Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Odia athlete Purnima Hembram was conferred with the prestigious Ekalavya award for 2014 by former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja at ceremony organized here on Friday.

The award carries cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, trophy and a memento. The award was instituted by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) in 1993.

The heptathlete was selected by the jury of IMPaCT for her remarkable performance in heptathlon event of the 15th Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Sri Lanka in 2012. She had bagged gold medal for the country. Last year, she had won a silver medal in the 53rd National Open Athletics Championship at Ranchi.

Similarly, woman cricketer Roshnara Parwin and rower Manjula Xess were also felicitated with cash of Rs 50,000 and citation each at the ceremony for outstanding performance in their respective fields.

IPL chairman and MP Ranjeev Biswal and Eklavya award trustee MP Baijayant Panda were also present on the occasion.

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