Acknowledged Marathi poet-novelist Bhalchandra Nemade and noted Hindi author-editor Gyanranjan would be awarded Akashdeep, the highest literary award for their lifetime contribution on December 28 evening in a grand award ceremony at YB Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, Mumbai. Poet-film maker Gulzar would present the awards.
 
The highest Shabd Samman, Akashdeep, is given simultaneously to one Hindi and one non-Hindi Indian language litterateur and includes 5 lakh cash, a citation and a bronze statue of Ganga to each. Commenting on the announcement, Bhalchandra Nemade has said, "This is, in essence, the recognition of the continuum of the camaraderie existing between the thought and linguistic culture of humane civilizations" while Gyanranjan described these awards as honour of the independent spirit of creativity.
 
Shabd Samman awards have been instituted by Amar Ujala Foundation to honour and recognize the best literary works in lndian Languages while encouraging the camaraderie between various Indian languages. The first Akashdeep awards were given to Girish Karnad (Kannad) for his unique contribution to non-Hindi literature and to Namvar Singh for his significant contribution in enriching Hindi literature.
 
It has been announced by the AUF that whoever would be honored with the non-Hindi Akashdeep next chapter, the award ceremony would be held in the state capital of that language state. Therefore, the second chapter of Amar Ujala Shabd Samman is being held in Mumbai in reverence of Bhalchandra Nemade's exemplary contribution to Marathi literature.
 
Best Hindi publications of 2018 in various categories also to be honored during the ceremony. These include the first published work and literary translation. Under the Chaap category three awards for fiction, non-fiction and poetry are being given. Pagalkhana by Gyan Chaturvedi (novel), Jab Tak Main Aayee Bahar by Gagan Gill (poetry) and Rasraj Pandit Jasraj (biography) by Suita Budhiraja are among them. The award for the best first published work (Thaap) would be given to Ambar Pandey for his collection Kolahal Ki Kavitayen. The award to honour making meaningful bridges between Indian languages, Bhasha Bandhu, would be given to Utpal Bannerjee for his commendable translation of Shankh Ghosh's Bangla essays Nihshabd Ki Tarjani.
 
A jury of well steeped litterateurs, consisting of acclaimed story writer Abdul Bismillah, versatile poet Arun Kamal, senior critic Nandkishore Acharya, famous poetess Anamika and well known critic Jyotish Joshi screened these publications. The jury gets changed ever year to maintain the high standards of fair judgment.
 
The Amar Ujala Shabd Samman has been instituted by Amar Ujala Foundation, promoted by Amar Ujala newspaper group, one of the five largest circulated dailies of India. Bhalchandra Nemade who has been honored with this year's Akashdeep has deeply impacted Marathi literature. His works like Kosla and Hindu have undoubtedly placed him among the foremost litterateurs of our time. Similarly, the other Akashdeep awardee, Gyanranjan, is considered a profound and prolific story writer who has co-led worthy literary movement. He is credited with infusing three generations with literary consciousness and ideology. It is an interesting coincidence that both Nemade and Gyanranjan were born in Maharashtra.