KOCHI: The Southern Naval Command (SNC) on Friday honoured 10 officers by presenting them with gallantry and non-gallantry awards for meritorious service. SNC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice-Admiral A K Chawla presented the awards on behalf of the President of India during the Naval Investiture Ceremony held at Kochi Naval Base. The personnel who demonstrated leadership and distinguished service of high order were also felicitated.
Four officers received Nao Sena Medal for gallantry while two officers received Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty and four others were presented the Vishisht Seva Medal for long meritorious service on the occasion. The Commander-in-Chief also announced one Jeevan Raksha Patak for acts of courage and self-sacrifice and Unit Citations for ashore unit and afloat unit under SNC for delivering exceptional performance over the past one year.
The winners of the awards are Commander Shailendra Singh, Commander Vikrant Singh, Lieutenant-Commander Ravindra Singh Chaudhary, Leading Seaman Sushil Kumar (gallantry), Commodore M P Anil Kumar, Commodore Gurcharan Singh (devotion to duty), Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, Commodore Ajith V Kumar, Commodore R Ramakrishnan Ayyar and Captain K Nirmal Raghu (Vishisht Seva Medal). Chief Petty Officer Mukesh Kumar received Jeevan Raksha Patak, while INS Chilka and INS Sujata received unit citations.
Commodore Anil Kumar is a native of Olessa in Kottayam. Commissioned in 1988, he is a specialist in Communications and Electronic Warfare. He also developed software for digital communications, war gaming, astro-navigation and was part of the team that developed several applications being used by the Navy for over 15 years.
Commodore Ramakrishnan Ayyar is serving as the Group Commander of NCC Group headquarters in Ernakulam. He is a native of Cherplassery in Palakkad and served as the Commanding Officer of INS Garuda from May 2016 to January 2019. He was actively involved in the rescue and relief operations by the Indian Navy during the 2018 flood.Commodore Ajith V Kumar is a mechanical engineering graduate from REC Calicut. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 in Engineering branch and specialised as an Aviation Engineer. He is a native of Kozhenchery in Pathanamthitta district.