Rajnath Singh reaches out to Oppn for building consensus on Speaker's name
New Delhi (PTI): Union minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday led the ruling National Democratic Alliance's efforts in reaching out to opposition parties to build a consensus on the choice for the Lok Sabha Speaker.
The NDA candidate for the key parliamentary position will file his nomination on Tuesday, the day scheduled for the process.
Sources said the senior BJP leader spoke to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Stalin among other opposition leaders in efforts to build a consensus.
They said that nomination could be filed for the deputy speaker's position too, but added it will depend on various factors, including the opposition's stand.
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Dhyan Chand lifetime award to be replaced by Arjuna lifetime
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.
