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| Three civilians, army men honoured with Kirti Chakra | | | New Delhi | May 14
In a rare military decoration, President Pratibha Patil on wednesday honoured three civilians along with three defence personnel with Kirti Chakra, the nation's second highest gallantry award in military.
The honour went to Dayanand Pandey and Shyam Mohammed of Uttar Pradesh and Tarun Datta of Assam posthumously for their acts of extra-ordinary valour in facing armed anti-social adversaries.
The widows of the three civilian dare-devils received a thundering ovation from the assembled gathering at an impressive military investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan when their names were called.
Breaking the protocol, the President walked upto the widows to confer the awards.
Three army personnel -- Naik C Radhakrishnan, Major Subhash Chand Purnia and Captain Abhinav Handa -- were also decorated with Kirti Chakra by Patil. Naik Radhakrishnan received the award posthumously.
The President also conferred 20 Shaurya Chakras, 17 Param Vishisht Seva Medal and 27 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals to personnel of the three wings of the defence services -- the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Most of the 20 Shaurya Chakra - eight of them awarded posthumously - were given for dare-devil exploits against militants in Jammu and Kashmir.
Among the recipients was rifleman Abdul Hamid Chara, surrendered militant-turned-soldier, who killed a top area commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Kupwara in North Kashmir.
Those honoured with Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the nation's top defence medal for distinguished service, included Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Milan L Naidu, Central Army Commander Lt Gen H S Panag, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Officer Commanding of Western Air Commander Air Marshal P K Barbora.
Also honoured with PVSM are Air Marshal P P Rajkumar, Lt Gen Thomas Mathew, Lt Gen Saibal Mukherjee and Vice Admiral B S Randhawa.
Among the 27 officers decorated with AVSM were Lt Gen S P S Dhillon, Lt Gen R K Chabra and Air Marshal P V Athawale. |
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