National Sports Awards to be held virtually

In view of the ongoing lockdown, the President Ram Nath Kovind will virtually announce the names of the winners of the national sports awards on 29th August, which is celebrated as National Sports Day every year.

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The recipients will only be able to join the award ceremony from their respective home states due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Within a day or two, the final proforma of how the virtual award ceremony will take place will be decided. This consensus decision to hold the ceremony virtually has been taken after a series of extensive meetings between the Sports Ministry officials and President’s office over the last couple of weeks. Everyone in the meeting felt that planning an award ceremony, like it’s done every other year, in 2020 will be very complicated.

National Sports Awards

Introduced in the year 1976, the National Sports Awards include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Arjuna award, Dronacharya award, the Dhyan Chand Award, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar Award for the year 2020.

Selection Committee

Selection of the awardees for the Khel Ratna Award Arjuna awards and all the other category of awards involves a committee constituted by the Sports Ministry. Retired Justice of Supreme Court, Justice Mukundakam Sharma is the Chairperson of the Committee. Other popular names among the list are, Former hockey captain Sardar Singh and Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag alongside Paralympic committee of India President Deepa Malik and Table Tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta and few other names of sports journalists and commentators.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2020