Badminton ace Saina Nehwal, whose phenomenal rise was highlighted by three top-flight international titles recently, was on Sunday conferred the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi.
Sania Mirza's was officially named for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Friday. The Hyderabadi lady is only the second tennis player to be nominated for the country's highest sport honour.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the awards selection committee.
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
Sania Mirza was recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Tuesday. She is only the second tennis player ever to be named for the country's highest sporting honour.
In 2021, the Centre renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. But many wonder, why despite the public sentiment the country's highest civilian honour continues to elude the man who put Indian hockey on the world map.
President Pranab Mukherjee presents the national awards to outstanding sportspersons at Rashtrapati Bhawan, in New Delhi.
The committee also picked 19 sportspersons for the Arjuna Award, including the likes of cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, track and field stars Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas and Swapna Barman.
Women's cricketer Anju Jain is among the awardees, while none of her popular male counterparts were nominated.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will get special honours during the annual BCCI Awards Ceremony scheduled in Mumbai on February 18.
Ferreira will head the committee for the Dronacharya Award, Ahluwalia be in charge of the one that will select sportspersons for the Arjuna and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards.
The Indian Cricket board has recommended former Test skipper Chandu Borde's name for the prestigious Dhyan Chand award.
Have your say on the latest controversy on the country's prestigious sports awards.
The process to pick this year's national sports awards has been delayed because of the nation-wide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic and the applications will be invited next month, a Sports Ministry official said. The ministry generally invites the nominations for the awards in April while the ceremony to confer them is held on August 29 on the occasion of National Sports Day celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.
To avoid any controversy on the criteria for the Arjuna award, the Sports Ministry on Friday granted 90 per cent weightage to medal winners at various international championships and sports disciplines covered in the Olympics (Summer, Winter and Paralympics), Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The guidelines, released by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, will be applicable from 2014.
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand said the Arjuna Award will motivate her to win a prestigious Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games next year.
India cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar was conferred with the Bharat Ratna by President Pranad Mukherjee at a ceremony in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Ministry has invited only e-mail applications this year due to the pandemic.
In a bid to ensure that Olympic medallists get immediate recognition, the Sports Ministry said medal winners from the upcoming Rio Games will be considered for this year's Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.
Rajiv Khel Ratna award winner Beenamol's accomplishments in athletics spurred development in her native village.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has recommended young batsman Virat Kohli for the prestigious Arjuna award and former captain Sunil Gavaskar for the Dhyanchand lifetime achievement honour.
Images from the Arjuna Awards presentation at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.
Embarrassed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's failure to turn up for the Padma Shri awards last Wednesday, the government issued a notification saying National sports awards, like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhronacharya and Dhyanchand, will be withdrawn if the recipient is absent from the ceremony without intimation.
Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, India's women's cricket captain Jhulan Goswami and boxer Dinesh Kumar are among the top sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna award, in recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last year. The National sports awards (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand) selection committee, headed by P T Usha, met in Delhi on Friday and finalised the list of awardees.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India nominated prolific run scorer Cheteshwar Pujara for the prestigious Arjuna award, acknowledging his stupendous show during the last Test season for India.
Deepti is one of the 27 athletes who will be getting the Arjuna Award on August 29 this year.
On August 29, India celebrates National Sports Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand.
Amidst controversies, the National Sports Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and multiple world champion cueist Pankaj Advani were presented with the country's third-highest civilian award -- the Padma Bhushan
Former India cricket captain Rav Shastri rejected criticism for not attending the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards committee meeting, saying that he was never informed by the Sports Ministry about it.
Former all-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand has been honoured with all major sports awards - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dronacharya. His experience taught him a lot and today, he coaches badminton champ Saina Nehwal. Gopichand tells Urmila Rao of Careers 360, how his career took shape.
Sports Minister Vikram Verma said old policies will be followed while electing sportspersons for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.
Four-time world champion women boxer MC Mary Kom is miffed at the poor accommodation provided by the organisers of the ongoing 10th Senior Women's National Boxing championship at J R D Tata sports complex in Jamshedpur.
India's ace sprinter Dutee Chand qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in both 100m and 200m races via the world rankings quota on Wednesday.
Yuvraj Singh jokingly said he and Paes could become a good retired doubles partner if the former is looking for one.
Rohit was recently announced as one of the winners of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour.
Verma wins compound individual gold, opens tally for India.
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