New Delhi: The University of Madras has conferred an honorary doctor of literature (D.Litt) degree on Kandeh K. Yumkella, the director-general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

University of Madras vice-chancellor S. Ramachandran conferred the degree on Yumkella at the special convocation and valedictory function of 150th year celebrations of the university, a UNIDO statement said.

"His people-centred management style makes his colleagues work with dignity, honesty and integrity. It is for his practical foresight and the reforms he has brought about in UNIDO practices that he has been conferred the degree," Ramachandran said at the function on Friday.

In his acceptance speech, Yumkella said: "The skills and capabilities today stem from an interactive framework between universities, institutions and enterprises. The fastest are those who interact with centres of excellence. Such an interactive framework is the nerve centre of national and sectoral innovation systems and the basis for sustainable wealth and employment creation."

Besides Yumkella, the University of Madras also conferred D.Litt degrees on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. IANS