Australian University launches 'Shri Amitabh Bachchan Scholarship'
The La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia has gone ahead and named a scholarship after the renowned Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan awarded the prestigious PhD scholarship, named after him, Shri Amitabh Bachchan Sholarship, to an Indian student who graduated from the university.
According to reports, Mr Bachchan will give away the scholarship every four years to an Indian citizen to carry out a thesis on media, digital technology and communication.
At an event organised by the university in Melbourne, Mr Bachchan gave away the Shri Amitabh Bachchan Sholarship to the university graduate named Roshan Kumar.
Roshan Kumar, who originally is from Ranchi, will take on the scholarship to identify the potential of using social media to better communicate health messages.
Roshan Kumar, who graduated from La Trobe University with a Master of International Business in 2010, did his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi in 2006.
Kumar was quoted in the media as saying, “I am honoured to receive this scholarship which will help fund my research into improving the health of thousands of people living in India. Social media has immense potential to act as a powerful communication tool to share health information with millions of people.”
Kumar, who grew up watching Amitabh Bachchan movies like millions of Indians, said it was his dream come true to meet Amitabh Bachchan in person. He also said that he felt La Trobe University had certainly provided him with some immense opportunities in the past and he was confident that his future association with the university would be very rewarding as well.
After the event, Mr Bachchan took to twitter and posted, “Thank you, the Governance of Victoria for this gesture, fructifying the bonds that exist between our two nations and lending unstinted support to our film industry in conducting such events to acquaint the locals with our cinema.”
The La Trobe University Vice Chancellor, John Dewar, reportedly said it was an exciting and important day for the university. “It is both an honour and delight to host the legendary film actor Amitabh Bachchan at the Melbourne campus of the University. La Trobe University is very proud that Amitabh Bachchan has agreed to work with us and help support the education of the next generation of Indian leaders who will help make a difference to the complex problems facing our world today,” the VC reportedly said.
