New Delhi, Nov 27 : To promote literature and Indian languages, India Today Group conferred 'Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Samman' to nine authors. In a grand ceremony during Sahitya Aaj Tak, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla conferred the award to a total of nine authors under eight categories. The Lifetime Achievement Award for lifetime literary services was given to writer, lyricist, poet, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee Javed Akhtar. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh and a citation. Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Best Writing Award was given to Dr Gyan Chaturvedi for his novel 'Swang'. The winner of the Sahitya Jagriti Best Writing Award was the noted novelist and short story writer Nasira Sharma. This award was given for his novel 'Alpha Beta Gamma'. Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Bharatiya Bhasha Samman was conferred to Telugu writer Dr Madhurantakam Narendra for his novel 'Manodharmaparagam'. Amish Tripathi was the recipient of Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Popular Writer Samman. He received the award for his novel 'The War of Lanka' in the Ramachandra Series. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1-1 lakh and a citation. During this ceremony, emerging authors were also given this honour in three categories. 'Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Bhartiya Bhasha Pratibha Samman' was given to Tauseef Barelvi for his collection of Urdu stories ' Zahan Zad ', while ' Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Emerging Writer Samman' was given to Dr Kinshuk Gupta for his collection of stories ' Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chor Darwaza '. The winners were awarded with cash prize of Rs 50,000 / - each and a memento. The Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Emerging Writer Award was given jointly to two writers this year. Rashmi Bhardwaj won the award for her novel 'Woh Saal Bayalis Tha' and Anuradha Beniwal for her travel memoir 'People Who Remained in Me'. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla congratulated all the winners and said, "Your hard work in the field of literature and the might of your pen, your speech has won you the award today." Aaj Tak News Director Supriya Prasad said, "The 6-member jury unanimously selected the winners." The other jurors were Saurabh Dwivedi, Shweta Singh, Chandan Rai, Rajkishore and Sanjeev Paliwal. /IANS