Air Commodore Edwin Peter (3667) Accounts was commissioned in the Air Force in 1949. During his tenure at Air Headquarters as Deputy Director of Accounts from 1968 to 1972, he streamlined the organisation and procedure of accounting services. He established three separate imprests for Air Headquarters which brought accounting services closer to the place of work thereby saving several man/transport hours. The effective measures he suggested as leader of the study team on causes and cures for the delay in the finalisation of non-effective benefits, have speeded up the final settlement of accounts and the airmen are now able to get their pensionary benefits from the very month of their discharge. In recognition of these services, he was commended by the Chief of the Air Staff.

In 1972, he was appointed Officer Commanding, Air Force Central Accounts Office. During the period of his stewardship of this unit, he introduced several innovations and improvements in its various departments. He restructured the procedure for operating Provident Fund Accounts which ensured prompt payment of loans, final withdrawals and final balances. He centralised a large number policies from all over the country at Delhi and devised and implemented a procedure for their direct servicing by the Air Force Central Accounts Office for the recovery of LIC premium of Flying Branch Officers.

As Director of Financial Planning at Air Headquarters since early 1975, he meticulously processed the various financial projections in the Air Force Plan. Soon after his taking over the post, APEX , Planning Group II was formed and, though new to the field, he was able to produce, with remarkable speed and accuracy, the innumerable financial statements required during its deliberations. The entire exercise to revise the plan on the basis of the APEX II report was completed under his guidance and supervision. The sixth Five Year Plan for the Air Force was drafted by him in 1977. He had to present to the Ministries of Defence and Finance a number of financial statements and arguments in finalising the draft plan.

His efforts to understand and tackle the complex fund requirements of HAL has brought about better mutual understanding of the problems of planning and budgeting for the HAL. In the field of Cost Accounting, he has extended the flying hour costing to all types of aircraft. In the area of training, in addition to costing of all regular courses in training institutions, he has undertaken and completed ad hoc costing of all courses conducted in non­training institutions. In regard to costing in Base Repair Depots, he spearheaded a Pilot Study in the field.

Air Commodore Peter has been serving as Chairman of the Air Force Sports Control Board since 1st March, 1978 and has also been the PMC of Central Vista Mess. In looking after these extra curriculum jobs, he has shown commendable management skill and efficiency. By his hard work and devotion to duty, he has managed to perform these additional tasks without affecting his primary duties.

Air Commodore Edwin Peter has rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Commodore Ripu Daman Sahni (3867), Flying, (Pilot) was commissioned in the Air Force in April, 1950. During his long service career, he has held a number of important assignments with distinction. He was the first transport pilot to be selected to undergo a Test Pilot's Course at the Empire Test Pilots' School in the U.K.

Air Commodore Sahni, who attained the highest professional qualifications as a transport pilot and as a flying instructor very early, was assigned to the unit responsible for rating and validation of pilots and flying instructors. He categorised over 150 pilots during that assignment. During this period, he was instrumental in drafting a document, standardising air transport operations. The measures suggested by him immensely contributed in improving the operational effectiveness of the transport force. He was intimately associated with flight development, evaluation and testing of aircraft. Starting with production testing, including the first indigenously built HS-748, he took over as the Chief Test Pilot of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited where he was intimately associated with the development of Marut and Kiran aircraft and prototype testing of the Marut Trainer. It was through the discerning investigations carried out by a Technical Team headed by him that apprehensions regarding the use of HS-748 as a public transport, were allayed.

After the Indo-Pak Conflict, 1971, Air Commodore Sahni was appointed the leader of a team of specialists to assess the effectiveness and achievements of our Air Force in the Conflict. Under his guidance and through meticulous and incisive research, the team was able to establish facts which formed the basis of a number of lessons of strategic operational importance.

As Commandant of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment from 1974 to 1977, Air Commodore Sahni displayed excellent organisational ability and played a major role in upgrading the strike capability of combat aircraft through adaptation of modern sophisticated systems on the existing fleet. Through his pioneering work and untiring efforts, a Fixed Wing Experimental Test Pilots' Course was started at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment. The introduction of this course reflects the professional excellence achieved by this Establishment. This has also helped in saving considerable amount of foreign exchange. Air Commodore Sahni has taken over as Director of Projects at Air Headquarters and has been monitoring and directing major indigenous projects. In his long service, he has acquired 6225 hours of flying experience on 50 different types of aircraft of which 1500 hours relate to test flying. This is a glowing testimony of his outstanding airmanship, skill and competence.

