New Delhi: The vision of 15 youngsters, aged 10-20 years, were affected due to watching the December 26 solar eclipse with naked eyes, said Kamlesh Khilnani, head of the ophthalmology department at SMS Hospital, in Jaipur.

They were being treated at the hospital OPD, their normal vision was unlikely to be restored, he added.

"Watching solar eclipse with naked eyes can result in solar retinitis. 15 such cases have been reported at the hospital. Our examination has found that a part of their retina had been burnt," he said.

He said such illness is treated by giving supportive treatment and it takes 3-6 weeks for the patient to recover partially.

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New Delhi, Oct 24: The sports ministry on Thursday announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and the introduction of the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to "rationalise" the various sporting honours of the country.

Instituted in 2002, the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand, is given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.

In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.

"The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award," said a ministry statement.

"The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.

"Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games," it added.

The last date for applying for the national sports awards for 2024 is November 14.