A statue of Colonel Santosh Babu, who died in the Chinese army attack at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, was unveiled at Suryapet by Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday.
Colonel Babu was a native of Suryapet, about 140 Km from the state capital Hyderabad.
Colonel Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar regiment, was among 20 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the fierce hand-to-hand combat on June 15 last year in the Galwan Valley, an incident that marked one of the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in decades.
The Telangana government gave ₹5 crores as ex-gratia to Santosh Babu’s family, besides a government (Group-I) job to his wife and a residential plot in Hyderabad.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had then personally visited the residence of Col Babu and offered condolences.
Colonel Babu was awarded the Mahavir Chakra posthumously.
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human being to cross into outer space in his capsule Vostok 1 as many as 60 years ago.Gagarin's spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961 and it reached back on earth on May...