Urdu litterateur Shamim Hanfi has been selected for the first Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award

Noted Urdu litterateur Shamim Hanfi has been chosen for the first Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award, instituted by the Bharatiya Jnanpith this year, the literary body said today.The award marks the seven decades of Jnanpith.Hanfi was selected for the award in a meeting of jury members chaired by Hindi author Vishwanath Tripathi. Other members of the board included poet Kedarnath Singh and author Madhusudan Anand.The Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award comprises a monthly honorarium for one year."Jury members along with the members of Bhartiya Jnanpith family will felicitate this year's award to Hanfi at his residence in an informal ceremony," Leeladhar Mandloi, Director Bharatiya Jnanpith said in a statement here today.

The Bharatiya Jnanpith was founded in 1944 to undertake systematic research and publication of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha texts and covers subjects like religion, philosophy, logic, ethics, grammar, astrology and poetics.It annually publishes books in Hindi (both original and translated works) and other languages, and also presents the literary awards, the Jnanpith Awards and the Moortidevi Award, besides awards for upcoming writers.