Banker to the poor Yunus to deliver lecture tomorrow

As part of the centenary celebrations of the University of Mysore (UoM), Bangladesh Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will deliver a lecture  at Crawford Hall, the administrative wing of the university, at 4 pm on Friday.

Vice-Chancellor K S Rangappa said on Wednesday that Yunus will be delivering the maiden lecture, marking the launch of ‘Noble Laureate Lecture Series’. Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh will speak on the topic ‘Redesigning Economics to Redesign the World’. It will be followed by an interaction with the audience.

Prof Rangappa said, “Yunus, the recipient of Nobel peace prize in the year 2006, was invited for the lecture during his participation at the annual Indian Science Congress held in Mumbai this year.”

The entry is restricted for 1,500 persons and VIPs, including academicians and public, have been invited for the lecture.

Venki Ramakrishnan, another Nobel recipient who was bestowed the honour in 2009, will be delivering a lecture on ‘Seeing is Believing’ on December 11. On December 15, Sir Richard John Roberts, who was conferred the highest civilian award in the world way back in 1993, will be delivering a lecture. The topic is yet to be decided, Prof Rangappa added.
Besides the Nobel laureates, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Kiran Kumar is expected to deliver a lecture in October.

On the occasion, a Kannada version of Yunus’ biography titled ‘Badavara Banker’, translated by K V Prabhakara, principal of SBRR Mahajana First Grade College, and ‘Samajika Uddimegalu’ authored by Yashwanth Dongre, professor and dean, Faculty of Commerce, University of Mysore, will be released.

UGC aid sought

Reacting to media queries, Prof Rangappa said the university has sent a proposal to the University Grants Commission (UGC), seeking Rs 10 crore under heritage university tag.
The proposal is under consideration, the vice-chancellor added.