NEWS – Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 announced

HIGHLIGHTS

• Purpose: The highest sporting honor in India for outstanding performance in sports at the international level.
• Instituted: 1991-1992 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Eligibility: Spectacular achievements in international events over the preceding four years.

KEY RECIPIENTS FOR 2024

Manu Bhaker

• Accomplishments: Double Olympic medal-winning shooter.
• Highlight: Selected after controversy over the absence of an application for her name.

D Gukesh

• Accomplishments:
  • World Chess Champion at 18.
  • Led India to gold in the Chess Olympiad.

Harmanpreet Singh

• Role: Captain of the Indian men’s hockey team.
• Accomplishments: Guided the team to a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Praveen Kumar

• Sport: Para-athlete (High Jump).
• Achievement:
  • T64 Champion at the Paris Paralympics.
  • Competes with prosthetic support for missing legs below the knee.

AWARD CRITERIA AND BENEFITS

Criteria

• Performance in Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth, or World Games.
• Equivalent international tournaments.
• Exclusion for doping or WADA investigations.

General Conditions

• Only one award annually (exceptions possible).
• Can be awarded posthumously.
• Cancellation possible for violations such as doping.

Benefits

• ₹25,00,000 cash prize (tax-exempt).
• Certificate of honor.
• Medal.

ARJUNA AWARDS 2024

Highlights

• Total Awardees: 32, including 17 para-athletes.
• Lifetime Awards:
  • Sucha Singh (Athletics).
  • Murlikant R Petkar (Para-swimming).

Notable Arjuna Award Recipients

• Wrestling: Aman Sehrawat.
• Shooting: Swapnil Kusale, Sarabjot Singh.
• Hockey: Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Sanjay, Abhishek.
• Para-athletics:
  • Dharambir (Club Throw).
  • Navdeep Singh (Javelin).
  • Nitesh Kumar (Para Badminton).

DRONACHARYA AWARDS 2024

Lifetime Awards

• Badminton Coach: S Muralidharan.
• Football Coach: Armando Agnelo Colaco.

Regular Awards

• Shooting Coach: Deepali Deshpande.
• Hockey Coach: Sandeep Sangwan.
• Para-shooting Coach: Subhash Rana.