Khel Ratna Award renaming earns praise and brickbats

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the nation's highest sporting honour, would henceforth be called Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. While the move was widely welcomed across sporting circles and social media, it was also criticized by Opposition parties. Congress slammed the renaming as "petty and vindictive" while the Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant said honouring sportspersons shouldn't be politicized.