Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Coimbatore: Bharathiar University will host a week-long celebration to commemorate the centenary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai in December.

Former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, State Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin and State Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudi are expected to participate.


According to Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam, there will be many events to mark the celebrations. The highlight will be setting up of the Anna Oratorical Endowment at Rs. 5 lakh. The other will involve releasing of two books on Mr. Annadurai.

“Under the Endowment, two students from any of the colleges of the university will be selected to receive awards annually – one in excellence in Tamil oration and the other in English oration. Other students who are selected will receive certificates,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

For selecting the two books that would be released on the occasion, Mr. Thiruvasagam had called for works in Tamil and English. “Since Mr. Annadurai was a good orator in both English and Tamil, we have decided to honour writers from both the languages. Writers who can submit works on Mr. Annadurai in English and Tamil by November 30 to the university will be considered,” Mr. Thiruvasagam added.