Citations of Award Winners -Achievement of the Year Award
2020-08-13,
Dear Alumni
The following are the citations of Achievement of the Year Award -2020
Citations of Lifetime Achievement Award Winners are available in respective sub-sections under OBA Awards
ROLL NO 1559 COMMODORE MP ANIL KUMAR, IN
Roll No 1559 MP Anil Kumar of the 1985 Batch was popularly known as the ‘Scientist’ in school. He joined the 72 NDA Course. On commission in 1988, he was the Silver Medallist in the Midshipmen Board, and stood First in Communications or Long 'C'. He commanded INS Ajay, INS Gharial, INS Rajput, and INS Ranjit. A graduate of DSSC and NDU (Beijing), he has an MPhil and MSc in Defence & Strategic Studies, besides an MSc in Telecommunications, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Software Technology. He holds four Global Information Assurance Certifications (GIAC) in Advanced Network Pen-testing, Malware Reverse Engineering, Exploit Research, and Industrial Control Systems Security. He is also an Offensive Security Certified Professional as well as a Cyber Information Systems Security Professional.
He was the Principal Director, Network Centric Operations at NHQ from 2011-12, and Principal Director, Information Warfare at NHQ from 2014-20, an extraordinary duration of tenure. He had the distinction of holding three crucial appointments concurrently — he also served as Chief Information Security Officer from 2015-20, and Deputy Director General, Navy Cyber Group from 2018-20. Presently, Commodore MP Anil Kumar is posted as Commodore, Safety at Kochi. He engineered three major computer applications — namely 'Columbus' for Astro Navigation; the 'Sangram' Wargaming Suite in 2004, used by the Myanmar Navy, besides Indian Navy; and 'Hurricane' software radio modem used by ships and aircraft for data transfer at sea. Also part of the team that developed 'Trigun' Maritime Domain Awareness application in 2005, he made hardware drivers and software for interfacing with onboard equipment/DRDO's crypto hardware and all network security modules.
He was awarded the Commander-in-Chief Commendation in 1995, Chief of Naval Staff Commendation in 1996, and Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) in 2020 for planning and ensuring cybersecurity across the Indian Navy. To his credit, Indian Navy has faced no cyber breach since 2015.
CITATION
The Old Boys Association of Sainik School Kazhakootam awards the Late Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar Achievement of the Year Award for 2019-20 to Roll No 1559 Commodore MP Anil Kumar, IN NM for his exceptional contributions in the field of Cyber Operations and Security to the Indian Navy, and being awarded the Nao Sena Medal in 2020.
ROLL NO 2528 CAPTAIN K NIRMAL RAGHU, IN
Roll No 2528 Nirmal Raghu of the 1995 Batch, an all-rounder, was a winner of recitation and declamation competitions, a medallist in athletics, and a green card holder. He represented the School in Hockey and Inter-School Debates, and was editor of the School Magazine. He was awarded the Radha Mohan Naresh Trophy for the best House Captain in 12th std.
While at the NDA, he captained the NDA Hockey team and won medals in Hockey and Sailing. Commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2000, he stood first in Low Frequency and Analysis recording Course at Anti-Submarine Warfare School, Kochi and in Advanced Low Frequency and Analysis Recording (LOFAR) Course at St Mandrier, France. He was chosen as the first LOFAR Instructor of Anti-Submarine Warfare School. Handpicked to the commissioning crew for INS Betwa, he held appointments on INS Brahmaputra, Naval Operations Data Processing and Analysis Centre, and the NDA. He is a recipient of the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command Commendation in 2004, Chief of Naval Staff Commendation in 2012, and Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee Commendation in 2016. He is presently the Principal, Sainik School, Amaravathinagar.
Captain Nirmal Raghu was selected to undertake the project of ‘Enhancement of Academic Qualification and Threshold of NDA Cadets’, a part of Government of India’s requirement to enhance the technical threshold of the officer cadre—as recommended by the Kargil Review Committee. The officer single-handedly shouldered this critical endeavour with hard work and perseverance, and accomplished it in a short time frame, ensuring the successful commencement and conduct of the BTech programme for the first time in the history of NDA. This task accomplished by the officer singularly would have ideally necessitated a team of officers and support staff to work on diverse actions concurrently for the timely accomplishment of the initiative. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in January 2020.
CITATION
The Old Boys Association of Sainik School Kazhakootam awards the Late Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar Achievement of the Year Award for 2019-20 to Roll No 2528 Captain K Nirmal Raghu, IN, VSM for his outstanding achievements in the profession of arms, and being awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2020.
Dr Pratheesh PT (3035/99)
Roll No 3035 Pratheesh PT of the 1999 Batch was an excellent sportsman while at School — active in football, hockey, cricket with proven track records in athletics and cross country races. He was part of the Nehru house that won the hat-trick Cock House trophy from 1995 to 1997. He also displayed his ample talents in arts and extracurricular activities while at school.
