Wing Commander Lalit Kumar Kochhar was commissioned on 29 Jul 67. Having served as a General Duty Medical Officer of a flying squadron as a Senior Medical Officer of operational Wings/Units for seven years, the officer specialized as an Eye Specialist from Agra University and later as an ENT Specialist from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune and obtained the Master Degree in Surgery. He is presently serving as the Head of the ENT Department of the Air Force Central Medical Establishment.

Wing Commander Kochhar has distinguished and well proven record of two decades of dedicated service. During the IndoPak Conflict in 1971, he was posted to an operational squadron located at a forward base in the western theatre. The officer was wounded during an air raid and though in plaster, he refused hospitalization and continued to remain on duty to provided medical cover to his squadron. During his tenure as Medical Officer an Operational Wing, he made singular contribution to promote aircrew care and flight safety by personally attending to their problems at odd hours.

Wg Cdr Kochhar has served in various service hospitals and has performed large number of complicated surgical operations in an extremely efficient manner. As an ENT specialist at the Air Force Central Medical Establishment, the officer has carried out his duties with great devotion and dedication. He has consistently displayed tremendous capacity for sustained hard work of high caliber.

In recognition of his outstanding services, devotion to duty, exceptional clinical service to the patients and aircrew community and singular contribution to the cause of flight safety, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wing Commander Lalit Kumar Kochhar.

Group Captain Chittaranjan Sharma was commissioned in the IAF in May 1961.

During 28 years of distinguished service, Gp Capt Sharma has held various prestigious appointments in India and abroad and has always acquainted himself creditably and with distinction.

As CO of an ED, he has infused greater degree of sensitivity in the management of materials and spares. He has successfully undertaken survey of about 50,000 reapair ables held in storage over a long period and carried out complete reorganization of ED inventory by introducing concept of 'moving' and 'nonmoving' spares in the layout of store houses.

For his outstanding contribution and distinguished service, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Gp Capt Chittaranjan Sharma.

Gp Capt Vijay Madhav Alurkar was commissioned on 29 Dec 1963. He has held numerous important appointments in the field as well as on staff during 30 years of service.

A very competent Medical Specialist, he was awarded commendation by AOC-in-C Training Command in 1976 for his professional competence and devotion to duty. He has published/presented one hundred and twenty scientific papers in various medical journals and conferences. This bears testimony to his relentless pursuit of academic excellence. His contribution as a member of Medical Team for evaluation of prospective Indian Cosmonauts for project Pawan is noteworthy.

Gp Capt Alurkar served with 36 Inf Div (OP PAWAN) in SRI LANKA where his presence was a great morale booster to the troops. He treated and salvaged many cases of snake bites, Pneumonia and other serious medical conditions. He extended his expertise to Civil Hospital, Trincomalee also. His work was highly appreciated by GOC of 36 Inf Div.

Gp Capt Alurkar has managed Medical and Cardiac Evaluation Centre at AFCME with crisp efficiency. His high professional acumen, diligence and devotion to duty have moulded this centre into a model which is one of the best in Armed Forces. Due to his positive attitude towards aircrew health and conservation of trained manpower, a fair number of aircrew have returned to flying assignments even after undergoing by-pass surgery.

In recognition of his excellent professional acumen and its positive application in the interest of service, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Gp Capt Vijay Madhav Alurkar.

Wing Commander Garimella Kundali Guru Prasad was commissioned on 28 February 1975 in the Medical branch of the IAF. Since then he has served as an ophthalmologist at Air Force Hospital Bangalore, Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) and Air Force Central Medical Establishment (AFCME). In all his appointments he displayed a commendable flair for research and devotion to solve aircrew problems.

At the IAM, he applied himself to analyse, research and solve aviation related Opthalmological problems. His pioneering work in the area of aircrew vision resulted in permitting aircrew to wear contact lenses while flying thereby enhancing operational effectiveness. He designed and conducted field trials on improved corrective glasses for aircrew. Progressive and trifocal lenses introduced by him for the first time for the IAF aircrew were successful and popular. As Associate Professor of Ophthalmology under Bangalore University he trained many medical officers and aircrew. At AFCME he continued his research on improving aircrew vision and related in-flight problems of night vision and colour vision. He has presented several papers in national and international conferences and published many articles in Ophthalmology Journals. He was awarded the Fellowship of International College of Surgeons in 1991 and 'Best Paper Award' for his paper on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Ophthalmic diseases at Asia Pacific International Congress at Bangalore in 1993. At present, his studies are centered on evaluation of intra ocular lenses in aircrew and improving colour vision with special lenses.

A popular eye specialist, he has established and modernised many eye centres to provide facilities like contact lens clinics for families and glucoma detection for elderly retired people. As a welfare activity he has conducted eye camps at several Air Force Stations in and around Delhi and nearby rural areas enhancing the image of IAF and contributing to a national cause in prevention of blindness.

For distinguished service of high under the President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Wg Cdr Garimella Kundali Guru Prasad.

Wing Commander UB Mathur was commissioned on 15 Jan 70. A graduate from Armed Forces Medical College, he acquired diploma in clinical pathology in 1978 and Masters Degree in 1980. Ever since becoming a specialist in Pathology he has dedicated himself to building laboratory service in Air Force. Between 1981 and 82 under the guise of Project Pawan on launching of Indian Cosmonaut into space he contributed in planning and organising a modern laboratory at Air Force Command Hospital, Bangalore. He established a new laboratory at No. 10 Air Force Hospital in Eastern sector. In Institution of Aerospace Medicine he improved the Aircraft Accident Pathology Cell evolving special tests and techniques for investigating bird-hit accidents. His papers on this subject were presented in international forum.

Posted to Air Force Medical Establishment (AFCME) in 1989, he was given the challenging job of modernising the clinical laboratory. Today the clinical laboratory at AFCME boasts of minimum waiting period, non touch sample collection with disposable kits, a battery of new tests using stateof the-art equipments, computer analysis of test reports, on the spot doctor to patient advise on preventive and curative measures and all these are dispensed with courtesy, confidentiality, privacy and personalised attention.

For distinguished service of a high order, the President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Wing Commander UB Mathur.