Kalki Koechlin to be conferred with French honour

Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin will be conferred with the French distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) on Friday, for her contribution in enhancing Indo-French ties in cinema.

The honour comes in recognition of an actor, who has interpreted striking roles in the Indian film industry, experimented with various forms of films as well as shown an abiding commitment to important social issues.

Kalki, who has French roots, has done films such as 'Dev.D', 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara', 'Shanghai' and 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' to name a few.

The award will be presented by the Ambassador of France to India, Alexandre Ziegler, who will be undertaking a two-day trip in Mumbai on June 22-23 to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sustainable urban mobility, cultural, academic and corporate sectors between France and India.

Ambassador Ziegler will be starting his day with a visit of the Mumbai Metro One office for an overview of the train management system as well as a hands-on experience of driving a train in the simulator room. The Mumbai Metro One Line was built with French expertise in sustainable Mass Rapid Transport Systems, involving French companies SYSTRA and Veolia Transport.

Ambassador Ziegler will meet Saurabh Gupta, founder of Earth5R, a global social enterprise working on guiding citizens towards sustainable livelihood models. Gupta was selected for the India-France Young Leaders Club, which is aimed at creating partnerships between young movers and shakers of the two countries for establishing an influential advisory network to promote bilateral action.

Thereafter, Ambassador Ziegler will jointly lay the foundation stone of an ultra-modern video game development studio, which is being built under an industry-academic partnership between France's Ubisoft, known for its interactive video games and IIT Bombay.

On Saturday, the French ambassador will lay the foundation stone for a new building of the French International School of Bombay.

One of the strongest entities of the French presence in India, the school offers a bilingual French-English curriculum right from kindergarten to its students who are from almost a dozen different countries.

The school is open to everyone, who would like to take admission and look forward to more Indian students joining France's renowned education system.

Ambassador Ziegler will conclude his Mumbai trip with the conferral of the prestigious French award of Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur) on Aruna Jayanthi, CEO of Business Services - CapGemini Group.