Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday congratulated 2008 Man Booker prize winner Aravind Adiga, saying the nation was proud of him.
"The nation is proud of the international recognition of Adiga's talent," he said in his congratulatory message to the writer, who won the coveted
prize for his novel "The White Tiger".
While congratulating Adiga, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said the award will inspire and encourage aspiring young authors to produce quality literature of world standard.
33-year old Adiga beat Sebastian Barry to take the 50,000 pound (USD 47,000) prize, becoming the fifth Indian author to win the laurels, joining V S Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai who won the prize in the past.