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2008
iPaint 08 green initiative draws overwhelming response

·         CII- NIIT DigiArt Festival sees a record 80,000 entries submitted by schools across India

·         NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand felicitates iPaint 08 winners at Kidex 08 

Chennai, November 23, 2008: iPaint 08, NIIT DigiArt Festival, an annual digital painting competition organized across schools on a national level, received a record 80,000 entries this year from schools in Assam, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi and Haryana. The overwhelming response was made possible due to the Green initiative, wherein paintings were uploaded by the schools on a specially created site on www.niit.com/ipaint and no print outs were taken.   

World Chess Champion and NIIT MindChampion, Viswanathan Anand felicitated the winners today, during an award ceremony held at the Chennai Trade Centre, as part of Kidex 2008.  

The winners were judged across three categories – Sub Junior, Junior & Senior.  The winning entry in the Sub-Junior category came from Ravi of Biglows Public School, New Delhi; in Junior category, Love Kumar from GSSS Bihni The Thunag, Himachal Pradesh and Pallavi Nagpal from Satyug Darshan Vidyalaya, Haryana, bagged the prizes, and in Senior category, J Vinod, from ZPHS, Andhra Pradesh and K Sai Kumar from Singareni Collaries High School, Andhra Pradesh, emerged as the winners.          

Speaking on the occasion Mr. P Rajendran, Chief Operating Officer, NIIT, remarked, “iPaint 2008 is an initiative of NIIT to enable young minds to express their creativity through technology. By organizing the competition through our Green initiative this year, we hope to instill a sense of responsibility amongst young minds towards their environment.”

Mr. Pradipa K Mohapatra, Chairman, Kidex 2008 in his address said that CII has been focusing on competitiveness and inclusive growth as thrust areas for rapid socio-economic development for the last few years.  While speaking on CII’s emphasis on competitiveness he said that CII was keen to extend its initiatives on competitiveness to children also who will form the next generation. He also opined that the “iPaint 08” – the CII-NIIT Digital Art Festival helps in bringing out the creativeness among kids and is also inclusive. 

Making his first public appearance after winning the World Chess Championship recently at Germany for the 3rd time, Grand Master & NIIT MindChampion, Viswanathan Anand said, “I congratulate all the students who have participated in this contest. The entries deserve a special mention for the high level of creativity shown by the children. I am confident that talent identified through NIIT’s school initiatives, will help shape future champions.”                  

Mr. L Balasubramanian, President, School Learning Solutions, NIIT said, “We are overwhelmed by the response that CII- NIIT DigiArt Festival has received from children all over India. The creative application of technology by the students will help us hone the creative potential of children.”  

The success of this event has made NIIT and CII to open this competition for all schools across the country. The winners of phase II of the event will be felicitated during Hyderabad chapter of KIDEX, 2008, in December. 

iPaint 2008 was extensively technology based both in terms of evaluation and uploading the painting. This is a green initiative with no print outs taken at any level.  Schools from far flung areas were assisted in uploading their paintings by the regional coordinators of NIIT. The judging process that happened simultaneously was carried online, thus reducing the time period. In addition to this, the whole process has been streamlined in a manner that ensured maximum participation. 

At the school level, the competition was conducted in the school premises where internal judges chose from a record 80,000 entries to shortlist 5800 paintings. The selected entries were adjudged by a panel of judges appointed by NIIT to finally declare the winner. The paintings have been uploaded on www.niit.com/ipaint. 

About Kidex 2008

KIDEX 2006 was a maiden initiative of CII with an objective to enable the future generation of the country to be competitive, competent, and part of the inclusive growth. Stimulating from the growth of KIDEX 2006, CII has come out with the 2nd edition of the event in two cities of South India- Chennai and Hyderabad. The event is designed to offer a great value and build sustainable market advantage to the companies catering to the world of Kids. 

About NIIT

NIIT, Asia’s No. 1 IT trainer and leading Global Talent Development Corporation, offers learning and knowledge solutions to over 5 million students across 40 countries. 

Leading IT magazine Dataquest has conferred upon NIIT, the Top IT Training Company Award 2007. Rated among India’s Business Superbrands 2008, NIIT’s Individual Learning Business offerings include industry-endorsed programs for students seeking careers in IT - GNIIT, Integrated ANIIT for Engineers (IAE), and Advanced Technology Programs for IT professionals. 

NIIT offers turnkey IT integration program for schools. NIIT has provided computer-based learning to over 9,500 government and private schools. 

For working professionals, NIIT Imperia, Centre for Advanced Learning, offers Executive Management Education Programmes in association with Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Ahmedabad, Indore and Kolkata. 

NIIT Institute of Finance Banking & Insurance (IFBI), formed by NIIT with equity participation from ICICI Bank, offers programs for individuals and corporates in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance. 

NIIT Uniqua, Centre for Process Excellence, addresses the increasing demand for skilled workers in the business and technology services industry by providing training programs in relevant areas. This is a part of NIIT Institute of Process Excellence, a NIIT-Genpact venture. 

NIIT’s Corporate Learning Solutions, offers integrated learning solutions (including strategic consulting, learning design, content development, delivery, technology, assessment and learning management) to Fortune 500 companies, Universities, Technology companies, Training corporations and Publishing houses. 

Element K delivers learning solutions for customers and partners through a tailored combination of catalog learning products, technology, and services. The offerings include: vLab®: hands-on labs, instructor-led courseware, comprehensive e-reference libraries, technical journals, and KnowledgeHub™: hosted learning management platform.  

NIIT together with Element K is now the first and the best choice for comprehensive learning solutions, worldwide.

About CII

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.
CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded over 113 years ago, it is India's premier business association, with a direct membership of over 7500 organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 83,000 companies from around 380 national and regional sectoral associations.

CII catalyses change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialised services and global linkages. It also provides a platform for sectoral consensus building and networking. Major emphasis is laid on projecting a positive image of business, assisting industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with over 120 NGOs across the country carry forward our initiatives in integrated and inclusive development, which include health, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development and water, to name a few.

Complementing this vision, CII's theme "India@75: The Emerging Agenda", reflects its aspirational role to facilitate the acceleration in India's transformation into an economically vital, technologically innovative, socially and ethically vibrant global leader by year 2022.

With 64 offices in India, 8 overseas in Australia, Austria, China, France, Japan, Singapore, UK, USA and institutional partnerships with 271 counterpart organisations in 100 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.
 

For media queries, please contact:

Prateek Chatterjee, NIIT Ltd, Ph: (Cell) +91 9910201085, (Dir) +91 124 4293041

Email: prateek.chatterjee@niit.com  or

Visit www.niit.com