The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one of the characters of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata of ancient India. He is the main protagonist of the epic. He is considered one of the greatest warriors of ancient India after Rama and Parshurama. In Hinduism, he has been seen as a symbol of hard work, dedication and concentration. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Before the introduction of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 1991–1992, the Arjuna award was the highest sporting honour of India. The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, the state and the union territory governments and the Major Dhyan Chandra Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhyan Chand and Dronacharya awardees of the previous years. The recipients are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and are honoured for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at the international level and for having shown "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline." As of 2020, the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Arjuna, certificate, ceremonial dress, and a cash prize of ₹15 lakh (US$19,000)."
Diana Fram Edulji is a former Indian Test cricketer. Born in Mumbai to a Parsi family, she was drawn to sports at an early age. She grew up playing cricket with a tennis ball in the railway colony where she lived. She then went on to play basketball and table tennis at the junior national level, before migrating to cricket. At a cricket camp hosted by former Test cricketer Lala Amarnath, she honed her skills. At that time women's cricket was becoming more popular in India. Diana then went on to play for the Railways and then the Indian national cricket team where she was a successful slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She played her first series in 1975. In 1978 she was made the captain of the team. She remains the third highest wicket taker in Tests.
Puri is an Indian surname from the Khatri community of Punjab.
Mouma Das is an Indian table tennis player. Born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal, she has represented India in international events since the early 2000s. Das has won multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games including a gold in the Women's Team Competition in 2018. She was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting honour in 2013 for her contributions to the sport.
Nirupama Mankad is a former Indian tennis player. She is the first Indian woman in the modern era to play at a main draw of a Grand Slam.
Kamlesh Navichandra Mehta is an Indian retired table tennis player. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed him as the national observer for table tennis.
St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, established in 1924, is one of the oldest schools in Assam, India. It is situated in M.C. Road, Guwahati. The school is affiliated to Secondary Education Board of Assam. Sr. Tessy Davis is the current principal.
Indu Puri is a former Indian international female Table tennis sportsperson in the 1970s and 1980s. She won the National women's singles title a record eight times. Her highest rankings have been: international 63 (1985), Asian 8, and Commonwealth (2), she was the first Indian woman to beat a world champion, beating Pak Yung-Sun of North Korea in the 1978 Asian Table Tennis Championships at Kuala Lumpur.
Ankita Das is an Indian table tennis player from Siliguri, West Bengal. She participated in World Championship and reached quarter-finals.
Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel is an Indian parathlete and table tennis player from Mehsana, Gujarat. She won a silver medal in Class 4 Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
Bhogeswar Baruah is an Indian former-athlete and coach. He was one of the first Assamese to win gold at an international event, winning a He gold medal in an 800-metre running event of at the 1966 Asian Games. He also won a silver medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay in the 1970 Asian games. He is a recipient of the Arjuna Award and is the first Assamese to obtain the Arjuna award.
Amalraj Anthony Arputharaj is a professional table tennis player from Tamil Nadu India. He won silver medal at 2014 Commonwealth Games in doubles with Sharath Kamal.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is an Indian table tennis player, who is the highest ranked Indian, currently ranked at 37 in the world as of September 2022. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back Gold medals in 2018 & 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Manika Batra is an Indian table tennis player. As of November 2020, she is the top-ranked female table tennis player in India and ranked 50th in the world as of March 2022. She was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2020.
Harmeet Desai is an Indian table tennis player. He is currently ranked 71 in the world as of August 2021. He is from Surat. In 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, He won gold in men's team event with Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran & Sanil Shetty and bronze in Men's doubles event with Sanil Shetty. Harmeet Desai won the men's singles title at Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships 2019 at Cuttak,India defeated favorite Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in a hard-fought final to claim the men's singles title. He has been honoured with the Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in 2019.
Mantu Ghosh is an Indian former table tennis player from West Bengal. As a two-time national champion, Ghosh is now the coach of India's table tennis women's team and a sports administrator after previously working in different capacities at the state and the national level. She was featured in the Limca Book of Records for becoming India's youngest national table tennis champion in 1990 at age 16. In 2002, her achievements were recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Government of India, which awarded her the Arjuna Award.
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