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Gallantry awards

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Updated At : 08:17 PM May 06, 2025 IST

ASHOKA CHAKRA: INDIA’S HIGHEST PEACETIME MILITARY DECORATION

What is the Ashoka Chakra?

The Ashoka Chakra is India’s highest peacetime military decoration, awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra.

Key facts

Award criteria: The Ashoka Chakra recognises exceptional bravery or self-sacrifice in non-combat situations.

Recipients: As of 2021, the medal has been awarded to 86 individuals, including 68 posthumous recipients.

Design: The medal features the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka surrounded by a lotus wreath.

History

The Ashoka Chakra was established on January 4, 1952, as the “Ashoka Chakra, Class I”.

In 1967, the decoration was removed from the class-based system and renamed as the Ashoka Chakra.

Notable aspects

The Ashoka Chakra can be awarded to both military and civilian personnel.

Recipients receive a monthly stipend.

Did you know?

The Ashoka Chakra’s design features a blank centre, intended for engraving details of the award.

The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees.

The Tribune, the largest selling English daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the newspaper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.

The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).

Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia

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