26 AUGUST 2015 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Union government announces winners of Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awards for 2015

• The union government has announced the awardees for Dronacharya, Dhyan Chand, and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for the year 2015
• The awardees will receive the awards from the President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2015

        Dronacharya Award 2015

1. Naval Singh - Athletics Para-sports coach
2. Anoop Singh - Wrestling coach
3. Swatantar Raj Singh - Boxing coach
4. Nihar Ameen - Swimming coach

         Dhyan Chand 2015

1. Romeo James - Hockey
2. Shiv Prakash Mishra - Tennis
3. T.P.P. Nair - Volleyball

Dronacharya Award:
Presented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Dronacharya Award is given for excellence in sports coaching. Instituted in the year 1985, the award comprises a bronze sculpture of Dronacharya, a parchment of honour and 300,000 Rupees in cash. The first winners of the Dronacharya award were O.M. Nambiar for Athletics, Om Prakash Bhardwaj for Boxing and Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat for Wrestling

Dhyan Chand Award:

The highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games, the Dhyan Chand award is given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The award has been named after the legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand who is also known as the Wizard of Hockey. Initiated in the year 2002, the award comprises of cash prize of 500,000 Rupees, a tablet and a parchment of honour. The first honour was given to Aparna Ghosh for Basketball, Ashok Diwan for Hockey and Shahuraj Birajdar for Boxing

Census 2011: Hindus dip to below 80 per cent of population; Muslim share up, slows down 

• The percentage of Muslims in the country’s population increased 0.8 percentage points between 2001 and 2011 to 14.23% or 17.22 crore
• In the previous decade, i.e. between 1991 and 2001, their share in the total population had increased by a bigger measure or 1.73 percentage points to 13.43%
• The Census 2011 data on Population by Religious Communities, released by the Registrar General of India on Tuesday, also showed that the percentage of Hindus dipped by 0.7 percentage points (PP) in the decade 2001 to 2011, pulling it for the first time below 80%
• Hindus now constitute 79.8% of the country’s total population. In the previous decade, the proportion of Hindus in the population showed a sharper fall by 1.94 percentage points

Sushma Swaraj Meets Egyptian President, Arab League Chief

• Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday held talks on bilateral relations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and her counterpart Sameh Hassan Shoukry in Cairo
• Sushma Swaraj, who is on a two-day visit to Egypt, also met with Nabil El Araby, secretary general of the Arab League
• SushmaSwaraj calls on President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt to discuss bilateral relations
• SushmaSwaraj holds bilateral talks with Egyptian FM Sameh Hassan Shoukry
• India and Egypt had signed MoUs on scientific and technical Cooperation and tourism