Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) As many as 19 Arjuna awards will be given to sportspersons this year at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan Aug 29.

Not more than 15 Arjuna awards are given in any calendar year but keeping in view the performance of Indian athletes in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games last year, the limit was increased.

“The committee noted that Asian Games and Commonwealth Games were held in the year 2010, wherein the performance of Indian sportspersons was exceptional. Keeping this factor in view, the committee recommended that the number of Awards for 2011 may be exceeded beyond 15,” a sports ministry press release stated.

“Therefore, the committee recommended 19 sportspersons for Arjuna awards. The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has approved the recommendation of the selection committee for exceeding the number of Arjuna Awards from 15 to 19 this year,” the statement added.

Apart from Arjuna awards, the government Thursday made official the list of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, Dhyan Chand awards and Dronacharya awards for the year 2011.

Shoooter Gagan Narang has been chosen for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Cricketer Zaheer Khan, 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman, footballer Sunil Chhetri and badminton doubles player Jwala Gutta are among the prominent sportspersons to receive the Arjuna awards.

Former footballer Shabbir Ali is among the three nominated for the Dhyan Chand Awards.

Apart from a medal and a citation, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each.

List:

Khen Ratna: Gagan Narang (shooting)

Arjuna Awards: Rahul Banerjee (archery), Preeja Sreedharan (athletics), Vikas Gowda (athletics), Jwala Gutta (badminton), Suranjoy Singh (boxing), Zaheer Khan (cricket), Sunil Chhetri (football), Ashish Kumar (gymnastics), Rajpal Singh (hockey), Rakesh Kumar (kabaddi), Tejeswini Bai (kabaddi), Tejaswini Ravindra Sawant (shooting), Veerdhawal Vikram Khade (swimming), Somdev Kishore Devvarman (tennis), Sanjay Kumar (volleyball), Ravinder Singh (wrestling), Naib Subedar Katulu Ravikumar (weightlifting), Wangkhem Sandhyarani Devi (wushu), Prasantha Karamakar (swimming - paralympics)

Dronacharya Awards: Inukurthi Venkateshwara Rao (boxing), Devender Kumar Rathore (gymnastics), Ramphal (wrestling), Kuntal Roy (athletics), Rajinder Singh (hockey)

Dhyan Chand Awards: Shabbir Ali (football), Sushil Kohli (swimming), Rajkumar (wrestling)