INDIA. Mumbai: President Droupadi Murmu approved 412 gallantry awards, including six Kirti Chakras and 15 Shaurya Chakras, to Armed Forces personnel on the eve of the 74th Republic Day on Wednesday.
Out of the six Kirti Chakras, four were conferred posthumously. Similarly, two Shaurya chakras were awarded posthumously.
Kirti Chakra is India’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award after Ashok Chakra. The Shaurya Chakra is the country’s third-highest peacetime gallantry award.
The Kirti Chakra award winners were: Major Shubhang (Dogra Regiment of the 62 Battalions of Rashtriya Rifles) and Naik Jitendra Singh (Rajput Regiment of the 44 Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles).
Those who have been conferred the award posthumously include Rohit Kumar from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, sub-inspector Deepak Bhardwaj, and head constables Sodhi Narayan and Shrawan Kashyap.
The Shaurya Chakra awardees were: Major Aditya Bhadauria (Kumaon Regiment of the 50th battalion of Rashtriya Rifles), Captain Arun Kumar (Kumaon Regiment of the 13th battalion of Rashtriya Rifles), Captain Yudhvir Singh (Mechanised Infantry of the ninth battalion of Rashtriya Rifles), and Captain Rakesh TR (ninth battalion of the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).
The Shaurya Chakra was posthumously conferred on Naik Jasbir Singh of the sixth battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and Constable Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The Shaurya Chakra award was also conferred on Lance Naik Vikas Choudhary of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, Group Captain Yogeshwar Krishnarao Kandalkar (IAF pilot), Flight Lieutenant Tejpal, Squadron Leader Sandeep Kumar Jhajhria, Anand Singh (IAF Garud), and Sunil Kumar (IAF), Assistant Commandant Satendra Singh (MHA), Deputy Commandant Vikky Kumar Pandey (MHA), and Constable Vijay Oraon (IAF).
The awards also included one Bar to Sena Medal (gallantry), 92 Sena Medals, including four posthumous, one Nao Sena Medal (gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (gallantry), and 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medals.
The awards included three Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, one Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 52 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 10 Yudh Seva Medals, four Bar to Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), and 36 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty).
The President also approved two Bar to Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty, posthumous), 11 Nao Sena Medals, including three posthumous, 14 Vayu Sena Medals, two Bar to Vishisht Seva Medals, and 126 Vishisht Seva Medals. The President is the Supreme Commander of the three services.
Wing Commander Sumedh Jamkar
Wing Commander Sumedh Ashok Jamkar, posted as Flight Commander of a Helicopter Unit and equipped with the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv in Nagpur, Maharashtra, was given the Gallantry Award for rescuing three survivors and retrieving four mortal remains when torrential rains affected Uttarakhand on October 19, 2021.
The IAF was called upon for the search and rescue of a missing seven-member mountaineering team on an expedition to Kilar (Himachal Pradesh) from Harsil via Lamkhaga Pass.
Jamkar displayed ingenuity by using the winch cable to facilitate movement across undulating snowbound terrain and undertook three successive missions on October 20.
He landed at three other treacherous locations between 15600 and 16900 feet and rescued three survivors and retrieved four mortal remains. For the act of exceptional courage, he was awarded the “Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry)”.
Group Captain Yogeshwar Kandalkar
Group Captain Yogeshwar Krishnarao Kandalkar, Flying (Pilot), is commanding a Mi-17 V5 Helicopter Unit in Nashik, Maharashtra.
During the late hours of April 10, 2022, he was tasked with evacuating 48 pilgrims stranded in 12 cable cars on a ropeway in remote Trikut hills in Deoghar district, Jharkhand. Trikut Ropeway is one of India’s highest vertical ropeways, with the cables rising at an angle of 45° on a hill up to 3000 ft.
The mission posed an extreme danger of cables striking the rotors, which were swaying due to the helicopter downwash.
Kandalkar got his team together and undertook meticulous planning for the rescue mission. The IAF team rescued a total of 35 precious lives from 10 cable cars.
The effort was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a live interaction on national television. For the act of exceptional courage, beyond the call of duty, he was awarded the “Shaurya Chakra.”
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