FORMER BBC India correspondent Mark Tully has been signed up to give the annual address on toleration at the University of York tonight.

The annual JB and WB Morrell lecture series is intended to make a contribution to thought on the subject of toleration.

Through his broadcasts and writings Mark Tully has been the principal interpreter of India for British audiences for 30 years.

He joined the BBC in 1964 and rose from a BBC correspondent to assistant reporter in New Delhi to BBC South Asia correspondent.

Since 1994 he has been a freelance journalist and broadcaster continuing to be based in New Delhi.

In addition to broadcasts Mr Tully has written books including one to accompany the BBC series The Lives of Jesus which he presented in 1996.

He also co-wrote Amritsar - Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle - about the conflict which centred on the storming of the Golden Temple. From Raj to Rajiv, which he also helped write, traced the story of India's first 40 years of independence.

The speakers who give the address each year are highly distinguished and have in the past included Sir Edward Heath and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey.

Mr Tully has chosen the title 'Democracy - is there a better form of government? The Indian Experience'.

The lecture will be given at the university's physics lecture theatre P/X001 at 8 o'clock.