Air Commodore Ripu Daman Sahni has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Commodore Canakapalli Venkata Sesha Suryanarayana Row (4058), Aeronautical Engineering (Electronics), was commissioned in the Air Force in January, 1951. He has competently held many important appointments during his long Service career. On his taking over as Command Signals Officer in June, 1976, Air Commodore Row set to work on the development of indigenous items of signal equipment. The designs of Teleprinter Broadcast Units, Synchronous on­line Cypher Machines and Auto Message Switching Systems, prepared under his guidance, were finally accepted for manufacture. This has helped the country in conserving valuable foreign exchange. He has planned the entire teletype network for a high technology Tropo­scatter communications system, thus enhancing Service efficiency. His recent creditable achievement was the preparation of maintenance schedules for various items for Ground Electronic equipment. Air Commodore Canakapalli Venkata Sesha Suryanarayana Row has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Commodore Bharat Lal Verma (4206), Flying (Navigator), was commissioned in the Flying Branch (Navigator) of the Indian Air Force in January, 1952. Among his contemporaries, he has the maximum number (6522) of incident free flying hours to his AVSM 1980 credit. He holds category 'A' and has held the appointment of Air Force Examiner at the Aircrew Examining Board with distinction. On assuming the command of the Air Force Station, Tambaram, in June, 1977, he ensured that the entire resources were geared to meet all the flying task requirements of the Flying Instructors School. Despite intensive flying effort, not a single major accident occurred during his command of the station. All efforts were made to acquaint all personnel about the importance of flight safety and the measures to be taken in an emergency. Flight Safety was also introduced as part of the curriculum of the training at No. 2 Ground Training School where airframe, aero­engines and armament trades are taught.

The Raja Ram School run by the Unit got Government recognition due to efforts made by Air Commodore Verma. The Air Force Elementary School with teaching facilities upto Fourth Standard also developed into a wellkept and well­staffed school. By liaison with the educational authorites and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, he was able to procure not only maximum number of admissions for the Air Force children in the Kendriya Vidyalaya at Tambaram but also in the Kendriya Vidyalayas located at other places in Tamil Nadu. This went a long way in boosting up the morale of all personnel of the station.

Air Force Station Tambaram which was called up by the State Government to render emergency aid during floods in November 1977, provided in a remarkably short time, was so prompt and successful that it earned the appreciation of the Tamil Nadu Government. Similarly, the emergency aid during the cyclone in November, 1978, and May, 1979, was prompt and effective and earned the praise both from the public and the press. All this was possible because of the dedicated efforts and leadership of Air Commodore Verma.

Air Commodore Bharat Lal Verma has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Group Captain Jugal Kishore Kapur, (4044) Aeronautical Engineering (Mechanical), was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in January, 1951. During his service career, he has held various staff and other key appointments, including that of Chief Technical and Inspection Officer at Hindustan Aircraft Limited, Deputy Director at Air Headquarters and Command Armament Officer of one of the operational Commands. He successfully AVSM 1980 completed the Post Graduate course at College of Aeronautics, Cranfield (UK) in 1963. As Deputy Director (Guided Weapons) in the Directorate of Technical Development and Production (Air), he was largely responsible for the development and establishing indigenous manufacture of a large number of items for the Guided Weapons System. In recognition of this indigensation effort, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1974.

In September, 1976, he took over the Command of a Base Repair Depot. From the time of his taking over, the officer applied himself with exemplary zeal and shouldered the responsibility with a high degree of confidence. He not only brought about remarkable improvements in the functioning of the Depot but also more than doubled the production of aero­engines during the second half of the year 1976-77. During the year 197778, he set about tackling the various problems in order to achieve the assigned production target. He resolved the problems of shortage of spares by keeping a close watch on the availability of spares and obtaining them after exploring all possible sources. He also resorted to indigenous development and manufacture of a large number of items to meet the urgent requirements. He maintained excellent relations with the other Commanding Officers of the station to achieve maximum cooperation. His sole aim, throughout, has been to achieve the highest, production target and maintain high level of quality control and thus meet the requirements of operational units. By dint of his complete dedication, he has not only met the production target assigned for the year 1977-78, but also exceeded the target in respect of Avon engines. In 1978-79 again, the Base Repair Depot has achieved the production target.

Besides overhaul of aero­engine, the Base Repair Depot is also responsible for repair and manufacture of all types of ground equipment. In the year 1977-78, the Base Repair Depot repaired/ manufactured 878 pieces of ground equipment against the task of 218. In the year 1978-79, similarly, the Base Repair Depot repaired 1020 pieces of ground equipment to meet the urgent requirements of the operating units even though the task was only 444.

