PRESS RELEASE: Tina Brown‘s portal, The Daily Beast, and the US-based non-profit organisation Open Hands Initiative have announced a new prize for South Asian journalists and writers covering the region. The aim of this prize is to promote and support the work of an individual who has contributed thoughtful, important, and engaging commentary on the great social, political, and cultural issues of their region.
Prize: The winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize, a one-month residency at the Norman Mailer center and writers colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and a biweekly column for a year on The Daily Beast. The two finalists will also be invited to contribute commentary to The Daily Beast.
Structure: Editors and publishers across South Asia will be asked to nominate their best English-language columnists and writers by sending us three to five examples of their work and writing a brief letter explaining why that particular individual deserves this recognition. To submit a nomination, email commentaryprize@thedailybeast.com
Eligibility: Any nominated columnist, journalist, or writer based in and writing about South Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh) is eligible to participate. Only commentary written between October 1, 2009, and October 1, 2010, will be considered for the prize.
Deadline: The prize will be awarded at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2011. Finalists will be announced in December. All nominations must be submitted by October 1, 2010.
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IJR 
This is a good news for the word-smiths in news business.