Five Kirti Chakras among 112 gallantry awards conferred on armed forces heroes on I-Day

The president has also approved “Mention-in-Despatches” to 40 army and air personnel for their significant contributions to military operations.

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind will honour 112 heroes of India's armed forces with gallantry awards, including five Kirti Chakras, given for extreme valour and self-sacrifice, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day on Tuesday.

The five Kirti Chakra recipients are Major Preetam Singh Kunwar (Garhwal Rifles), Havildar Giris Gurung (Posthumous, Gorkha Rifles), Major David Manlun (Naga Regiment), CRPF commandant Pramod Kumar (Posthumous) and CRPF commandant Chetan Kumar Cheeta.

The supreme commander of the armed forces will also give away 17 Shaurya Chakras, 85 Sena Medals, three Nao Sena Medals and two Vayu Sena Medals.

The president has also awarded “Mention-in-Despatches” to 40 army and air personnel for their significant contributions in military operations.

These awards include two for Operation Meghdoot, 32 for Operation Rakshak, four for Operation Orchid and one each for Army Headquarters and Air Force, the government said on the eve of I-Day.

Earlier, addressing the nation on the eve of 71st Independence Day, President Kovind said it is time the citizens take inspiration from those who gave their lives for the nation and move forward.

Acknowledging the hardships faced by the country's security forces in the line of duty, the president said, "Our soldiers who guard our borders are not just doing their duty; they are displaying an extra degree of selflessness."

CRPF commandant Pramod Kumar was killed in an encounter immediately after unfurling the flag at CRPF Srinagar office on August 15th last year.

Another Kirti Chakra nominee Chetan Kumar Cheeta was wounded during a joint operation in the Hajin area of North Kashmir's Bandipora district on February 14 this year. He survived nine bullet injuries.

Havildar Giris Gurung, also a Kirti Chakra recipient, was martyred during a counter-infiltration operation along the LoC in Kashmir's Kupwara on May 20.

The Kirti Chakra is the second highest military award given in peacetime for bravery and sacrifice, while the Shaurya Chakra is the third highest decoration in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards. Sena, Nao Sena and Vayu Sena medals are given for exceptional devotion to duty or courage.

'Mention in dispatches' is given for meritorious services and gallantry which are not of a sufficiently high order to warrant the grant of gallantry awards.

On Monday, the president also approved Police Medals to 990 personnel, with Chhattisgarh's elite Special Task Force Platoon Commander Shankar Rao posthumously named for the President's Police Medal for Gallantry.

Rao, called ‘Fighter Rao' by his colleagues, showed exemplary courage during a Maoist ambush in Sukma district on April 11, 2015, in which his six other colleagues were also killed and 10 injured.