Sports Minister announces massive hike in prize money of National Sports Awards
New Delhi: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday officially announced a massive hike in the prize money in four of the seven categories of the National Sports and Adventure Awards, which were given away in a virtual ceremony this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been increased to a whopping Rs 25 lakh from the previous amount of Rs 7.5 lakh, while Arjuna Award has been enhanced to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 5 lakh.
The Dhronacharya (Lifetime) awardees, who were earlier given Rs 5 lakh, will now be richer by Rs 15 lakh, while Dhronacharya (Regular) winners will be given Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.
The prize money of Dhyan Chand Award has been increased to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh. The hike will come into effect from this year.
"The prize money for the Sports Awards was last reviewed in 2008. These amounts should be reviewed once every 10 years at least. If professionals in every field have seen an enhancement in their earnings, why not our sportspersons," Rijiju said in a release.
Star cricketer Rohit Sharma, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, paddler Manika Batra and Rio Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu are part of an unprecedented five picked for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year.
Besides, a whopping 27 athletes have been chosen for the Arjuna Award, while 13 coaches will be conferred with the Dronacharya Award and 15 others have been short-listed for the Dhyan Chand honour.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
