Chile President Michelle Bachelet’s love for Tamils

Chile President Michelle Bachelet’s love for Tamils
1.5 lakh Tamils living in Chile,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

It was Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet’s love for Tamils that made her to accept the honorary doctorate degree from the University of Madras, according to S. Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor of the University.

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[Chilean President Michelle Bachelet takes part in a meeting organized by one of India's leading trade bodies,the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), in Mumbai, India, Thursday, March 19, 2009-pic:AP Photo/Gautam Singh via Yahoo! News]

Recalling that President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was conferred the degree by the University of Chile in Santiago in April last year, Dr. Ramachandran said that the Indian authorities decided to reciprocate the gesture when the tour programme of Dr. Bachelet was prepared. About a month ago, the Madras University mooted the proposal when representatives of the University of Talca were here to work out the modalities for signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU). “She could have chosen to accept the honorary degree from other universities such as Mumbai but she selected the University of Madras as there are approximately 1.5 lakh Tamils living in Chile,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

He added that when Dr.Bachelet’s predecessor Ricardo Lagos visited India four years ago, he did not come to Chennai.

The Pro-Chancellor and Director of International Relations in the Chilean university Antony Raj was an alumnus of the Madras University. Before Dr. Bachelet was given the honorary degree, the University of Madras and the University of Talca signed a MoU.

Noting that the Talca University was the first South American University to enter into the MoU with the Madras University, Dr. Ramachandran said there would be cooperation in frontier sciences such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and bioinformatics. [courtesy: The Hindu]

Posted by transCurrents on March 20, 2009 10:47 PM