2008 in India - Arts and Literature

Arts and Literature

• 3 February - Inaugurating the tenth Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for documentary, short and animation films at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi announced that a dedicated channel for short films in the Eleventh Plan is under consideration.
• 14 February - The Government decides to extend visa of exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, for another six months. Her visa was to expire on 17 February.
• 19 February - The K.K. Birla Foundation decides to give the following awards:(1) The Sixteenth Vachaspati Puraskar for 2007 to Swami Rambhadracharya for his work Sribhargavaraghaviyam (Mahakavyam).(2)The 2007 Bihari Puraskar to Hindi poet Yashwant Vyas for his Hindi novel Comrade Godse. (3) The Shankar Puraskar for 2007 to Prof. R.S. Tripathi for his work Baudh Darshan Prasthan.
• 20 February - Bengali poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay elected president of the Sahitya Akademi.
• 8 May - The Delhi high court quashed three criminal proceedings initiated against the artist M. F. Husain for allegedly hurting public sentiments through some of his nude paintings that were perceived as obscene.
• 25 May - Pakistani rock band Junoon performs in Srinagar on the occasion of opening of the Institute of Kashmir Studies at the Kashmir University.
• 15 October - Aravind Adiga, is awarded the 2008 Man Booker Prize for his debut novel, The White Tiger.