|
November 24, 2002, Pune: NIIT, the creator of mind champions in 27 countries, is bringing Chess Grandmaster and NIIT Brand Ambassador Viswanathan Anand to Pune. Popularly known as Vishy Anand, the NIIT Brand Ambassador, will be accompanied by his charming wife Aruna.
Vishy Anand, who will be interacting with NIIT students, Pune youth and city’s who’s who during his one-day trip to city says, “India with a population of 1 billion has only 52 pc literacy rate. Less than 2 pc of India is computer literate. During my trip I will be appealing to people of Pune, especially the youth, to help India bridge the digital divide. The World Computer Literacy Day, on December 2 presents one such opportunity.”
Vishwanathan Anand arrives in Pune at 6:30 pm on November 25. On Tuesday November 26, he will meet students at NIIT centres in the city. Thereafter, he will address a gathering of 500 students at the Symbiosis College at 11:30 am.
Vishy, known as the “lightening kid of chess” will take on several chess enthusiasts in simultaneous chess event starting at 6 pm at the Nehru Memorial Hall. The enthusiasts will be selected through a contest being conducted by NIIT through a visit to any NIIT center. Answering a few questions is all that will make eligible to play with the greatest Chess Champion India has ever produced and perhaps, pick a tip or two.
In the evening he will also interact with the corporate leaders and Pune’s who’s who at a private event.
About World Computer Literacy Day
NIIT hopes to help over 200,000 people bridge the digital divide on World Computer Literacy Day on December 2. The program will for the time be offered in Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil, in addition to English. NIIT hopes to erase the mark of IT illiteracy by spreading computer literacy amongst the masses through a short SWIFT Jyoti program.
About Vishwanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand,(date of birth 11-12-1969) popularly known as “Vishy, the Tiger from Madras” learnt chess at the tender age of six from his mother. His assets, his lightning speed of play & intuition saw him through as the Youngest National Champion at the age of 16. In 1987 he became the First Asian to win the World Junior Championship. In that year he earned the coveted Grandmaster title. He carved a special place on the chessboard by winning the strongest tournament at that time, The “Reggio Emilia” in Italy in 1991 ahead of Kasparov & Karpov. He won the First World Chess Cup in Shenyang in China (August 2000).
The pinnacle of his career was achieved on 24th December 2000 when Anand became the 15th World Chess Champion in Teheran. By winning the title, Anand becomes the First Asian and Indian to win the title.
Anand has been awarded many prestigious titles in India like the Arjuna Award, the prestigious Padma Shri (the youngest recipient of the title), the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Soviet Land Nehru award, the Padma Bhushan. He was also conferred the prestigious International "Chess Oscars for 1997" and the " Chess Oscars for 1998" by chess journalists from among 55 countries in the world. The award is given to the star performer of each year. The only Asian and non-Russian apart from Bobby Fischer to receive the award. | 
