India’s government is considering a rule change to allow cricket star Sachin Tendulkar to receive the country’s highest civilian award — for which sports stars are currently ineligible. “A suggestion regarding modification in the existing eligibility norms has been received and is under consideration,” junior home minister Mullappally Ramachandran told the parliament. There have been growing calls in recent years to confer the “Bharat Ratna” (Jewel of India) award on the Tendulkar, the world’s most successful batsman. The criteria for recipients, formulated in 1955, limits the award to “exceptional services in arts, literature and science, and in recognition of public services of the highest order.”