Group Captain (now Air Commodore) Jugal Kishore Kapur has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Group Captain Krishna Narayana Pillai, (4874), Flying (Pilot), was commissioned in the Air Force in 1955 in the Flying (Pilot) Branch. Early in his career, he displayed his superior flying skill and was selected for the Pilot Attack Instructor's course. After successful completion of his training, he was employed on instructional duties for imparting Weapon Delivery techniques to pilots of fighter squadrons and luring that period there was a marked improvement in the Weapon Delivery accuracy of fighter squadrons. During the period of his assignment at the Aircrew Examining Board, he was responsible for motivating aircrew into accurate flying under diverse weather conditions.

In addition to his teaching and testing duties, he served as a Flight Commander in one of our frontline offensive air support squadrons. Thereafter, he has been in command of a premier fighter squadron for a full tenure and trained his squadron into a very effective fighting force. In recognition of his professional competence, he was posted as Deputy Director in the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection. In this capacity, he was largely responsible for standardising operational techniques in our fighter squadrons and generating flight safety consciousness without sacrificing operational advantages. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Group Captain Pillai has held an Air Staff appointment in an operational Command. In these duties, he has shown an equal amount of zeal and innovativenss in the operational planning entrusted to him. He has an excellent sense of anticipation and appreciation of air operations in general.

Group Captain Krishna Narayana Pillai has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Group Captain Palamadai Mmhuswamy Ramachandran (4973) Flying (Pilot), has been on the posted strength of Aircraft and System Testing Establishment since February, 1976. He was commissioned in the Air Force in October, 1955. His entire service has been marked with outstanding professional competence in every field of activity that he served. Whether as a test pilot, a fighter squadron commander, a pilot attack instructor or as a staff officer, his performance has always been of an extremely high order. His devotion to duty, his courage, and his dedication to the service have already won him recognition in the form of awards of the Shaurya Chakra during the Goa Operations, 1961 and Vayu Sena Medal after three years in command of a fighter squadron from 1973 to 1976.

Group Captain Ramachandran qualified as a test pilot in the Empire Test Pilot's School in the UK in 1962. Since then, he has been closely involved with a wide variety of activities affecting the evaluation and induction of new aircraft, weapons and airborne equipment for the Air Force. He has served Hindustan Aircraft Limited on deputation as Chief Test Pilot in the Kanpur Division and has actively participated in the evaluation of several transport, trainer and fighter aircraft for the Air Force. In 1976, as a Wing Commander he took charge of the Test Pilot's School at ASTE and was responsible for the conduct of the first Experimental Test Pilot's Course to be run in this country. India is one of the few countries in the world to provide this very highly specialised form of training, and much of the credit for the success of the venture, goes to the high quality of supervision and leadership exercised by Group Captain Ramachandran. In June, 1977, he took over as the Chief Test Pilot of ASTE. Since then he has been responsible for the planning, supervision and conduct of a vast number of evaluation, development and flight trials, not only for the Air Force, but also for the Research and Development Agencies and the Space Department. He has himself been an active participant in a majority of these trials which have won high praise and recognition for ASTE both within our country and in advanced aeronautical nations with whom India maintains friendly contacts. In the course of his career, Group Captain Ramachandran has flown over 3800 hours on 50 types of aircraft. Of this, over 1500 hours have been spent in testing of almost every type of fixed wing aircraft operated by the Air Force. At all times he met the exacting demands and challenges of this type of work with extreme dedication in the interests of the nation and the service.

Group Captain Palamadai Muthuswamy Ramachandran has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Group Captain Trilochan Singh, (5043), Flying (Pilot), who assumed Command of Air Force Station Hasimara on 5th September, 1977, set out on a plan to bring about all round improvement in the functioning of the Station. Besides meeting the flying task, the station achieved high standard of flight safety as well as serviceability, not only of aircraft but of all specialist and other transport vehicles. The maintenance Inspection Team from Air Headquarters were impressed by the high state of maintenance at the Station.

For his commendable skill and experience in operational flying, he was awarded Vir Chakra during Indo-Pak Conflict, 1965. He has served abroad as a Pilot Attack Instructor. He has used his flying skill and experience to train the pilots of his Station and to inspire confidence in them by frequently participating himself in the air combat and gunnery exercises. As a result, one of the supersonic squadrons from his Station achieved an overall Average Plus assessment from Directorate of Air Staff Inspection and won the Bombing Trophy in the Inter Squadron Gunnery Meet. The other Squadron at his base won the Front Gun Trophy in the same Gunnery Meet.

Under his scheme of welfare measures, he established shopping and Recreation Centres and Cinema Halls under self-financed schemes. These amenities have been adequately meeting the needs of his personnel residing at an isolated station and have helped them in keeping up their high morale.

Group Captain Trilochan Singh has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.