National Sports awards held 'Virtually' amidst covid pandemic

29 Aug 2020 02:45 PM

The National Sports Awards was conducted virtually on Saturday for the first time in history due to Covid-19. Sixty five awardees attended the ceremony online from various parts of India. The awards were conferred on these star players by President Ram Nath Kovind.



Five athletes - cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, para-athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu, women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal, and paddler Manika Batra – were on Saturday conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country’s highest honour for sportspersons. 


Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday announced an enhancement in the prize money in four of the seven categories of the National Sports Awards. Rijiju made this announcement on the occasion of the 115th birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand, which is also celebrated as National Sports Day. The details of the enhanced Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award are given below. 



AWARDS NEW             OLD 

Khel Ratna Award Rs. 25 Lakhs Rs. 7.5 Lakhs

Arjuna Award Rs. 15 Lakhs Rs. 5 Lakhs

Dhronacharya Rs. 10 Lakhs Rs. 5 Lakhs

Dhyanchand Award Rs. 10 Lakhs Rs. 5 Lakhs


The award winners were connected to President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan from nine different Sports Authority of India-designated locations. Rohit Sharma, who is in the UAE for IPL 2020, could not attend the virtual ceremony as the process only allowed the ones currently in the country to take part.



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