Saina Nehwal conferred Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

NEW DELHI - Indian ace shuttler and World No.2 Saina Nehwal was conferred upon with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award here on Sunday for her sterling performance in Badminton this year.

Saina, however, could not attend the function due to her sports engagements abroad, as President Patil gave away Sports and Adventure Awards during a special ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan here today.

Satish Pillai (Athletics), Kuldeep Singh (Wrestling) and Anita Chanu (Weightlifting) were conferred Dhyan Chand Awards for the year 2010, for their contribution to sports by their performance and efforts to promote the sports.

The award carries a statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs.500,000 each.

President Patil also gave away Dronacharya Awards for this year to A.K. Kutty (Athletics), Subhash B. Aggarwal (Billiards and Snooker), L. Ibomcha Singh (Boxing), Ajay Kumar Bansal (Hockey) and Captain Chandrup (Wrestling) in recognition of their meritorious achievements in the field of coaching.

The award carries a statuettes, citations and enhanced cash prize of Rs. 500,000 each.

Joseph Abraham (Athletics), Ms. Krishna Poonia (Athletics), Dinesh Kumar (Boxing), Parimrajan Negi (Chess), Jhulan Goswami (Cricket Women), Deepak Kumar Mandal (Football), Sandeep Singh (Hockey (Men), Dinesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Sanjeev Rajput (Shooting), Rehan Jehangir Poncha (Swimming), Kapil Dev K.J. (Volleyball), Rajeev Tomar (Wrestling), Rajesh Chaudhary (Yachting) and Jagseer Singh (Paralympic Athletics) were conferred Arjuna Awards for the year 2010, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the respective field of sports.

Besides, Jasjeet Kaur Handa (Hockey Women) also an Arjun Awardee, could not attend today’s ceremony as she is currently abroad participating in an international tournament.

The Award carries a statuettes, citations and enhanced cash prize of Rs. 500,000 each.

The Services Sports Control Board was conferred upon Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar Award for the year 2010, under the category of Community Sports Identification and Nurturing of Budding Young Talent.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony received this Award.

To recognize, the contribution made to sports development by entities other than sportspersons and coaches, the Government instituted the new award “Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar” last year.

The Khel Evam Yuva Kalyan Vibhag, Government of Madhya Pradesh also received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for Establishment and Management of Sports Academies of Excellence.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan received this award.

The Award was also conferred upon the Services Sports Control Board for Employment of sportsperson and sports welfare measures. The same Award was also conferred upon Tata Steel Limited for Financial Support for Sports Excellence. The Award carries a trophy and citation.

As a result of switchover to current year format, two universities were selected for Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA).

For the year 2008-09 , Punjabi University, Patiala has been awarded Trophy while Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has been awarded for the year 2009-10.

Both the universities received a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh each and Rolling Trophy along with a small replica of the MAKA Trophy for retention by the Universities.

The President also conferred Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards for the year 2009 to recognize the contribution and performance of the awardees in the field of adventure sports.

Ms. Chandraprabha Aitwal was given Lifetime Achievement Award. HC Kamlesh Kumar Bounthiyal for Land Adventure, Wg. Com. Jai Kishan for Air Adventure and Sufyan Sheikh for Water Adventure were also awarded.

The award carries cash prize of Rs. 500,000 and Bronze Statuette along with a citation.

The function was attended by several Union Ministers including the Defence Minister A.K. Antony, the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. M.S. Gill, the Minister of Tribal Affairs, Kanti Lal Bhuria, the Minister of New and Renewable Energy Resources, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Parkashbapu Patil, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, and several eminent sports personalities. (ANI)