JNU alumni Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to be awarded with university's 'Distinguished Alumni Award', to be first recipients of the honour

 Executive Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in its meeting on Wednesday decided to hour Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar with 'Distinguished Alumni Award' on third convocation of university, which will be held in August.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman studied in  School of Social Sciences and School of International Studies of university for her MA and M Phil degrees respectively.

Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar also studied in  School of International Studies where he completed his M Phil and Doctoral research with specialisation in nuclear diplomacy.

A press release from university stated: "ir highly distinguished career and achievements have me University very proud and y are a great source of inspiration for JNU students and researchers."

Union Ministers will be first recipients of 'Distinguished Alumni Award,' which is to be conferred by university.

Re press release below:

On occasion of swearing-in ceremony, Jawaharlal Nehru University vice-chancellor M Jagesh Kumar h congratulated varsity's alumni Sitharaman and S Jaishankar on being inducted into Union cabinet.

Following oath-taking ceremony, Nirmala Sitharaman was given portfolio of Finance with an ditional charge of Minister of Corporate Affairs.  In previous term held by Modi government (2014-2019), she was me Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, with independent charge in 2014 after being elected as member of Rajya Sabha from Andhra Presh.

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Meanhile, Pma Shri awardee S Jaishankar has served as foreign secretary in January 2015, after PM Modi dismissed foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. He has been  country's longest-serving foreign secretary in four deces and helped craft much of PM Modi's foreign policy.

A former ambassor to China, Jaishankar h played a key role in resolving crisis following incursion in Lakh's Depsang and 73 days long Doklam stand-off, handling tough negotiations with Beijing. 

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(With ANI inputs)