awards & fellowships-Fellowships

A programme was held to inaugurate the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Akademi. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the celebrations and presented the Akademi Fellowships to newly elected Fellows, namely Sri Vijay Dan Detha, Sri Bh. Krishnamurti, Professor U.R. Anantha Murthy, Smt. Amrita Pritam and Sri Sankha Ghosh, and Honorary Fellowship to Professor E.P. Chelyshev and felicitated the existing fellows. He also gave away the Golden Jubilee Life Time Achievement Award to Sri Namdeo Dhasal and the Young Writers’ Awards to Smt. Mandakranta Sen, Sri Ranjit Hoskote, Ms. Neelakshi Singh, Sri Abdul Rasheed and Ms. S. Sithara. Dr. S. Jaipal Reddy was the guest of honour. Professor Gopi Chand Narang, President, Sahitya Akademi, welcomed the gathering and gave the presidential address. Professor K. Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, proposed a vote of thanks. The presentation ceremony was preceded by an invocation by Sri Madhup Mudgal and followed by screening of excerpts of a film on the Akademi directed by Gulzar. Later in the evening, the famous ghazal singer, Sri Jagjit Singh, gave a concert at Kamani auditorium.

Conferment of Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
Date	Programme	Venue
2 May 2005	A special function was held where Professor Gopi Chand Narang, President, Sahitya Akademi, conferred the Akademi Fellowship on Sri Kovilan, eminent Malayalam writer, at his residence. Sri M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Convener of the Malayalam Advisory Board of the Akademi, welcomed the gathering. Professor K. Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, read the citation.	Thrissur
18 April 2005	A special function was held where Professor Gopi Chand Narang, President, Sahitya Akademi, conferred the Akademi Fellowship on Sri Nirmal Verma, eminent Hindi writer. Dr. Giriraj Kishore, Convener of the Hindi Advisory Board of the Akademi, welcomed the gathering. Professor K. Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, read the citation. The Fellowship presentation function was followed by a Samvad programme wherein Professor U.R. Anantha Murthy, Sri Nand Kishore Acharya and Sri Keki N. Daruwalla spoke on various aspects of Nirmal Verma's works.	New Delhi
1 November 2004	A programme was held to inaugurate the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Akademi. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the celebrations and presented the Akademi Fellowships to newly elected Fellows, namely Sri Vijay Dan Detha, Sri Bh. Krishnamurti, Professor U.R. Anantha Murthy, Smt. Amrita Pritam and Sri Sankha Ghosh, and Honorary Fellowship to Professor E.P. Chelyshev and felicitated the existing fellows. He also gave away the Golden Jubilee Life Time Achievement Award to Sri Namdeo Dhasal and the Young Writers’ Awards to Smt. Mandakranta Sen, Sri Ranjit Hoskote, Ms. Neelakshi Singh, Sri Abdul Rasheed and Ms. S. Sithara. Dr. S. Jaipal Reddy was the guest of honour. Professor Gopi Chand Narang, President, Sahitya Akademi, welcomed the gathering and gave the presidential address. Professor K. Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, proposed a vote of thanks. The presentation ceremony was preceded by an invocation by Sri Madhup Mudgal and followed by screening of excerpts of a film on the Akademi directed by Gulzar. Later in the evening, the famous ghazal singer, Sri Jagjit Singh, gave a concert at Kamani auditorium.	New Delhi
7 December 2002	A special function was held where Sri Ramakanta Rath, President of the Akademi conferred the Akademi Fellowship on Professor Govind Chandra Pande, eminent Sanskrit scholar. Secretary, Sahitya Akademi read the citation. Sri Vidya Niwas Misra, Sri Ramaranjan Mukherjee and Sri Bishan Tandon offered felicitations to the Fellow. Professor Gopi Chand Narang, Vice-President, Sahitya Akademi, offered the concluding remarks.	New Delhi
22 July 2002	A special function was held where the President of the Akademi conferred Akademi Fellowship on Sri Bhisham Sahni, eminent Hindi fiction writer. Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, read the citation. Sri Nirmal Verma, Ms. Krishna Sobti and Professor Namwar Singh offered felicitations to the Fellow.	New Delhi
24 April 2002	A special function was held where the President of the Akademi conferred Akademi Fellowship on Sri Nilamani Phookan, eminent Assamese poet. Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, read the citation. Professor Gopi Chand Narang offered felicitations to the Fellow, while Sri Navakanta Barua and Sri Harekrishna Deka spoke on the literary contribution of Sri Phookan.	Guwahati
17 April 2002	A special function was held where the President of the Akademi conferred Akademi Fellowship on Sri Kaifi Azmi, eminent Urdu poet. Secretary, Sahitya Akademi read the citation. Sri Javed Akhtar recited some of Kaifi Azmi's poems, while Professor Namwar Singh and Sri Balraj Komal spoke on the life and work of Sri Azmi.	Mumbai
20 July 2001	A special function was held in collaboration with the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages where Sri Ramakanta Rath, President of the Akademi, conferred Akademi Fellowship on Padmashri Ram Nath Shastri. Sri Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister, J&K, graced the occasion. Professor K. Satchidanandan, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, welcomed the guests. Smt. Padma Sachdev, Dr. Lalit Mangotra and Sri Ved Bhasin spoke on the occasion.	Jammu
7 August 2000	Sahitya Akademi Fellowship conferred by the President on Professor Rahman Rahi eminent Kashmiri poet, at a special function jointly organised by the Sahitya Akademi and the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.	Srinagar
6 July 2000	Sahitya Akademi Fellowship conferred by the President on Professor R.N. Dandekar,eminent Sanskrit scholar, at a function organised in collaboration with the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.	Pune

Conferment of Sahitya Akademi Fellowship