The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Honorary doctorates for seven eminent personalities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Honorary doctorates for seven eminent personalities

Special Correspondent

Deemed university awards are in recognition of excellence in their chosen fields "Empty idealism without ambition and only ambition without idealist zeal would be of no use."

HISTORY-MAKERS: (From left) AVM Saravanan, Madhavan Nair, Sudha Narayana Murthy, M. S. Viswanathan, T. K. Ramamoorthy and actress Manorama who received the honorary doctorate from Satyabama Deemed University in Chennai on Sunday. The Vice Chairman of UGC Mool Chand Sharma (fourth from left) and the deemed university Vice Chancellor Jeppiaar (extreme right), lead the parade after the ceremony. — PHOTO: K. V. Srinivasan

CHENNAI : Seven persons, who have excelled in different fields of human activity, were conferred honorary doctorate degrees here on Sunday during the annual convocation of the Satyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed University).

The University Grants Commission's vice chairman, Mool Chand Sharma, who presented the doctoratal degrees on behalf of the university, described the awardees as "history makers whose mere presence on the stage was a humbling experience for him."

The persons honoured were G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO (space research), Sudha Murthy, Chairman, Infosys Foundation (philanthropy and social service), M. Saravanan of AVM (film production), T.K. Ramamoorthy and M.S. Viswanathan (film music), poet Vaali (literary achievement) and actor Manorama (histrionic talent exhibited in more than 1,000 movies).

Prof. Sharma, who also presented degrees and prizes to more than 2,000 undergraduate and post graduate students, urged the students to try and strike the right balance between idealism and ambition. Empty idealism without ambition and only ambition without idealist zeal would be of no use, he noted.

Asking the students to earn, earn and keep on earning more, the Vice Chairman said they must also be prepared to return the earnings to society.

He put forth another caveat when he said means of earning were important and should justify the right ends.

The Deemed University's Chancellor, Jeppiaar, said the Indian Space Research Organisation had set up a facility in the university premises near Chennai.

Using this the university was setting up village resource centres, to provide training to youth in trades such as plumbing, electrician, motor mechanic etc. The idea was to improve all kinds of employment opportunities in the rural areas.

The university's secretary, Chinnadurai, introduced the doctorate awardees.

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