look news india
Ahmedabad, July 17 (HS). Group Captain N. Manish, Defence Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Gujarat and spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), retired from service on 15 July 2024, leaving behind a legacy of leadership and excellence after a distinguished career spanning over 26 years. The officer was born in Delhi and after schooling, he was selected for the prestigious National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla, Pune. After successfully completing his training at the Air Force Academy, he was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 20 December 1997. During his service, he has flown aircraft such as MiG-21 Type-75, MiG-21 Type-77, Iskara, Kiran, HPT-32 and various variants of the Canberra fighter/bomber. Not only this, he is also proficient in various types of surface-to-air guided weapons such as Akash, MRSAM and Russian origin Pechora missile systems.
Group Captain Manish has commanded one of the largest fighter squadrons of the IAF from 2016 to 2018. He has also served as Joint Director in the most prestigious Directorate of Intelligence, Air Headquarters, Delhi. During this tenure, he undertook official foreign visits to Central Europe (Czech Republic) and Thailand and gained rich operational insights about other armed forces of the world there. In his last tenure before voluntary retirement, he held an appointment as Defence PRO and Ministry of Defence spokesperson for Gujarat and adjoining Union Territories of Daman and Diu as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli. As Defence PRO of Gujarat, the officer successfully organised the 12th edition of 'Defence Expo-2022' at Gandhinagar where over 1000 Indian and international defence companies exhibited and over 450 MoUs were signed. He also played a key role in the smooth conduct of Aero India-2023 held at Bengaluru. The officer represented India in the first international exercise, Veer Guardian, in Japan after India assumed the Presidency of G-20 in December 2022. During this, best practices were exchanged between the two countries. As a result of the dedicated efforts of this officer, the exercise got a lot of attention and publicity not only in India but across the world. The proud parents of this officer, S. Nagarajan and Janaki Nagarajan have dedicated both their sons to the service of the country. Their younger son Commander N. Nishant is a serving officer in the Indian Navy and is posted at Naval Headquarters in Delhi. Janaki Nagarajan has also served as a Defence Civilian at Air Headquarters in Delhi and Nagarajan in the Cabinet Secretariat. Group Captain N Manish is married to Janaki Manish and they have been married for over 23 years. Janaki Manish has done post graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication and is a certified life coach. The couple's daughter Meenakshi Manish is pursuing 5th year Integrated Bachelor of Laws and son Surya Manish is a student of Delhi Public School, Gandhinagar.