300 Indian students get French scholarship for higher studies

Report & Pix By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, July 8: Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont has invited Indian students to study in France to experience not only the best universities in the world but also the elements of European civilization.

Speaking at a scholarship award function at the French embassy here on Friday, the Ambassador said the Indian students are exposed to one of the oldest civilization of the world and Anglo-Saxon way of thinking. In France, he said “you will be exposed to the third pillar -- the other side of Europe.”

At the function, French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont gave away meritorious scholarship to some of the 300 Indian students who have decided to pursue a specialized Masters degree in France.

Venkat Ramanan, Director and Sandeep Kumar Murgai, Head, Major Service Centre, Orange Business Services and Bruno Leprince-Ringuet, Industrial Merchant Business Line Director, Air Liquide India, also presented some of the scholarships to successful students.

Ambassador Bonnafont said France has very high quality universities which allow a student to get the best of the world education at par with the best universities in the world.

Encouraging Indian students to go for higher students in France, the Ambassador said French is spoken by 200 million people around the world. It is the official language of 32 countries on five continents.

The three capitals of the European Union – Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg – are French speaking cities.

Besides, he said over 700 French companies are present in India and many more are planning to come. Similarly, many Indian companies are planning to open offices in France.

“These companies are looking for good human resources. Therefore, it makes good sense and practical investment to study in France,” said the Ambassador.

He said the decision to study in France would also help Indian students not only to mingle with over 260,000 international students studying in France, but also will help in discovering French way of life.

Ambassador Bonnafont said “by inviting Indian students we are not extracting best talent of India, but we are trying to build partnership through young people between France and India.”

The French Embassy, through CampusFrance and its University Cooperation Service, invests considerable effort in enhancing student mobility towards France.

The French Embassy in India, along with French companies – Orange and Air Liquide – awarded scholarships totalling up to 7.1 crore Indian rupees (1.1 million Euros) to more than 300 meritorious Indian students who wished to pursue a specialized Masters degree in France.

The Ambassador’s address was followed by an information session on administrative formalities to be completed before the students leave and on their arrival in France.

Ms Golda Malhotra, Education Advisor, CampusFrance India, gave a presentation to the students on testimonials and advice and user’s guide to France.

Vivek Dham, Scientific Coordinator, Science and Technology Section, French Embassy, counseled the students on teaching methods used in French educational institutions, inter-cultural aspects, and other relevant matters.

The French Embassy has developed scholarship programmes tailored to meet India’s requirement in highly qualified skill pool. To attain this goal, one-third of the scholarships have been earmarked for areas in which France possesses globally recognized know-how (pure sciences, Nanoscience, Information and Communications Technology, Energy and Aerospace).

Renaud Vély, Deputy Attaché for University Cooperation, French Embassy, informed that almost 2000 students opted for higher education in France last year and this number, thanks to pro-active endeavours, has jumped by 40 per cent this year.

Nimiush Rustaji, HEC Paris Business School, Ashish Kumar, IESEG Lille Business School, and Ms Pearl Jindal, winner of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs contest “Allons en France” in 2007 also spoke with the students.

Daniel Rignault, Attaché for Cooperation in Education, French Embassy, and Mrs Evelyne Sirejols, Academic Director, Alliance Française of Delhi, also stressed on learning French, the other international language.

Max Claudet, Counsellor for Culture and Cooperation, French Embassy, also spoke on the occasion.

Ash to receive French honour

NEW DELHI, July 13: On the eve of French National Day, Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be conferred the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) from the French government. French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont will confer the award to Aishwarya here on Wednesday.

This would be her first public appearance after the announcement of her pregnancy. Ash, 37, along with hubby Abhishek and in-laws Amitabh and Jaya is in the Capital to receive the award. Abhishek’s sister Shweta Nanda and her family, Ash’s parents, her brother and sister-in-law will also accompany Ash, who is now in the fifth month of her pregnancy.

The award, meant to honour her contribution to the world of cinema, was to be conferred in 2008 but she could not receive it then due to her father’s illness. So, she will now receive it on the eve of the National Day of France — July 14.

Aishwarya, who is likely to don a sari for the event, is ecstatic. “This is an occasion for joy and I want to spend it with my entire family ... I’m glad they’ll all be there,” she says.

Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont said: “A well- known face at the Cannes International Film Festival and the first Indian actress to be among its jury, Mrs Rai Bachchan has woven ties with France that are emblematic of a very special relationship.”

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order of France, established in 1957 for the recognition of significant contributions to arts and literature. Previous Indian recipients of this honour include Sharmila Tagore (1999), Shah Rukh Khan (2007) and Nandita Das (2008).

International Day against Homophobia marked

NEW DELHI, July 7: The French Ambassador, Mr Jérôme Bonnafont, released a book titled “Law Like Love: Queer Perspectives on Law ” here on Thursday. The book is a collection of essays edited by Arvind Narrain and Alok Gupta. Present at the launch were Arpita Das, founder-publisher of Yoda Press, and Gautam Bhan, series editor of Sexualities

The book was released on the occasion of a round table on “The Condition of Sexual Minorities in India: 2 years afterThe Delhi High Court Ruling”. It also marked an evening celebrating the International Day against Homophobia.

The panel comprised Sumit Baudh, lawyer by training and independent consultant for law and human rights; Pramada Menon, queer feminist activist working on issues of sexuality, gender and human rights and co-founder of CREA, an international women’s human rights organization; and Saleem Kidwai, independent scholar, co-editor of Same-Sex Love in India: a Literary History.

“Law Like Love: Queer Perspectives on Law”, published in the Sexualities series of Yoda Press, is the result of a unique one-and-a-half-year collective effort to bring together 28 essays. The 32 contributors, based in all over India, are activists, lawyers and scholars actively involved in LGBT issues.

The Sexualities series of Yoda Press is an inter-disciplinary series that seeks to understand the many ways in which one experiences, lives and understands gender and sexuality in one’s live. The series takes an intersectional approach as the basis of its understanding of sexuality, seeing it as inextricably linked with the politics of class, caste, religion, language, and location in contemporary India.