Orissa chess queen Kiran Manisha Mohanty bagged the 18th Ekalabya Award for the award year 2010. The Ekalabya Award Committee unanimously selected Kiran Manisha from among the 14
short listed candidates in a meeting at Bhubaneswar yesterday.

         Kiran, the first Woman Grand Master (WGM) of the state, will receive a prize fund, which has been enhanced from Rs one lakh to Rs 1.5 lakhs from this year. Besides the Ekalabya Award, two runner-up awards, carrying an enhanced cash prize of Rs 25,000 each (earlier Rs 10,000), will be given to chess International Master Debashis Das and Asiad rowing bronze medalist Pratima Puhan.

         Kiran Manisha was picked for the main award on the basis of her outstanding performance during the past two years. She won the gold medal in the Commonwealth Chess Championship at Nagpur in 2008,
emerged the Women National `B` champion at Delhi in February 2010 and finished third in the 36th National Women Premier Chess Championship at Chennai in December 2009.

         The prestigious Ekalabya award was instituted by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT), the charitable wing of leading integrated Ferro alloys producing company IMFA Group in 1993. Past recipients of the award include woman athlete Rachita Mistry, former Test cricketers Shib Sundar Das, Debashish Mohanty, hockey internationals Dillip Tirkey, Probodh Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey, William Xalxo; chess WGM Padmini Rout, weightlifter K Ravi Kumar and woman rower Pravasini Dwibedy.