Cmde. (Retd), S.R Iyengar, Commanding Officer INS Satavahana, agreed to be the founding Chairman. A committee, under the chairmanship of Capt. S.R Iyengar, was formed to conduct NAVPHILEX-79, at the Navy Mela, during Navy Week-1979. The, then, Cdr. Anil Dhir, now Cmde (Retd), joined the Committee in September 1979. Cdr S Shekhar was the Founding Secretary of NPS and the secretary for NAVPHILEX- 79. The then Lt D.N Ghosh was the treasurer Navphilex 79. A loan of Rs 3000/- (Three Thousand only) was taken, from Headquarter Eastern Naval Command, for the conduct of Navphilex 79. V Admiral S Schunker FOC-in-C East later converted this loan to a grant. In Navphilex -79 warships/ships on stamps in 8 frames, compiled by Capt Anil Dhir and Cdr S Shekhar, were exhibited at a stall, during the Navy Mela, from 29 Nov to 1 Dec 1979. Thousands of visitors, who viewed these displays, were very appreciative of the efforts of NPS. The NAVPHILEX-79 can therefore be considered a great success and the credit should go entirely to Capt.A.K Dhir and Cdr S Shekhar. The three days of the exhibition were designated respectively “ Submarine Forces Day”, “ Surface Forces Day” and “ Naval Aviation Day”. A special cover, bearing appropriate design, was issued on each of the three days of the Exhibition. These covers were officially released, in the presence of the Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, SSP, by Vice Admiral M.R Schunker, AVSM, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, Shri C Arjuna Rao, District Collector, Visakhapatnam AND Capt. A.K Mehra, Vr C, Commanding Officer INS Chilka, respectively (See feature on NAVPHILEX-79 in EASTERN NAVAL NEWS- January 1980).