Twenty-one large unnamed islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands were named after Param Vir Chakra awardees in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Parakram Diwas on Monday.

Parakram Diwas is observed on January 23 to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

The Prime Minister also unveiled the model of the National Memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to be built on ‘Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep’, earlier known as Ross Islands.

The largest unnamed island was named after the first Param Vir Chakra awardee, Major Somnath Sharma, who was martyred in action on November 3, 1947 while repulsing Pakistani infiltrators near Srinagar Airport.

The 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees, after whom the islands have been named 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 GS Salaria; Lieutenant 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 (then Rifleman) Sanjay Kumar; and Subedar Major Retd (Hony Captain) Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav.

The Prime Minister said, "Many messages are contained in the naming of the 21 islands which have got new names today. The message is of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat; this message is of the bravery of our Armed Forces." The PM further mentioned that people now come to the islands of Andaman and Nicobar to learn and live the history of India.