Compiled by FATIMAH ZAINAL, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

       MALAYSIAN Tamil writer and poet Dr Raja Rajeswari Seetharaman is among four local writers who received a special literary award in conjunction with the 75th Independence Day of India, Makkal Osai reported.

       Rajeswari is a certified translator and a poet.

       A total of 440 poets from 82 countries received India’s Independence Day Literary Honour 2021 given by the Gujarat Sahitya Academy in collaboration with the Motivational Strips writers forum founded by Shiju H. Pallithazheth.

       The award was given based on her work with the forum which translates literary works from all over the world into various languages so it can reach a wider audience.

       Rajeswari said she was greatly honoured to have been selected.

       Lilian Woo, Alan Liew and Dr Paul Sebastian were the other Malaysians who received the award.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.