The French government has conferred its highest civilian award on Muthusamy Varadarajan, President of Alliance Francaise de Delhi, for his contribution to Indo-French cooperation in the academic and cultural fields. French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont presented the medal of 'Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur' (Knight of theLegion of Honour) to Varadarajan at a function in New Delhi last evening. <br/><br/> The 77-year-old retired IAS officer thanked President Nicolas Sarkozy for conferring the award upon him. The award was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in May 1802.