President Murmu To Visit West Bengal Today

New Delhi [India]: President Droupadi Murmu will visit West Bengal on Thursday.

During her one-day visit to Kolkata, the President will launch ‘My Bengal, Addiction Free Bengal’ Campaign under the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’, organized by Brahma Kumaris at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata.

The President had visited West Bengal earlier in March this year on her maiden visit to the state. The President was then offered a Guard of Honour at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata following her arrival.

She will also attend the launch of Vindhyagiri – the sixth ship of project 17A of the Indian Navy at Garden Reach Shipbuilders Engineers Limited.

Vindhyagiri, named after the mountain range in Karnataka, is the sixth ship of the Project 17A Frigates. These warships are follow-ons of the Project 17 Class Frigates (Shivalik Class), with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.

It is a technologically advanced Frigate that pays a befitting tribute to the distinguished service of its predecessor, the erstwhile INS Vindhyagiri, the Leander Class ASW Frigate.

“The old Vindhyagiri in its nearly 31 years of service from 08 Jul 81 to11 Jun 12, had witnessed various challenging operations and multinational exercises. The newly christened Vindhyagiri stands as a symbol of India’s determination to embrace its rich naval heritage while propelling itself towards a future of indigenous defence capabilities,” the Ministry of Defence release said.

Under the Project 17A program, a total of four ships by M/s MDL and three ships by M/s GRSE are under construction. The project’s first five ships have been launched by MDL and GRSE, between 2019-2022.

Project 17A ships have been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau, the pioneer organisation for all warship design activities.