The official announcement was made by the Navy on the eve of the late General's 65th birth anniversary on 16 March

The Indian Navy has notified instituting two awards in memory of India's first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, according to a media report on Thursday.

The official announcement was made by the Navy on the eve of the late General's 65th birth anniversary on 16 March.

The two-rolling trophies will be the ‘Women Agniveer Trainee’ trophy for standing first in the overall order of merit and the second for the ‘Most Spirited Officer’ undergoing the Naval higher command course at Naval War College (NWC) in Goa.

Commenting on the presentation of the trophy for the current year, Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said the trophy for this year will be presented by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar during the 'Passing Out Parade' of the first batch of Navy Agniveers on 28 March at the Navy's premier sailors training centre INS Chilka.

The trophies are in fond memory of Gen. Rawat on the occasion of his 65th birth anniversary who was killed along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 other military personnel in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on 8 December 2021.

The Navy’s official statement describes Gen. Rawat as a "visionary" leader and a "military reformer" known for his professionalism, principles, conviction and decisiveness.

In his distinguished career spanning over four decades, Gen Rawat's achievements were remarkable in all spheres of military and national security affairs.

It emphasised as the country’s first chief of defence staff, Gen Rawat, brought organisational and structural reforms integrating the armed forces and path-breaking transformational initiatives and civil-military synergies remained his legacy.

The statement underlined Rawat's enthusiasm in leading the armed forces to transform into ‘Agnipath’, the biggest transformation by the forces since Independence, from an idea to reality.