⇒ The French government has honoured Pondicherry University professor (French) Nalini J Thampi with the prestigious Chevalier award recognizing her ‘commitment to promotion and dissemination of the French language and her outstanding contribution to Franco-Indian academic cooperation and promotion of women’s rights’.
Consul general of France in Puducherry and Chennai Lise Talbot Berré presented the honorary distinction of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques de la République française to Nalini during the launch of Francophonie festival.
About Nalini:
A doctorate in French from EFLU, Hyderabad, Nalini is the coordinator of a five-year integrated multi-disciplinary dual postgraduate programme on social and economic administration and law offered jointly by the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Pondicherry University.
» Some of the Indians, who were conferred with the Chevalier award by the French government were late film director Satyajit Ray, late actor Sivaji Ganesan, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das and Shah Rukh Khan.