Param Vir Chakra: Somnath Sharma
Maj.Gen.Ian Cardozo
Rishi Kumar
The very first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest gallantry award in the face of enemy, Major Somnath Sharma exemplified unwavering valour in the face of death. Undeterred by an injury, Major Sharma was instrumental in setting up defensive position in Badgam, a village about 8 miles south-east of Srinagar and stopped the raiders from reaching and taking control of the Srinagar airport in october 1947. Major Sharma played a pivotal role in foiling the enemy's plan at the cost of his own life. Outnumbered by the raiders, he and his company stopped the raiders till reinforcements arrived to destroy the enemy. His leadership, courage, and personal example has inspired and will continue to motivate officers and men of the Indian Army.
Major General Ian Cardozo was born in Mumbai and studied at St Xavier’s School and College. In July 1954, he joined the Joint Services Wing which later became the National Defence Academy. Here he was the first cadet to win the gold medal for being the best all-round cadet, and the silver medal for being first in order of merit. He was commissioned at the Indian Military Academy into the 1st Battalion the Fifth Gorkha Rifles (FF) in 1958, and was the first officer of the Army to be awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry on a patrol in NEFA in 1959. Wounded in the battle of Sylhet in Bangladesh in 1971, he overcame the handicap of losing a leg and became the first war-disabled officer to be approved for command of an Infantry Battalion. He retired in 1993 from his appointment as Chief of Staff of a Corps in the East. Author of The Sinking of INS-Khukri: Survivor’s Stories and Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle, he has worked with the Spastics Society of Northern India and was chairman of the Rehabilitation Council of India for nine years. At present he is the Vice President of the War Wounded Foundation.
Rishi Kumar is a graduate from Delhi College of Art in the Applied Art course. He has worked as an illustrator with various advertising and publishing companies. He is currently working as a freelance illustrator. Besides art he has an interest in computer gaming. His name has been acknowledged in the Limca Book of National Records 2016 for his work.
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