Shubhanshu Shukla Gets Ashok Chakra

IAF Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, who has been selected for India’s human spaceflight mission Gaganyaan, and Indian Army personnel Arshdeep Singh, Major, and Doleshwar Subba, Naib Subedar, were awarded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra.

Indian Navy women officers Roopa A, Lieutenant Commander, and Dilna K, Lieutenant Commander, were awarded the Shaurya Chakra, the third-highest peacetime gallantry award, for successfully completing Navika Sagar Parikrama II, a dual-handed circumnavigation of the globe aboard INSV Tarini.

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday approved gallantry awards for 70 Armed Forces personnel, including six posthumous awards, on the eve of the 77th Republic Day. The awards include one Ashok Chakra, three Kirti Chakras, 13 Shaurya Chakras (including one posthumous), one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 44 Sena Medals (Gallantry) including five posthumous, six Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), and two Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).

The Shaurya Chakra awardees include Lieutenant Colonel Ghatage Aditya Shrikumar, Major Anshul Baltoo, Major Shivkant Yadav, Major Vivek, Major Leishangthem Deepak Singh, Captain Yogender Singh Thakur, Subedar P.H. Moses, Lance Dafadar Baldev Chand (posthumous), Rifleman Manglem Sang Vaiphei, Rifleman Dhurba Jyoti Dutta, Lieutenant Commander Dilna K, Lieutenant Commander Roopa A, and Assistant Commandant Vipin Wilson of the ministry of home affairs.

Major Arshdeep Singh of 1 Assam Rifles was awarded the Kirti Chakra for an operation on May 14, 2025, along the Indo-Myanmar border. Leading a special patrol, he came under sudden and unprovoked fire from a dominating height and, displaying exceptional leadership and gallantry, assaulted the enemy position through dense undergrowth, neutralising multiple armed cadres, including one equipped with an RPG launcher, and ensuring zero casualties to his troops.

Naib Subedar Doleshwar Subba of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), received the Kirti Chakra for his role in a counter-terrorist operation in the forests of Kishtwar district on April 11, 2025. He manoeuvred under intense hostile fire, closed in on terrorists with complete disregard for personal safety, and eliminated two terrorists at close range, displaying conspicuous bravery and nerves of steel.

Lance Dafadar Baldev Chand of 4 Rashtriya Rifles was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra for a counter-terrorist operation on September 19, 2025, in the high reaches of Kishtwar district. He engaged terrorists in hand-to-hand combat, disarmed one at grave personal risk, and continued fighting despite sustaining fatal gunshot wounds, making the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.