NEW DELHI: President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday approved 93 gallantry awards for armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel, with the honours including two Kirti Chakras and 14 Shaurya Chakras, the country’s second and third highest awards for uncommon courage during peacetime, the defence ministry said in a statement on the eve of the 76th Republic Day.
The awards approved include one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 66 Sena Medals (Gallantry), eight Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and two Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry).
The President also approved 305 military decorations for armed forces personnel, including 30 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, five Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, 57 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 10 Yudh Seva Medals, one Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 43 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 15 Vayu Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), eight Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), four Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal and 132 Vishisht Seva Medals, the ministry said.
One of the Kirti Chakras, and three of the Shaurya Chakras will be awarded posthumously. These awards are equivalent to the wartime Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, respectively. Seven of the Sena Medals (Gallantry) will also be awarded posthumously.
The two Kirti Chakra awardees are Naik Dilwar Khan from the artillery (28 Rashtriya Rifles) (Posthumous) and Major Manjit from Punjab regiment (22 Rashtriya Rifles). Both of them have been decorated for their heroism in counter-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir last year.
The Shaurya Chakra awardees are Major Ashish Dahiya from the engineers (50 Rashtriya Rifles), Major Kunal from the Army Service Corps (1 Rashtriya Rifles), Major Satender Dhankar from the armoured corps (4 Rashtriya Rifles), Captain Deepak Singh from the signals (48 Rashtriya Rifles) (Posthumous), Assistant Commandant Eshenthung Kikon for 4 Assam Rifles, Subedar Vikas Tomar from 1 Para (Special Forces), Subedar Mohan Ram from 20 Jat, Havildar Rohit Kumar from Dogra regiment (Posthumous), Havildar Prakash Tamang from 9 Gorkha Rifles (32 Rashtriya Rifles), Flight Lieutenant Aman Singh Hans, Corporal Dabhi Sanjay Hiffabhai Eassa, OEM Grade-1 Vijayan Kutty G of the Border Roads Organisation (Posthumous), CRPF deputy commandant Vikrant Kumar and CRPF inspector Jeffrey Hmingchullo.
Those awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of most exceptional order are Lieutenant Generals Paramjit Singh Minhas (retd), Karanbir Singh Brar, Manoj Kumar Katiyar, Adosh Kumar, Dhiraj Seth, Preet Mohindera Singh, Ram Chander Tiwari, Anindya Sengupta, Vivek Kashyap, Devendra Sharma, Padam Singh Shekhawat, Dinesh Singh Rana, Pratik Sharma, Amardeep Singh Aujla, VM Bhuvana Krishnan, Raghavachari Santhana Raman, Vineet Gaur, Shankar Narayan and Raghu Srinivasan, Brigadier Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Vice Admirals Suraj Berry, Sanjay Jasjit Singh, Rajesh Sudhakar Pendharkar and Vennam Srinivas, and Air Marshals Narmdeshwar Tiwari, Balakrishnan Manikantan, Chakalayil Rajappa Mohan (retd), Nagesh Kapoor, Saju Balakrishnan and Rajesh Kumar Anand (retd).
Those awarded Uttam Yudh Seva Medal are Lieutenant Generals Rajiv Ghai, Zubin A Minwalla, and Hitesh Bhalla, and Air Marshals Pankaj Mohan Sinha (retd) and Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar.
Colonel Ponung Doming, a woman commanding officer, is among those who have been awarded the Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty). Her unit is constructing a high-altitude road in Ladakh’s Demchok sector to provide connectivity to one of the military’s farthest outposts, Fukche, which is just three km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Her unit also spearheaded a key project to upgrade the Nyoma advanced landing ground near the LAC in eastern Ladakh to a full-fledged base for fighter operations.
Army dog Phantom, who was deployed with 9 Para (Special Forces), was among the 58 Mentioned-in-Despatches approved by the President. Four of these honours have been given posthumously, including the one to Phantom who was killed in action during a counter-terror operation in Akhnoor last year.