Crossword - an Indian bookstores chain and Vodafone - a provider of mobile telecommunications services in India instituted special awards to promote books and reading habit, called Vodafone Crossword Book Awards. The awards were introduced in 1998. Crossword is India’s leading chain of bookstores. It is a subsidiary of Shopper's Stop Ltd. It came into existence on October 15, 1992. R. Sriram is the CEO and Managing Director of Crossword Bookstores Limited. It is a one stop destination for books, magazines, music, CD-ROMS, toys and stationery. The stores are located in various Indian cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Ghaziabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gurgaon, Hyderabad etc. Vodafone is an international mobile telecommunications company headquartered in United Kingdom. The Group's mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name 'Vodafone'. Arun Sarin is the CEO and John Bond is the Chairman of the Vodafone Group. Vodafone and Crossword instituted the awards to recognize and reward the best of Indian writing. The authors gain recognition and were rewarded handsomely through the awards. It also ensured that works of merit reach a wider audience. A shortlist of books in each category was announced at a press conference in June 2008. The award ceremony was held on July 03, 2008 in Mumbai. The winners were as follows:   English Non Fiction The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple English Fiction A Girl and a River by Usha K. R. Indian Language Fiction Translation Chowringhee by Sankar - Arunava Sinha Govardhan's Travels by Anand C.P. Sachidanandan & Gita Krishnankutty Popular Award The Music Room by Namita Devidayal

The ceremony was hosted by Indian Film and Television actor Tom Alter. It was attended by renowned classical singer Shubha Mudgal and Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh. Judges in the past have included eminent authors and personalities like Dilip Chitre, Paul Zacharia, Kiran Nagarkar, Vikram Chandra, Meenakshi Mukherjee, Urvashi Bhutalia, Kai Friese etc. The winners of Vodafone Crossword Book Award 2006 were as follows:   English Fiction : Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra English Non Fiction : Two Lives by Vikram Seth Indian Language Fiction Translation : In a forest, a deer by C. S Lakshmi [Ambai] and Kesavan's Lamentations by M. Mukundan Popular Award : The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Each Award carried a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakhs (300,000), a trophy and a citation. A 'Popular Award' had also been introduced through which readers voted for their favorite book short listed in the English Fiction and English Non-Fiction categories. The Popular Award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh (100,000) and a certificate. Click the following link to visit the official website of Vodafone Crossword Book Award 2007 : http://www.crosswordbookstores.com/...

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