Wing Commander Srish Chandra Basu 4702) Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in April 1954. He joined Research and Development Organisation, Ministry of Defence in 1970 as Squadron Leader and was put in-charge of Mechanical Engineering Group of a unit dealing with Microwave communications. He was personally responsible for establishing various facilities in the unit workshop and setting up high standard of workmanship by workshop personnel and Drawing Section personnel at various levels. He was also personally responsible for building up expertise in the unit in O.C. welding of Aluminum and plating of alumi num, with extremely limited facilities. The final products which have resulted from the Workshop under his leadership as well as the mechanical drawing of the hardware prep ared under his guidance have received appreciation from important Public Sector undertakings. He has made substantial personal contribution in evolving the mecha nical design of High Power Amplifier and in the evaluation of various sub-assemblies in low power which is accepted for production.

Apart from his technical capabilities, which in themselves are quite impressive, the most remarkable characteristic of Wing Commander Basu is his capacity and patience to understand and execute hundreds of changes/modifications/improvements, requested by various engineers developing various items.

For his high technical capability in Electronics and Mechanical Engineering, exceptional devotion to duty, sustained drive and enthusiasm to accomplish difficult tasks. Wing Commander Srish Chandra Basu is awarded Vishisht Seva Medal.

Wg Cdr KH Babu, a post-graduate in Metallurgical Engineering was commissioned in IAF in Jul 71. He has held important appointments connected with the maintenance of aircraft as well as SAGW. For his contribution towards the improvement of maintenance and operational aspects of SAM-3 Technical Flight, he was awarded the Chief of the Air Staff Commendation in Aug 86.

Wg Cdr Babu has been working as Project Manager (Warheads) in Project Prithvi since Jan 89. He coordinated development, fabrication and testing of Pre-fragmented Monolithic Warhead for Prithvi. He contributed significantly in the design and development of Bomblet Submunition Warheads which are in advance stage.

The recovery of engine parts of Prithvi from Sea Bed was vital to carryout post flight review of PO8 Flight trial. This task of recovery was assigned to Wg Cdr Babu. The officer meticulously planned the recovery operation along with a team of divers from Eastern Naval Command. The officer went to SHAR centre and executed the recovery operation. The entire operation was successfully conducted in one week's time.

Contribution of Wg Cdr Babu to the training of Artillery Officers and Jawans in carrying out Prithvi Drills is outstanding. He wrote Combat Drill Manuals in consultation with the designers which helped the Artillery Team to carryout the Missile Preparation Drills smoothly and efficiently.

In recognition of outstanding contributions to the Project, the devotion and dedication shown, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Wg Cdr KH Babu.

Squadron Leader Kandengalam Nelliseri Santosh (20674) Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics) was commissioned on 11 Mar 1991 in the Engineering branch of the IAF. During his service career he has held the important appointments including that of Software Engineer at Software Development Institute and Software Specialist in Su-30 Project Team, Moscow. He has been commended by AOC-in-C, WAC in 1995. Presently, he is attached to Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), DRDO as Project Manager, Su-30 MKI.

As Project Manager, Sqn Ldr Santosh is responsible for carrying out tasks pertaining to avionics integration of Su-30 MKI aircraft. Besides being responsible for managing the overall programme, he has also taken a lot of initiative and participated in various design and developmental tasks in the areas of Mission Computer (MC) and Display Pro-

cessor (DP) software, firmware and hardware. He has been awarded laboratory awards in two successive years for his contribution in the fields of DP software, EW system trials and MiG-27 upgrade programme.

In his two years tenure at DARE, DRDO the officer has made noteworthy contribution in the avionics upgrade for fighter aircraft in general and a special task assigned on Su-30 MKI programme in particular. This special project called CUBIC, initiated at the behest of the Chief of Air Staff, was extremely challenging and had to be completed in a very tight time schedule. He had to tackle multifarious design issues pertaining to mechanical, electrical and software aspects on the MC of Su-30 MKI. The work carried out by him has been highly professional and of great quality. The project, which has been successfully completed in record time, will result in cost savings amounting to several crores, due to the indigenisation.

For his distinguished service of a high order, the Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Squadron Leader Kandengalam Nelliseri Santosh.