In March 2025, who among the following was selected for the 59th Jnanpith Award?

Concept: The Jnanpith Award is one of India’s highest and most prestigious literary honours, presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to a writer for an outstanding, lifelong contribution to Indian literature — open to a writer of any language recognised under the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule, plus English.

Application: In March 2025, the Jnanpith Selection Committee announced Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla as the recipient of the 59th Jnanpith Award (for the year 2024). He is known for works such as ‘Naukar Ki Kameez’ and ‘Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rehti Thi’, written in a distinctive style that blends everyday language with quiet, surreal imagery; he became the first author from Chhattisgarh, and the 12th Hindi writer overall, to receive the award.

Cross-check: The other three names differ from the recipient named for this specific 59th-award cycle:

• Shashi Tharoor is a Lok Sabha MP and author known chiefly for English-language works such as ‘An Era of Darkness’, with his public profile built around politics and diplomacy.

• Shaji N Karun is a National Award-winning Malayalam film director known for films such as ‘Piravi’ and ‘Swaham’, recognised in cinema rather than literature.

• Pratibha Ray is an Odia novelist and a past Jnanpith laureate herself (2011); for the 59th award cycle she chaired the Selection Committee that named that year’s recipient, a role distinct from being the recipient.

None of these three is the recipient named for the 59th Jnanpith Award, so Vinod Kumar Shukla is the writer selected for it.