President Murmu confers 7 Kirti Chakras; Gaganyaan astronaut Prasanth Nair among recipients
President Droupadi Murmu on June 8, 2026 conferred seven Kirti Chakras, including two posthumously, on personnel of the armed forces for displaying exceptional bravery in the line of duty, during Phase-I of the Defence Investiture Ceremony 2026 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The ceremony also saw 15 Vir Chakras and 29 Shaurya Chakras conferred. Among the Kirti Chakra recipients was Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (call sign 'Papa'), an Indian Air Force test pilot and one of the four Gaganyaan astronaut-designates for India's first human spaceflight mission; he had served as the backup pilot for the June 2025 Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station. The Kirti Chakra is India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, and the honours recognised acts of courage across counter-terrorism and non-combat scenarios.
Key Facts & Details
8 points- 1President Murmu conferred 7 Kirti Chakras (2 posthumous) on June 8, 2026 at the Defence Investiture Ceremony.
- 2The ceremony also saw 15 Vir Chakras and 29 Shaurya Chakras conferred.
- 3Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, a Gaganyaan astronaut-designate, received the Kirti Chakra.
- 4Nair was the backup pilot for the June 2025 Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station.
- 5The Kirti Chakra is India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award.
Deep Dive
- +Two of the seven Kirti Chakras were awarded posthumously for supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
- +Nair trained at NASA's Johnson Space Centre alongside Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who flew to the ISS.
- +Gallantry awards recognise bravery in both combat and non-combat situations.
Exam Focus
Which Gaganyaan astronaut-designate was conferred the Kirti Chakra in June 2026?
Related Topics
Exam Relevance & Angle
Gallantry awards and their hierarchy are recurring defence and awards topics, and the link to the Gaganyaan human-spaceflight programme makes this a multi-angle item that banking, SSC and UPSC examiners are likely to convert into direct questions on the Kirti Chakra and India's astronaut-designates.
Target Exams
Background & Context
India's peacetime gallantry awards, instituted in 1952, form a three-tier hierarchy: the Ashoka Chakra (the highest), the Kirti Chakra (second) and the Shaurya Chakra (third), awarded for conspicuous bravery or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. Their wartime counterparts — awarded for valour in the face of the enemy — are the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, in descending order. These decorations are conferred by the President of India, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, at Defence Investiture Ceremonies. Gaganyaan is India's maiden human spaceflight programme, run by ISRO, for which four Indian Air Force officers were selected and trained as astronaut-designates ('Gagannauts'); one of them, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, flew to the ISS on the Axiom-4 mission in 2025, with Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair serving as his backup.
Related GK Concepts
Must KnowTest Yourself
1 / 2The Kirti Chakra is which of the following?
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