Who was honoured with 54th Jnanpith Award?

SOLUTION

The correct answer is Amitav Ghosh.

• Amitav Ghosh was awarded the 54th Jnanpith award for his for his contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature in English.
• He was conferred with award by the former governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who called him a 'craftsman' whose work comes from a 'sinews of effort no less than the strokes of inspiration'.
• He was the first English writer to be honoured with the prestigious award.
• The recipients of Jnanpith award are given a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.
• He has earlier won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the 'Shadow Lines', 'The Glass Palace', 'The Hungry Tide', and the Ibis Trilogy - 'Sea of Poppies', 'River of Smoke', and 'Flood of Fire' - that chronicles the opium trade between India and China run by the then East India Company.
• The new book of the author was "Gun Island".
• He is also the recepient of Padma Shri in the year 2007.