This story is from June 02, 2022
Varun Singh
’s family received the Shaurya Chakra awarded to the ace pilot on Independence Day last year for saving a crippled Tejas jet in 2020 at great risk to his life.Varun was the lone survivor of the crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and 12 others on December 8. He died of his injuries a week later.Varun’s wife Geetanjali Singh and motherUma Singh
received the medal from President Ramnath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. His parents live in Bhopal. His father, Colonel KP Singh (retd) said, “It is a proud moment for the family, and for Bhopal. But the braveheart is not with us today.”Varun was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for saving his LCA Tejas fighter aircraft during a test sortie on October 12, 2020. A sudden loss of cockpit pressurisation at high altitude put him in a life-and-death situation. It was so serious that he was advised to eject but with ice-cool nerves and steely courage, he stayed with the crippled plane and brought it in for a safe landing.The award was announced on August 15, 2021, but the ceremony was delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
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