NB In List | In a first, woman officer to take over command of an Indian Navy ship. 6 Facts about it-

New Delhi, Dec 2: In a significant development, the Indian Navy has appointed the first woman commanding officer in a naval ship, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Friday.

Woman officer takes over command of an Indian Navy ship

This is the first time that a woman officer would assume command of a ship.

"We also appointed the first woman commanding officer of an Indian naval ship. It has been our effort to constantly challenge the status quo to ensure that the navy remains on an aspirational and dynamic trajectory in the future," Admiral Kumar noted.

Reports suggest that a Lieutenant Commander, would be commanding INS Trinkat, a fast attack craft based in the western seaboard. She is yet to take over the new role.

The officer is a qualified navigation instructor and has been involved in training observers inducted into the Navy.

Admiral said this is in sync with its philosophy of 'all roles-all ranks' for female personnel.

She is also the first woman officer who served as an observer in the Navy’s Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft.

Apart from this, the Navy chief also informed that "the overall strength of women Agniveers has now crossed the 1,000 mark, adding that these statistics stand testament to the philosophy of ‘all roles, all ranks’ approach to deployment of women in the service."

Earlier, in March,the Indian Air Force chose Group Captain Shaliza Dhami to take over command of a frontline combat unit in the western sector.

Currently, 10,493 women officers are serving in the Indian Armed Forces, including its medical services. The Army, being the largest of the three services, has the largest number of women officers at 1,705, followed by 1,640 women officers in the IAF and 559 in the Navy. This data was submitted by the government to Parliament last year.