mumbai in recognition of his exceptional achievements in the fields of literature and journalism kings college london has awarded esteemed alumnus khushwant singh a fellowship of the college its highest honour the award was given by professor sir rick trainor principal and president of kings college london at a private ceremony at mr singhs home in delhi on sunday 12 january also attended by professor sunil khilnani 2014 is the 80th anniversary of singhs admission to kings as an undergraduate in 1934 while 2015 is his 100th birthday singh was called to the bar by the honourable society of the inner temple in 1938 he began his legal career on the eve of the second world war and spent eight years practising law at the high court of lahore in 1947 he entered the diplomatic service of a newly independent india and served his country for four years in london and ottawa in 1951 he began a career in journalism during which he edited some of the most prestigious titles in india including the national herald the illustrated weekly of india and new delhi magazine during his tenure at the illustrated weekly he was able to increase circulation from 60000 to 410000 and he still writes a weekly column in the hindustan times singh has published over 100 books and is one of indias bestselling authors of both fiction and nonfiction his first novel train to pakistan has been in print since 1956 while his most recent book was published by penguin on his ninetyeighth birthday in 2013 he was awarded a grant by the rockefeller foundation in 1966 and held visiting lecturerships at the university of oxford princeton university the university of rochester new york the university of hawaii and swarthmore college pennsylvania in 2011 he was awarded an honorary d litt by panjab university he was a member of the rajya sabha the upper house of the parliament of india from 1980 to 1986 in 1974 he was awarded the padma bhushan the third highest civilian award in the republic of india which he returned in 1984 in protest against the siege of the golden temple by the indian army in 2007 he was awarded the padma vibhusha the second highest civilian award of the republic of india professor sir rick trainor principal president of kings college london said we are delighted to confer this award on mr singh in celebration of the substantial achievements of one of our most successful and bestknown indian alumni as he enters his ninth decade of association with kings college london and his 100th birthday