India's most expensive literary award — the JCB Prize for Literature — is officially discontinued; everything to know
In a move that has left the Indian literary world stunned, the JCB Prize for Literature — once the country's most lucrative book award — has officially been discontinued. The ₹ 25-lakh award, which honoured the best work of fiction by an Indian author each year, has been shut down, with no future editions planned. JCB Prize for Literature
The confirmation came on June 21 from Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize, who said, 'The prize has been shut down. I am not going to deny something that is evident. But for everything else, 'no comment'.' The last winner of the award was Upamanyu Chatterjee in 2024, for his novel Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life.
While the reasons for the shutdown remain unclear, the decision closely follows the cancellation of the JCB Literature Foundation's licence. A notice dated March 12 on the award's official website stated that the foundation had applied to the Registrar of Companies, Delhi & Haryana, seeking to revoke its Section 8(5) license under the Companies Act, 2013. It added that the organisation would now be reclassified as a 'Private Limited' company, no longer functioning as a foundation. The award was given by the 'foundation', which was established to promote the 'art of literature in India'. About the JCB Prize for Literature
Founded in 2018, the JCB Prize was widely celebrated not just for its generous cash prize, but for its commitment to promoting Indian fiction across languages. Five out of the seven winning books were translations — a reflection of the prize's dedication to linguistic diversity. Landmark winners included Jasmine Days by Benyamin (translated from Malayalam), Delhi: A Soliloquy by M Mukundan (Malayalam), The Paradise of Food by Khalid Jawed (Urdu), and Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan (Tamil).
Each shortlisted author received ₹ 1 lakh, and in the case of a translated work, the translator was awarded ₹ 50,000. When a translated novel won, the translator took home an impressive ₹ 10 lakh alongside the author's ₹ 25 lakh.
As tributes pour in from authors, publishers, and translators across the country, the loss of the JCB Prize marks the end of a short yet impactful chapter in Indian literary history.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
42 minutes ago
- Time of India
Bullets, gunpowder gutted as fire hits Verna ammo company
Vasco: Bullets and gunpowder were gutted in a major fire that broke out at Hughes Precision Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, at IDC Verna early on Saturday. Verna fire station in charge Dilesh Gaonkar told TOI that the fire broke out around 4am, and the firefighters received a call from the headquarters about the accident around 4.10am. 'Live and spent bullets and gunpowder stored in one room of the company were destroyed by the flames,' Gaonkar said. 'Boxes containing ammunition turned to ashes, but luckily no casualties were reported.' He said that fire tenders were pressed into service from Verna, Vasco, Margao, and Panjim. 'According to the company's officials, CCTV cameras captured smoke coming out of the storage room,' Gaonkar said. 'The preliminary probe has suggested that a short circuit could be the reason for the massive fire.' Gaonkar said that the Verna fire station has asked the company to provide details on the materials gutted and the loss incurred in the fire. Sources said the loss could run into crores. The company supplies ammunition to the Indian defence forces. The fire tenders were deployed at the company site till late on Saturday. 'Although we succeeded in extinguishing the flames, we are monitoring the site,' Gaonkar said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
I-T raid unearths gold smuggling and hawala transactions
Kozhikode: The Income Tax (I-T) department conducted searches at multiple premises of Seashell Savoury Group and Pulikkal Group in Kozhikode on Saturday allegedly revealing hawala transactions, reverse hawala, gold smuggling, unreported foreign investments, underreported land purchases in cash and other undisclosed financial activities. The I-T department said that the findings at multiple locations point to large-scale tax evasion and concealment of income and assets both in India and abroad. Search was conducted at the residential and business premises of Abdu Razakh Pulikkal, Rasheed Ali Pulikkal, Ahammed Kabeer Pulikkal. Details of foreign dividends received over the years were unearthed in the raid. "Clear evidence of the use of hawala channels to send money amassed abroad to India was uncovered. Undisclosed investments in several buildings, land, and illegal quarries/crushers were found," it said. Sales suppression over the years was quantified from the offices of Delicia Group. "Details of income from GCC region transferred to Indonesia for purchases were also uncovered," it said. Searches were also conducted at the residential premises of Hameed Narikolil, Kunhimoosa and their business premises. It says that the group has revenue from hotel businesses both in India and abroad. It operates more than 80 hotels in the GCC region, owned and managed by Indian residents but not disclosed for taxation in India.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
FATF links dual-use equipment seized by India to Pakistan's missile programme
A dual use equipment seized by India from a Pakistan bound merchant vessel in 2020 is linked to Islamabad's National Development Complex that is involved in the country's missile development programme, a new report by the Financial Action Task Force has said. read more India's 2020 seizure of Pakistan-bound dual-use equipment has been linked to Islamabad's missile development programme, according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The equipment, intercepted from a merchant vessel is associated with Pakistan's National Development Complex, a key entity involved in the country's missile development. FATF, the global financial watchdog, referenced the case in its latest report, which outlines risks and vulnerabilities in the international financial and trade systems. The incident was cited under a section highlighting the misuse of the maritime and shipping sectors to move sensitive goods, including dual-use items that can be repurposed for weapons programmes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In 2020, Indian custom authorities seized an Asian-flagged ship bound for Pakistan. During an investigation, Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment's dual-use items,' the FATF report said. 'Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be 'Autoclaves', which are used for sensitive high energy materials and for insulation and chemical coating of missile motors,' the report said. It said these sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The bill of lading of the seized cargo provided evidence of the 'link between the importer and the National Development Complex, which is involved in the development of long-range ballistic missiles,' it said. The export of equipment such as the autoclaves without formal approval from various authorities is a violation of existing law, the FATF said. Pakistan's National Development Complex (NDC) has played a crucial role in the development of Pakistan's missile programme. India had seized the dual-use equipment from merchant vessel Da Cui Yun at Kandla port in Gujarat on February 3, 2020. The Indian customs authorities had stopped the vessel for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in construction of missiles, as an 'industrial dryer'. The report said that significant vulnerabilities remain across the global financial system in countering the financing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Despite the grave threat posed by proliferation financing (PF), only 16 per cent of countries assessed by the FATF and its global network have demonstrated high or substantial effectiveness' in a process that evaluates the implementation of targeted financial sanctions under the United Nations Security Council resolutions on proliferation. The report said that unless the public and private sectors urgently bolster technical compliance and effectiveness, those seeking to finance WMD proliferation will continue to exploit weaknesses in existing controls. The report provided a detailed analysis of the evolving methods and techniques used to evade PF-related sanctions. 'Illicit actors are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to evade sanctions and circumvent export controls,' it said. With inputs from agencies
