Tejas Arora from Amritsar and Chankil Thakur from Mandi, Himachal
Pradesh adjudged as the winners
Jaipur, January 16, 2009:
World Chess Champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand was in
town to felicitate the winners of North Zone Finals of the NIIT MindChampions
Academy- Chess Master 2008. The felicitation function was held at Step by Step
School, Jaipur. Tejas Arora, a student from Springdale Senior Secondary School,
Amritsar, Punjab and Chankil Thakur, a student from Govt. Senior Secondary
School, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh emerged as the winners for North Zone. NIIT
MindChampions Academy is a joint initiative of NIIT, a leading Global Talent
Development Corporation and Asia’s No. 1 Trainer and World Chess Champion
Viswanathan Anand to initiate young minds into the World of Chess.
Sh. Master Bhanwar Lal, Hon’ble
Education Minister, Govt. of Rajasthan joined World Chess Champion & NIIT
MindChampion Viswanathan Anand and Mr. Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman, NIIT Ltd. as
the Chief Guest to give away prizes to the winners of North Zone.
The North Zone level contest
witnessed widespread participation by nearly 1438 students from over 396
Government and Private Schools spread across 8 states and Union Territories. The
record participation was made possible due to matches being played over the
internet from district level onwards across the Zone. This allowed schools even
from the remote areas where NIIT has been working with state government schools
as well as private schools to educate and train the kids in use of ICT, to
enroll for Chess Master 2008.
Sh. Master Bhanwar Lal, Hon’ble
Education Minister, Govt. of Rajasthan recognized the commendable performance of
the young MindChampions in the game of Chess and encouraged them to continue to
exhibit the same zeal and brilliance. He said that the budding talent needs to
be mentored and guided and that NIIT MindChampions Academy is offering the
aspiring young Chess players a perfect platform to learn and grow.
According to Mr. Rajendra S Pawar,
Chairman, NIIT Ltd., “Chess improves academics and mental development. The NIIT
MindChampions Academy will popularize Chess in India’s Schools.”
At the Zonal finals conducted, 9 NIIT
Mind Champions (state level winners) from schools vied for the coveted slot for
competing in the finals. The winners from the North Zone got an opportunity to
play simultaneous Chess with the Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand.
Felicitating the winners of North
Zone, Viswanathan Anand said, “It is a proud feeling to see these young children
actively take part in Chess Mater 2008. I congratulate both the winners for
wining the NIIT MCA North Zone Final Championship and wish them a bright future
ahead.”
“I am confident that the excellence
and determination that these young children have displayed will help them
perform well in academics as well. It is heartening to see that NIIT
MindChampions Academy has reached huge number of children across the country to
initiate them into the game of Chess,” he added.
Winners of the North Zone Finals of NIIT
MindChampions Academy Chess Master 2008 will represent the zone at the National
Finals. The National winner will be awarded by the World Chess Champion
Viswanathan Anand at a mega event for National Finals in New Delhi on January
17, 2009.
The NIIT MindChampions Academy has provided platform to the
young Chess players like Karthikeyan Murali who was sponsored by the academy for
the All India Chess Finals at Ahmedabad in August 2008 and other competitions to
improve his FIDE rating. His current rating is 1780 and he stands 40th out of
the 210 participant at the national level.
Launched in 2002 with an objective of
initiating students into the world of Chess, NIIT Mind Champions Academy has
today fostered nearly 6351 chess clubs with more than 7,45,000 students
cumulatively since inception, as its members in schools where NIIT offers
computer education. World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand has personally
travelled to Agartala, Guwahati, Raipur, Patna, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi,
Chennai and other cities across India, spreading the message and motivating the
school students to start playing. NIIT MindChampions Academy conducts an Annual
Chess Tournament, known as Chess Master for these school children across 16
states in the NIIT network. Chess Master 2008 was flagged off by NIIT Mind
Champion Viswanathan Anand in New Delhi and simultaneously in 11 other cities
through NIIT Imperia’s Synchronous Learning Technology in May last year.
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 2008. 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.
For media queries, please
contact:
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Email: prateek.chatterjee@niit.com
or
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4293042
Email: shikha.kataria@niit.com or
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