National Maritime Foundation (NMF) has awarded the Excellence Award to the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR). The award consisting of a plaque and citation was accepted by Dr PJ Cherian , Director of KCHR from Vice Admiral KN Sushil , Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command at an impressive ceremony at the Southern Naval Command Officers Mess late evening yesterday.
Dr PJ Cherian in his acceptance speech informed the audience that the Pattanam excavations have unearthed the oldest ever pier in the world. He also sought the assistance of all agencies in taking the Muziris Project forward, while acknowledging the contribution of Southern Naval Command in the underwater mapping of the area. The Kerala Council for Historical Research is spearheading the Muziris Heritage Project which is a flagship initiative of the Government of Kerala. The project envisages retrieval of the historical heritage of the Kodungallur-Paravur region, and the conservation of that heritage along with responsible tourism and history education. The excavations at Pattanam village there have attracted global attention and have unearthed very significant evidences of trade between Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean rims.
Vice Admiral KN Sushil in his felicitations complimented the endeavours of National Maritime Foundation and their decision to present the excellence award to KCHR. The Admiral also reiterated the importance of projects such as the Muziris Project and wished Dr Cherian and his team all success. National Maritime Foundation headed by Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd), former Navy Chief is a nongovernmental maritime think tank, formed to provide impetus to integrated maritime management in the country by promoting strategic thinking and debates on matters maritime. A galaxy of eminent personalities from maritime and ship building industry, Indian Navy and academia witnessed the function. Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva (Retd), Director of NMF also spoke. Commodore S Shekhar (Retd), coordinator of the Chennai Chapter of NMF conducted the ceremony.
[mappress] Source: indiannavy, September 30, 2011