Centre rejects Dutee Chand, Harbhajan's award nomination

The sports ministry has rejected the nominations of sprinter Dutee Chand for Arjuna Award and cricketer Harbhajan Singh for Khel Ratna due to delays by their respective state governments in filing the nominations. The state governments filed the nominations after the deadline and in the case of Dutee Chand, her medals were also not in order of ranking, a Sports Ministry official told news agency ANI. Chand said that she met Odhisa CM Naveen Patnaik and asked him to resend her name to the Sports Ministry for consideration. She added that the CM has assured her of a positive response this time.