National Sports Awards: Manu, Gukesh among four to receive Khel Ratna from President Murmu
New Delhi (PTI): Double Olympic-medallist shooter Manu Bhaker and teenage chess world champion D Gukesh received a euphoric round of applause as they walked up to receive the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna from President Droupadi Murmu in a glittering National Sports Awards ceremony here on Friday.
The other two recipients of the country's highest sporting honour were men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Praveen Kumar when the annual honours were bestowed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
Harmanpreet was a part of the national sides that won bronze medals in the Tokyo as well as Paris Olympics. Praveen, on the other hand, upgraded his silver at the Japanese capital to a gold last year in Paris. He was born with a short left leg.
Thirty-two athletes are being honoured with the Arjuna Award out of which an unprecedented 17 are para-athletes.
The athletes selected for the Arjuna award include Paris Olympics bronze medal-winning group of wrestler Aman Sehrawat, shooters Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh and the men's hockey team players Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Sanjay and Abhishek.
The para-athletes outnumbered the able-bodied ones in the list of Arjuna winners this time due to the magnificent Paris Paralympics performance in which they returned with 29 medals, including seven gold and nine silver.
The 22-year-old Bhaker became independent India's first athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics with her bronze-winning show in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events in August last.
The 18-year-old Gukesh became the youngest world champion ever by beating China's Ding Liren last month. He is only the second India after the great Viswanathan Anand to achieve this feat.
The annual honours are decided by a points system in which the maximum emphasis is on performances delivered at the Olympics and the World Championships.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Nine killed, 8 injured in collision between tempo, minivan and stationary bus on Pune-Nashik Highway
Pune (PTI): At least nine people were killed, including a five-year-old child, and eight others were injured after a tempo collided with their minivan, forcing it to ram into a stationary bus on the Pune-Nashik Highway on Friday, a police official said.
The incident took place near Narayangaon at 9:30am, he added.
The tempo struck the minivan from behind, causing it to ram into an empty ST bus parked on the side of the road, the official said.
"The impact of the collision was so severe that nine persons died on the spot," said Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural.
Police identified the deceased as Debubai Takalkar (65), driver Vinod Rokade (50), Yuvraj Wavhal (23), Chandrakant Gunjal (50), Geeta Gaware (45), Bhau Bade (65), Najma Hanif Shaikh (35), Vashifa Inamdar (5), and Manisha Pacharne (56).
"Eight others sustained minor to moderate injuries and are undergoing treatment. Following the crash, the tempo driver fled the scene. We have registered a case against the unidentified driver of the tempo and bus driver Bhausaheb Jaybhay under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Motor Vehicles Act," a Narayangaon police station official said.
The ST bus driver has been booked since he had parked the vehicle in a dangerous manner, the official said.
Efforts are on to nab the driver of the tempo, the official added.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the incident unfortunate and announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
Vikram Bhor, sarpanch of Junnar tehsil's Kandali village, from where five of the deceased hailed, said everyone was shocked after hearing about the accident.
"Minivan driver Vinod Rokade used to operate the vehicle locally. Bhau Bade was going to Narayangaon to buy medicines. Deceased Manisha Pacharne was a Zilla Parishad school teacher. Yuvraj Wavhal, a 23 year old youth from a neighbouring village, was preparing for civil services exams," Bhor said.
The distance between Kandali and Narayagaon is 10 kilometres and people use such private vehicles on the route.