He graduated in Biotechnology from the University of Kerala. He did his post-graduation in Biotechnology from Mahatma Gandhi University, where he was the college topper and achieved the fourth position at the university level. He was also a member of the college football, hockey, and cricket teams. Besides an M.Phil. in Biosciences, an M.B.A. in Marketing Management, he is also the recipient of a PhD from the Mahatma Gandhi University in 2013. He was also awarded the Post-Doctoral Fellowships of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) from 2017-19. He is currently the Head, Department of Biochemistry, Nehru Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He has won several best paper and poster presentation awards in national and international conferences, and has authored 15 international and national research publications in reputed peer-reviewed journals. The edible subunit vaccine developed during his post-doctoral research work was found to be efficient and cost-effective for poultry farmers.
Dr Pratheesh was awarded the 2019 WVPA-Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation in Vaccination Award for the best avian health scientist by the World Veterinary and Poultry Association in Bangkok, Thailand. This award was launched in 2015 and conferred at each global WVPA Congress to a poultry veterinarian or avian health scientist for an outstanding contribution in the field of innovation in poultry vaccination. This is the first time that an Indian scientist won the award.
CITATION
The Old Boys Association of Sainik School Kazhakootam awards the Late Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar Achievement of the Year Award for 2019-20 to Roll No 3035 Dr Pratheesh PT for his outstanding contributions in the field of Veterinary Sciences and the stellar distinction of being awarded the 2019 WVPA-Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation in Vaccination Award.
Major Rahul Balamohan, SM (4189/06)
Roll No 4189 Rahul Balamohan of the 2006 Batch secured the first rank in the Sainik School Entrance Examination for Class 9 in 2002. He was a member of the School Basketball team which won the South Zone Inter Sainik School Championship and also participated in the Inter-Zonal Championship. While at NDA, he was a member of the Academy Basketball team. He was commissioned into 9th Battalion the MAHAR Regiment and had been a command-level player in Volleyball and Basketball. He was an Instructor Class B at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow, and also adjudged the Best Student in the Junior Command Course.
On 11 June 2019, Major Rahul Balamohan was commanding the Frisal Company Operating Base in the First Battalion Rashtriya Rifles,when he got actionable intelligence about a group of terrorists holed up in a house. Displaying exceptional tactical acumen, he strengthened the cordon and blocked all escape routes for the terrorists.Rahul Balamohan showed impeccable courage and excellent fieldcraft skills in clearing and occupying the firebase, amidst heavy fire from the terrorists, which facilitated close reconnaissance of the target house. Suddenly, terrorists started firing indiscriminately towards the firebase to break the cordon. On spotting a terrorist trying to escape, the officer displayed raw courageand presence of mind in directing small-arms fire towards the fleeing terrorist, thus neutralising him on the spot. This timely action resulted in the elimination of Shakir Khalil Wagay, a Category C militant affiliated to the Islamic State in Jammu & Kashmir.
Major Rahul Balamohan displayed indomitable courage, exceptional professionalism, tactical acumen, sane presence of mind, and acted as a role model for teams to show courage under fire, which helped in the elimination of a hardcore terrorist. For this act of bravery, he was awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry) in 2020.
CITATION
The Old Boys Association of Sainik School Kazhakootam awards the Late Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar Achievement of the Year Award for 2019-20 to Roll No 4189 Major Rahul Balamohan, SM for his outstanding bravery and exceptional qualities of leadership displayed during the J&K counter-terrorist operations, and for being awarded the Sena Medal (Gallantry), thereby bringing honour and glory to the School.
Captain Unni Mohan (4396/11)
Roll No 4396 Unni Mohan of the 2011 Batch represented the school in football, cricket, and volleyball. He won the gold medal in the inter-house chess championship, and also participated in debates and essay competitions. He led the school Malayalam drama team, which won the second prize at the Colosseum Cultural Fest.
Having joined the 126 NDA Course, he was the Vice-Captain of the Academy Hockey team which won the coveted Sabhiki Cup. He was awarded a Half Blue in Hockey and a Merit Card in Football. While at IMA, he was again a member of the Hockey Team which won the Sabhiki Cup, and was awarded the General Sundarji Trophy for being first in order of merit among commissions into the Mechanised Infantry and Brigade of the Guards. Commissioned into 7 GUARDS, Unni Mohan was the 'Best Student' in the Young Officers Course at the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre, and later, was adjudged the Best Officer in Tactics in both Armoured and Mechanised at Armoured Corps Centre and School. He also won a Medal of Excellence in Tactics at Infantry School Mhow during the Infantry Young Officers Course. He led the Southern Command Scout Masters team and was adjudged the Best Officer at the Pan Army Scout Masters Competition in 2018, and was selected to lead the Indian Army Scout Masters team.
The Scout Masters Competition is considered the most difficult of all 32 competitions conducted as part of the International Army Games. Eight countries, including India, participated in 2019. As the team leader, Unni Mohan led the Indian Army Scout Masters team to the First Position, India's first-ever Gold medal at the International Army Games, and was adjudged the Best Scout Commander. He was also awarded the GOC-in-C Commendation Card and the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card in 2019.
CITATION
The Old Boys Association of Sainik School Kazhakootam awards the Late Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar Achievement of the Year Award for 2019-20 to Roll No 4396 Captain Unni Mohan for his outstanding leadership that led to the Indian Army Scout Team winning the Gold Medal in the Scout Masters Competition in the International Army Games, thereby bringing honour and glory to the country and the school.