Gallantry awards/decorations presented by the President

New Delhi, May 7 (UNI) President Pratibha Devisingh Patil presented 65 gallantry awards and other decorations to serving and retired armed forces personnel and civilians at the Defence Investiture Ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening.

The awards, which included four 'Kirti Chakras' and 22 'Shaurya Chakras', are given for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion towards one's duty.

Thirteen 'Param Vishisht Seva Medals', two Bar to 'Ati Vishisht Seva Medals', 24 'Ati Vishisht Seva Medals' to senior officers of the Armed Forces for distinguished service of an exceptional nature were also conferred by the President at a poignant ceremony at the grand Ashoka Hall.

Among the awardees, ten were 'decorated' posthumously.

While the 'Kirti Chakra' winners include Captain Pankaj Kumar, Major Shatrujeet Kotwal, Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay (Posthumous), Sepoy Suresh (Posthumous), the 'Shaurya Chakra' winners are Sowar Sultan Singh (Posthumous), Lieutenant Krishan Dayal Singh Rathore, Sapper Babu Ram Veeranna Pattar (Posthumous), Major Paramvir Singh Jamwal, Lance Naik Bhawan Singh (Posthumous), Captain Kaushal Kashyap, Major Pratul Gaurang Mehta, Major Rajesh Kumar Singh, Major Brij Kishore Dhoundiyal, Sepoy Jugulu Sabar, Guardsman Ajesh M A (Posthumous), Naib Subedar Khem Singh, Srikumar R - Border Roads Organisation (Posthumous), Havildar Bulla Ram, Wing Commander Anil Kumar, Wing Commander Rahul Monga, Lance Naik Narbu Sherpa, Major Amit Kumar Chand, Lance Naik Bachhav Shashikant Ganpat (Posthumous), Captain Lalit Kansal, Naib Subedar Subhash (Posthumous), Sepoy Badal Hasda (Posthumous).

The 'Param Vishisht Seva Medal' awardees include Lt General Hardev Singh Lidder, Lt Gen Parmendra Kumar Singh, Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar, Air Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik, Air Marshal (Retired) Gurnam Singh Chaudhry, Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah, Lt General Sudhir Sharma, Lt General Paramjit Singh, Lt General (Retired) Kuldip Singh Jamwal, Lt General (Retired) Om Prakash Nandrajog, Lt General (Retired) Susheel Gupta, Air Marshal Jai Krishan Gupta, Air Marshal (Retired) Ajit Vishwanath Vaidya and the 'Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal' recepients are Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal and Lt General Vinod Chopra.

Besides this, the 'Ati Vishisht Seva Medal' winners are Lt Gen Narinder Singh Brar, Lt Gen Balraj Singh Nagal, Lt Gen (Retired) Kashyap Sundaram Sivakumar, Vice Admiral Krishna Raina, Air Vice Marshal Vijay Kumar Dayalu, Air Vice Marshal Anil Chopra, Air Vice Marshal Anil Kumar Khosla, Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kant Srivastava, Air Vice Marshal Chinnabhandar Narsingarao Ranganath, Lt Gen Kammula Ramachandra Rao, Lt Gen Naresh Kumar Parmar, Major General Vinod Nayanar, Major General Jasbir Singh, Major General Vinay Bhatnagar, Major General Nand Kishore Singh, Major General Rameshwar Roy, Major General Naresh Chandra Marwah, Major General Kanwar Vijay Singh Lalotra, Major General Ballachanda Kuttappa Chengapa, Major General (Retired) Amarjit Singh Bakshi, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Surgeon Rear Admiral Vinod Kumar Saxena, Brigadier Venkatesh Siddalingappa Sommanagoudar and Air Commodore Devinder Singh.

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