Viswanathan Anand was 1st recipient of Khel Ratna
Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand was the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour. Anand, who was conferred the honour in 1991, became India's first Grandmaster in 1988. Notably, Olympic medalists PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, along with shooter Jitu Rai and gymnast Dipa Karmakar will be awarded the Khel Ratna on August 29.