1.President Ramnath Kovind Will Give Away The National Sports Awards In New Delhi
The President of India takes this day to hand out the prestigious awards like the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Dronacharya Award to the various sportsmen who have done the country proud in that year.Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Along with world no.1 wrestler Bajrang Punia, Para-athlete Deepa Malik is also being awarded this prestigious honour.This is the first time that a female Para-athlete is being awarded the highest sporting honour.19 players have been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award that only comes second to Khel Ratna in terms of the honour.
- Tajinder Pal Singh Toor – Athletics
- Mohammed Anas Yahiya – Athletics
- S. Bhaskaran – Body- Building
- Sonia Lather – Boxing
- Ravindra Jadeja – Cricket
- Chinglensensna Singh Kanghujam – Hockey
- Ajay Thakur – Kabbadi
- Gaurav Sing – Motorsports (This is the first time that a sports personality from motorsports is being awarded Arjuna award)
- Pramod Bhagat – Para-badminton
- Anjum Moudgil – Shooting
- Harmeet Rajul Desai – Table Tennis
- Pooja Dhanda – Wrestling
- Fouaad Mirza – Equestrian
- Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – Football
- Poonam Yadav – Cricket
- Swapna Burman – Athletics
- Sunder Singh Gurjar – Para sports – Athletics
- Sai Praneeth – Badminton
- Simran Singh Shergill – Polo
- Apart from these awards, the Dronacharya Award is given to the teacher or coaches of the players. There are two categories-
- Regular category – Vimal Kumar(Badminton), Sandeep Gupta (Table Tennis) and Mohinder Singh Dhillon( Athletics)
- Life-time category – Mezban Patel(Hockey), Rambir Singh Khokar (Kabaddi) and Sanjay Bharadwaj (Cricket
- Dhyan Chand award is synonymous to the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award in sports and is the highest on the list.
- This year, the award will be given to Manuel Fredrick (Hockey), Arup Basak (Table Tennis), Manoj Kumar (Wrestling), Nitten Kirrtane (Tennis) and C. Lalremsanga (Archery).
- IPS Officer Aparna Kumar will be honoured with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018 in the ‘Land adventure’ category.
2.PM Modi Launched Nation-Wide Fit India Movement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Fit India’ Movement on sports day, saying the initiative is the need of the hour and will take the country towards a healthier future.At a colourful ceremony, which included a presentation of India’s indigenous martial art forms, dances and sports, Modi expressed technology has contributed to a sedentary lifestyle.The campaign is aimed at encouraging people to inculcate physical activity and sports in their day to day life.The launch was also attended by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and this year’s National Sports Awards winners among others.The Prime Minister also congratulated the winners of the national sports awards and lauded India’s sporting achievements.In his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme, the Prime Minister had announced the launch of ‘Fit India’ movement to take the country forward on the path of fitness and wellness.
3.Lieutenant Governor Launches ‘QR Code Scheme’ On Himmat Plus App For Women Safety And Security
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal launched a ‘QR Code Scheme’ on the Himmat Plus app which can be used by cab or auto-rickshaw passengers to verify the identity of the driver and raise an alarm, if needed.Around 3,000 taxis and auto-rickshaws plying outside airports, railway stations and metro stations in the city have been registered under this scheme of the Delhi Police Transport Range and can be verified by scanning the QR code of the card pasted on the back of the headrest of the driver’s seat.A user can scan the QR code using the Himmat Plus app. On pressing the ‘Report Journey’ button, the app sends the location with driver’s unique ID to the Himmat dashboard working at Himmat stations of the Police Head Quarters (PHQ).
4.Wing Commander S Dhami Becomes First Female Officer To Be Appointed As Flight Commander
Indian Air Force’s Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami has created history after she becomes the first female officer in the country to become the flight commander of a flying unit.Dhami has been appointed as the Flight Commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindon airbase. Flight Commander is the second in command of the unit.She is a permanent commission officer of the flying branch in the Air Force and has been flying choppers.The Wing Commander, who has clocked over 2300 hours of flying, was also the IAF’s first female Qualified Flying instructor for Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.The Ludhiyana native who has served in the IAF for 15 years was also the first woman officer to be granted permanent commission for a long tenure.This year also saw another momentous achievement after Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth become the first woman to qualify for combat missions on a fighter jet.
5.Gujarat Retains First Position In Composite Water Management Index
Gujarat has retained its first position in the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) 2.0 announced by the NITI Aayog.This is the 3rd consecutive year that the state has retained its position in water management sector.The report was released by Union Jal Shakti Minister Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr. Rajiv Kumar in New Delhi.NITI Aayog has conceptualized and launched the Composite Water Management Index as a tool to in still the sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states.It has been done through a first of its kind water data collection exercise in partnership with Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Rural Development and all the States and Union Territories.The index provides useful information for the States and also for the concerned Central Ministries or Departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
6.Indian Documentary ‘I’m Jeeja’ Wins Top Award At We Care Film Festival
Indian documentary film “I’m Jeeja” beat several international films to bag the top award in the ‘Under 30 minute’ category at the 14th edition of the ‘We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues’.The festival, touted to be one-of-its-kind international travelling film festival on disabilities, on Monday awarded a total of 10 films from nine countries.The movies focussed on stereotypes about disability and the disabled.The awards were given in categories based on the duration of the films — under five minutes, 30 minutes, and 90 minutes.“I’m Jeeja” – directed by Swati Chakraborty.Another Indian film that received that made the cut was Vicky Khandpur’s “Post Dark”. It received a jury mention in ‘Under 5 minutes’ category.The festival is co-founded by UNESCO, United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan, and a New Delhi-based NGO, Brotherhood.
7.App Launched To Help Paralympians To Look Up Accessible Places In Tokyo
A mobile app was launched to help Para-athletes to look up accessible places in Tokyo during their visit to the city for the 2020 Paralympics Games.The application — IndTokyo — which was launched by Arhan Bagati, Awareness and Impact Ambassador of Paralympic Committee of India, at the ‘Countdown to Tokyo 2020’ event here, has features like information on Para-athletes and accessible places in Tokyo among others.The 2020 Tokyo Paralympics is scheduled to begin from August 25 and will go on till September 6.Over 4,000 athletes from across the world are scheduled to participate in the event.
