President Pranab Mukherjee today presented the national sports awards at Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of National Sports Day. <br/><br/>Our correspondent reports that Rio Olympics Silver Medalist PV Sindhu, Bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and Shooter Jitu Rai were conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards. <br/><br/>The Award is given for the most outstanding performance by a sport sperson over a period of four years. Six coaches have been honoured with Dronacharya Awards. They include Nagapuri Ramesh for Athletics, Sagar Mal Dhayal for Boxing and Raj Kumar Sharma for Cricket. Dipa Karmakar's coach Bishweshwar Nandi also received the award. The Dronacharya Award for Lifetime contribution has been conferred on S. Pradeep Kumar for Swimming and Mahabir Singh for Wrestling. Apart from this, 15 sports persons were given Arjuna Awards. They include Olympian runner Lalita Babar, boxer Shiva Thapa and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and Rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke were given the Dhyanchand Award. <br/><br/> The day is celebrated to honor legendary hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand Singh who was born on 29th August, 1905. <br/><br/>On the eve of National Sports Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai at his residence in New Delhi. He also met the Khel Ratna awardees, Dhyan Chand awardees, Dronacharya awardees, and Tenzing Norgay awardees. Later, Mr Modi said in a tweet that every Indian is proud of these athletes. He said, a major role in the success of every athlete is the perseverance of their coaches.

President Pranab Mukherjee today gave away the national sports awards at Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of National Sports Day. Rio Olympics Silver Medalist PV Sindhu, Bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and Shooter Jitu Rai were conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards. <br/><br/>The Award is given for the most outstanding performance by a sport sperson over a period of four years. Six coaches have been honoured with Dronacharya Awards. They include Nagapuri Ramesh for Athletics, Sagar Mal Dhayal for Boxing and Raj Kumar Sharma for Cricket. Dipa Karmakar's coach Bishweshwar Nandi also received the award. <br/><br/>The Dronacharya Award for Lifetime contribution has been conferred on S. Pradeep Kumar for Swimming and Mahabir Singh for Wrestling. Apart from this, 15 sports persons were given Arjuna Awards. They include Olympian runner Lalita Babar, boxer Shiva Thapa and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. Athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and Rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke were given the Dhyanchand Award. <br/><br/> The day is celebrated to honor legendary hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand Singh who was born on 29th August, 1905. <br/><br/>On the eve of National Sports Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and Jitu Rai at his residence in New Delhi. He also met the Khel Ratna awardees, Dhyan Chand awardees, Dronacharya awardees, and Tenzing Norgay awardees. Later, Mr Modi said in a tweet that every Indian is proud of these athletes. He said, a major role in the success of every athlete is the perseverance of their coaches.