On the night of 23/24 Jan 84, Corporal Hari Ram Joshi, Equipment Assistant, was on guard duty at one of the equipment depots. At about 0030 hrs he sensed some movement in the darkness near the salvage area. Without regard to his personal safety, he proceeded to the spot and found five individuals within salvage yard. He immediately sounded an alert and challenged the intruders to stop. Out of the five intruders who had entered the salvage yard to steal valuable and attractive items, three fled. Single-handed, Cpl Joshi pinned down two intruders making a bid to escape by trying to scale the compound wall. Simultaneously, he shouted for assistance from other guards in the area. It was later discovered that the intruders were hardcore criminals with a long police record.

At a considerable personal risk, Cpl Joshi displayed remarkable presence of mind and outstanding courage in challenging and preventing two hardened criminals from escaping. Till help arrived, Cpl Joshi was not unnerved by the fact that he was alone and in total darkness.

For his steadfast devotion to duty, courage and deep sense of responsibility, the President is pleased to award Vayu Seva Medal to Corporal Hari Ram Joshi.

Air Cmde Ashok Kumar, commissioned in 1960, has been an outstanding Logistics Officer. He has held important appointments in the field as well as on staff during his 32 years of service.

Air Cmde Ashok Kumar as CLMO, WAC, by his foresight and meticulous planning greatly enhanced Operational capability of the front line units which remained on alert most of the time during 1988-90. This, he achieved by timely positioning of needed spares, materials and aviation fuel at the bases, some of which were located in difficult terrain.

During Jan 90, at Srinagar, militants attacked Air Force personnel on way to their duty and killed one officer and few airmen. To provide security, 1000 DSC jawans were withdrawn from various peace stations, kitted fully with winter clothing and positioned at Srinagar at a short notice. This enormous task of kitting was completed by Air Cmde Ashok Kumar in incredibly short period of twelve hours. This achievement speaks of quick reaction capability and positive outlook of the officer.

25 ED was the first Air Force Unit to be allotted a highly advanced computer system which uses a language and environment hitherto not used in the Air Force. With his persistent efforts, as well as by motivating his team of officers, Air Cmde Ashok Kumar managed to fully utilise the computer and also brought in certain modifications to make it compatible with the Air Headquarters computer system.

For his professionalism, dedication, devotion to duty, the President is pleased to award Vishisht Seva Medal to Air Cmde Ashok Kumar.

Air Commodore Sriprumbodur Raghavan was commissioned in the Logistics branch on 10 November 62. He has held the appointment of Senior Logistics Management Officer at Eastern Air Command and been in Command of Air Force Station Faridabad. He also served a tenure on deputation to Canteen Stores Department as Deputy General Manager. He has successfully completed the Long Defence Management Course. Air Cmde Raghavan was appointed the Air Officer Commanding of a major Equipment Depot (ED) on 01 February 1993. His task was to provide effective spares support to the entire Russian fleet of the Air Force in the face of dwindling availability of spares from CIS countries. He instituted methods to identify commonalty of spares among the MiG variants, the tapping of HAL held IAF stores and analysis of the past demands and, thus, identified a large number of critical items that were later procured. He provided valuable inputs for prioritised indigenisation of spares. He identified 88 rotables, which were causing problems in the field and accordingly, the Base Repair Depots (BRDs) were tasked for rotable repairs.

The Depot was assigned the role of developing the entire inventory management package of the newly acquired Antariksh 303 Computer System. Under his able guidance and leadership, the Depot has accomplished development of certain softwares despite various teething problems. The software developed by the Depot has now been accepted as standard inventory management package.

The efforts put in by Air Cmde S Raghavan enabled the Depot to meet all its tasks and provide uninterrupted and sustained support to operational units despite severe all round constraints.

For distinguished service of high order the president is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Air Cmde Sriprumbodur Raghavan.

During his tenure at 25 ED, Air Commodore Bharucha was instrumental in upgradation of the Computer Systems. He ensured completion of software programming for the new hardware. The entire Equipment Accounting activity at the Depot is now being done with the help of computer and Audit clearance for discontinuation of manual records has been accorded.

Air Commodore Bharucha, in the course of his command, has displayed a commendable sense of dedication and sincerity of purpose. With his professional skill, specialty in the field of Computer, his forthright approach and willingness to lead from the front has enabled the Depot to ensure higher demand satisfaction and better utilisation of the available inventory.

For his dedicated efforts and exceptional leadership qualities, the President is pleased to award "Vishisht Seva Medal" to Air Commodore Rohinton Darshaw Bharucha.

Air Commodore Ajit Singh (13409) Lgs was commissioned in the IAF on 14 Jul 73. He is an alumnus of DSSC and of the illustrious National Defence College.

The officer worked on manual system of provisioning, in vogue in IAF during Mid70's. Having learnt the intricacies involved, he was chosen among the first batch of Indian Air Force Officers to undergo Computer Training in 1977. During Mid-80's, he was involved in developing and commissioning of an "On-line Inventory Manage ment System" at an Equipment Depot. From there, he was deployed on yet another automation project - to develop an on-line software for the Personnel Branch at Air HQ. Thus, Air Cmde Ajit Singh has been a pioneer in the field of Computers.

Besides such diverse and un-connected assignments, the officer has handled all possible roles of logistics functions at various levels. As a Senior Logistics Officer in the field, he looked after the logistics support function of Gwalior, the premier base of Indian Air Force. As a Command Logistics Management Officer, he was in-charge of logistics activities of an entire region, under an Operational Command of Air Force. As Director Purchase, he handled the Central Procurement process of Air HQ, primarily involving foreign vendors.

The officer has successfully commanded an Air Stores Park for over two years engaged in extending the supply and distribution logistics to Air Force bases in Western Region. He is presently commanding the biggest Equipment Depot in Indian Air Force for nearly two years now. His sharp logistics acumen and innovative approach have helped in resolving many long standing vexed issues. Functioning of depot went fully on-line, with a major thrust on Integrated Materials Management Online System (IMMOLS) which is the computerized way of undertaking logistics activities. Being computer savvy, he instilled a sense of professionalism in pers onnel, leading by example and instrumental in ushering in a new work culture. Depot got its Audit clearance within a year of his taking over the reins and is now headed for paperless working environment. His unending zeal and enthusiasm brought about a quantum impro vement in the Station which earned awards for "Best Equipment Depot" and the "Best Environment" trophies for 2006. For his distinguished service of high order, Hon'ble President is pleased to award 'Vishisht Seva Medal' to Air Commodore Ajit Singh.