President Murmu arrives in Dehradun, to attend IMA Passing Out Parade

President Droupadi Murmu is in Uttarakhand for a two-day visit to attend the IMA Passing Out Parade. She was received by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. Earlier, the President conferred 51 gallantry awards at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

President Droupadi Murmu arrived at the Jolly Grant Airport on Friday for a two-day visit to Uttarakhand. She was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami upon her arrival in the capital. Following her arrival, the President departed for the city under tight security arrangements. During her visit, President Murmu will attend the Passing Out Parade (PoP) at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in the state capital on Saturday.

President Confers Gallantry Awards

Earlier, President Droupadi Murmu on Monday conferred 51 gallantry awards, including seven Kirti Chakras, 15 Vir Chakras and 29 Shaurya Chakras, on personnel of the Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces and State and Union Territory Police during Phase I of the Defence Investiture Ceremony 2026 held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the awards included two Kirti Chakras (posthumous), three Vir Chakras (posthumous) and one Shaurya Chakra (posthumous). The honours were bestowed on personnel for displaying exceptional courage, outstanding bravery and devotion to duty while carrying out operations in challenging circumstances.

Kirti Chakra Awardees

Among the Kirti Chakra awardees were Lance Naik Meenatchi Sundaram A of the Regiment of Artillery attached to 34 Rashtriya Rifles, Naib Subedar Doleshwar Subba of 2 PARA (Special Forces), Major Arshdeep Singh of 1 Assam Rifles, Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair of the Indian Air Force, and Captain Lalrinawma Sailo of 4 PARA (Special Forces), according to a release.

Vir Chakra and Posthumous Honourees

The Vir Chakra recipients included Colonel Koshank Lamba of the Army; several Indian Air Force pilots, including Group Captains Ranjeet Singh Sidhu, Manish Arora, Animesh Patni and Kunal Kalra; as well as other Army and Air Force personnel recognised for their gallantry during operations.

The President also conferred posthumous awards on personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Among them were Sepoy Janjal Pravin Prabhakar of the Mahar Regiment and Lieutenant Shashank Tiwari of the Army Service Corps, who were awarded the Kirti Chakra (Posthumous). Rifleman Sunil Kumar of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and two personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces received the Vir Chakra (Posthumous), while Lance Dafadar Baldev Chand of 4 Rashtriya Rifles was awarded the Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous), the release added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)