Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday name 21 largest islands of Andaman & Nicobar after 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees when he would participate in a ceremony by video conference.

During the ceremony, the Prime Minister will also unveil the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji to be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep.

Keeping in mind the historic significance of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and to honour the memory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ross Islands was renamed as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep by the Prime Minister during his visit to the Island in 2018.

Neil Island and Havelock Island were also renamed as Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep.

Giving due respect to real-life heroes of the country has always been accorded the highest priority by the Prime Minister. Going ahead with this spirit, it has been decided to name the 21 largest unnamed islands of the island group after the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees.

The Param Vir Chakra is India’s highest military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime.

The largest unnamed island will be named after the first Param Vir Chakra awardee, the second largest unnamed island will be named after the second Param Vir Chakra awardee, and so on.

This step will be an everlasting tribute to the heroes, several of whom had made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

The 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees whose names will be given to the islands are Major Somnath Sharma; Subedar and Hony Captain (then Lance Naik)  Karam Singh, MM; 2nd Lt. Rama Raghoba Rane; Nayak Jadunath Singh; Company Havildar Major Piru Singh; Capt G S Salaria; Lt. Colonel (then Major) Dhan Singh Thapa; Subedar Joginder Singh; Major Shaitan Singh; CQMH. Abdul Hamid; Lt Col Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore; Lance Naik Albert Ekka; Major Hoshiar Singh; 2nd Lt. Arun Khetrapal; Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon; Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran; Naib Subedar Bana Singh; Captain Vikram Batra; Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey; Subedar Major (the RifleMan) Sanjay Kumar; and Subedar Major Retd (Hony Captain) Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav.