Amitabh Bachchan to be honoured by Australian university

Melbourne: Australia`s La Trobe University is all set to honour Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan next month with `La Trobe University Global Citizenship Award`. The first of its kind award will be conferred to the 70-year-old actor while he is here to attend the Indian film Festival of Melbourne. The university is also introducing a Phd scholarship called `Shri Amitabh Bachchan Scholarship`. "Bachchan will be given `La Trobe Univerisy Global Citizenshp Award` which is a new award incepted by the university," University senior deputy vice Chancellor Prof John Rosenberg said here today. The award is to honour the exceptional leadership he has shown in his film career and also for making an international impact. Roseberg said the new award will be now given annually from this year with Bachchan becoming the first ever to receive it. The award is also given for demonstrating a commitment to intercultural understanding. "We think Bachchan fits in this very well and we are very proud to give this to him," Rosenberg said. A framed certificate is likely to be given to Bachchan on May 22, 2013. Apart from this, the university is also rolling out a new scholarship named after Bollywood legend. "This scholarship is meant for Phd students and the student who will be given this award would to be called Shri Amitabh Bachchan scholar," he said. However, details were still being worked out for this by the university. The scholarship will be given to Indians opting to study anything in relevance to India including media, philosophy, films. The four years of scholarship will be worth USD 25,000. PTI