Ashoka Chakra for Shubhanshu Shukla

 

 

 

GROUP Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who created history by becoming the first Indian to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS), was on Sunday awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award. In June last year, Shukla became the second Indian to have gone to space and the first to visit the ISS as part of the historic Axiom-4 mission. His 18-day space odyssey came 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Russian Soyuz-11 space mission.

 

On the eve of the Republic Day, President Droupadi Murmu approved gallantry awards to 70 armed forces personnel, including six who would receive the honour posthumously. These include one Ashoka Chakra, three Kirti Chakra, 13 Shaurya Chakra, including one posthumous, one Bar to Sena Medal (gallantry), 44 Sena Medals (gallantry), six Nao Sena Medals (gallantry) and two Vayu Sena Medals. Two women officers of the Indian Navy -- Lieutenant Commander Dilna K and Lieutenant Commander Roopa A -- were honoured with the Shaurya Chakra award, months after they made history by completing an extraordinary expedition to circumnavigate the globe, covering 21,600 nautical miles (approx 40,000 km) over an eight-month period onboard Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini. The Shaurya Chakra is India’s third-highest peacetime gallantry award after the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra.