Vice Admiral Nirmal Verma takes over as Indian Navy chief
31 Aug 2009
New Delhi: Vice admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma takes over as the country's chief of naval staff from Adm Sureesh Mehta, who retires from service today. Till now Adm Verma was commanding the Eastern Naval Command, operating out of Vishakhapatnam on the country's eastern seaboard.
Adm Verma, who was born on November 14 in 1950, was commissioned into the executive branch of the Navy on 1 July 1970 and during his long service spanning nearly 39 years, has served in a variety of command, staff and instructional appointments.
His sea command experience includes the Leander-class frigate INS Udaigiri, guided missile destroyer INS Ranvir and the flagship aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
Before taking over as Eastern Naval Command flag officer commanding-in-chief, he served as vice chief of naval staff at the naval headquarters.
Through his career, Adm Verma has been decorated with the Param Vishist and Ati Vishist Seva Medals.
An alumnus of Royal Naval Staff College in the United Kingdom and the US Naval War College, Verma has instructional experience at National Defence College as senior directing staff and at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington.
He has also commanded the Naval Academy at Goa.