The Gallantry Awards

#GS-3 #Defence #Current Events #National #Awards

Why in News

President Droupadi Murmu presented 51 Gallantry Awards during Phase-I of the Defence Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Air Force officer Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair received the Kirti Chakra.
He is one of the four selected Gagannauts for India’s human spaceflight mission named Gaganyaan.

Gallantry Awards are the highest state honors created by the Government of India to recognize brave personnel.
They honor members of the Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces, and State or Union Territory Police forces.
These awards celebrate acts of great courage and supreme sacrifice done in the line of duty.

The first three wartime awards, namely Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, and Vir Chakra, were started on January 26, 1950.
These wartime awards apply retrospectively starting from August 15, 1947.
Three peacetime awards were introduced on January 4, 1952, and were later renamed in January 1967 as the Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, and Shaurya Chakra.
The government announces these decorations twice a year, first on Republic Day and then on Independence Day.

During the June ceremony, the President pinned a total of 51 medals.
This total includes several posthumous honors given for supreme sacrifice.
The awards include 7 Kirti Chakra medals, with 5 going to living personnel and 2 given posthumously.
The awards include 15 Vir Chakra medals, with 12 going to living personnel and 3 given posthumously.
The awards include 29 Shaurya Chakra medals, with 28 going to living personnel and 1 given posthumously.

The Param Vir Chakra is a circular bronze medal featuring four replicas of Indra’s Vajra around the national emblem.
The reverse of the Param Vir Chakra displays its name in both Hindi and English, separated by two lotus flowers.
The Ashoka Chakra is a circular gold-gilt medal featuring a replica of Ashoka’s Chakra inside a lotus leaf border.
The Maha Vir Chakra is struck in standard silver and features a five-pointed star with a gilded state emblem at its heart.
The Kirti Chakra is a circular silver medal with an Ashoka Chakra replica and a green ribbon split by three vertical saffron stripes.
The Vir Chakra is a circular silver medal showing a five-pointed star with a central chakra and the national emblem.
The Shaurya Chakra is a circular bronze medal that matches the dimensions of the Kirti Chakra but uses a brown ribbon.