National Sports Awards go virtual amid pandemic

Amidst the global pandemic, the Indian National Sports Awards went virtual on Saturday as President Ramnath Kovind awarded the winners for this year. 9 Sports Authority of India centres were chosen to host the sports stars as they joined the function virtually. A total of 5 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards were given this time as Rohit Sharma who is in Abu Dhabi for IPL & Vinesh Phogat who tested positive missed the award function. Mariyappan Thangavelu, Rani Rampal and Manika Batra received the prestigious Khel Ratna as a total of 27 Arjuna Awards were also given out. The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been increased to Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh, while Arjuna Award has been enhanced to Rs 15 lakh announced Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.