Nearly 50 years after he earned his first class honours degree in economics from the University of Cambridge, his alma mater will confer an honorary doctorate on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next month.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is the chancellor of the varsity, will bestow the honorary doctor of law degree on 74-year old Dr Singh at a congregation of Regent House of the University of Cambridge on October 11.
"The congregation will be preceded by a ceremonial procession by senior university academics and officers, the chancellor and Dr Singh around the Senate House Yard," Tim Holt, deputy head of communications of the university, told PTI on Sunday.
Acclaimed for his reforms of the Indian economy, Dr Singh received his first class honours degree in economics from the university in 1957. He followed this with a D Phil in economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962.
Oxford University had conferred an honorary degree of doctor of civil law on Dr Singh in July 2005, describing him as 'a brilliant economist, a sagacious statesman, and an indefatigable champion and defender of his people'.
The Prime Minister will arrive in England on a three-day bilateral visit on October 9.
According to official sources, Dr Singh will hold talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on October 10 on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues.
The same day, the two leaders will address an India-UK Investment Summit at Lancashire House that will be attended by leading businessmen and industrialists of the two countries.
