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In recognition of their outstanding contributions to Indian literary life, Amar Ujala will confer its highest 'Shabd Samman for 2025', the Akashdeep Award to eminent Hindi short-story writer Mamta Kalia in the Hindi category and renowned Manipuri author Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi, honoured in the non-Hindi Indian languages category.
As the United Nations designated 1975 as the International Women's Year, 2025 marked its Golden Jubilee, whereas 2026 has been dedicated by the UN to women's contributions to agriculture. In this light, honouring these two women creators lends the award a special distinction. The honour includes a cash prize of Rs 5,00,000 each, a citation, and a Ganga sculpture as a symbol, states a press release. Born on January 1, 1957, Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi is known for her exceptional contribution to Manipuri through her prolific writing on postcolonial thoughts and women's identity. She also gained recognition for her focused work on Meitei myths and for a powerful voice in the contemporary Manipuri literary landscape. Mamta Kalia, who was born on November 2, 1940, has been selected for the highest Hindi honour - the Akashdeep Award. Having carved her way through writing amid the early waves of feminism, Mamta Kalia has produced more than a dozen notable works and is known for giving a strong voice to the complexities of the middle class and the struggle for women's identity. According to the press release, many other languages, including Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Malayalam, and Gujarati, were previously honoured, while Manipuri has been chosen this year. Among non-Hindi Indian languages, recipients have included Girish Karnad, Bhalchandra Nemade, Shankha Ghosh, Pratibha Ray, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, and Sitanshu Yashaschandra; in Hindi, Namvar Singh, Gyanranjan, Vishwanath Tripathi, Shekhar Joshi, Vinod Kumar Shukla, and Govind Mishra have received the Akashdeep Award. 'Shabh Samman' was launched in 2018 by the Amar Ujala Foundation against the backdrop of the collective dream of Indian languages, with the Akashdeep Award conferred to one distinguished litterateur each from Hindi and another Indian language. The best works of the year are also honoured, including the Bhasha-Bandhu Translation Award, which highlights inter-linguistic collaboration. For this year, the best Hindi works to be awarded under the Amar Ujala Shabh Samman - 25 are as follows: 1. Savita Singh's 'Vaasna Ek Nadi Ka Naam Hai' (Desire Is the Name of a River) - Best Work in the 'Chhap' (Poetry) category 2. Naish Hasan's 'Mutah' - Non-Fiction category 3. Shahadat's short-story collection 'Curfew Ki Raat' (The Night of the Curfew) - Best Work Award in the Fiction category 4. Sujata Shiven for the Hindi translation of 'Charu Chivar aur Charya' (original Odia work by Pradeep Dash) - Bhasha-Bandhu Award 5. Manish Yadav for 'Sudhaargrih Ki Malikainen' (The Women Who Run the Reformatory) - 'Thaap' Award, for an author's first book The aforementioned honours will include a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000 each, a citation, and a Ganga sculpture as a symbol. The works have been evaluated by a high-level jury comprising poet Varsha Das, noted writer Vibhuti Narayan Rai, acclaimed storyteller Dhirendra Asthana, renowned writer-translator Damodar Khadse, and well-known short-story writer Balram. The Amar Ujala Shabd Samman will be held at a formal ceremony later this year. (ANI)
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