Another feather has been added to the crown of Vishwananthan Anand as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has honoured Anand with whopping 2 crore rupees gift and also a recommendation for Bharat Ratna.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday presented a cheque for Rs 2 crore to Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand for winning the World Chess Championship crown for the fifth time.
The Chief Minister had earlier sent a letter to Anand saying that he had brought laurels both to Tamil Nadu and India and announced a reward of Rs 2 crore.
Thanking Ms. Jayalalithaa for the cash reward, Anand also backed the idea of corporate support for chess, saying it will help the sport. Ms. Jayalalithaa had recently said that Anand deserves Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award as asked the centre to consider giving Bharat Ratna to Anand.
Anand defeated challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in a tense rapid chess tie-breaker to win the World Championship crown for the fourth time in a row in Moscow on May 30. The state government has brought out a booklet in honour of Anand, called as Vishy Anand, detailing his achievements from 1986 to 2012. The information material, published by Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), termed him as the “Pride of Chennai -- The Greatest Chess Player”, and praised him for bringing an “Anand Wave” to inspire more Indians take to the game.
However some activists of Tamil Nadu have questioned why only Anand is honoured by the Chief Minister while Ilavazhagi, world carrom champion has been ignored throughout. Ilavazhagi is still not recognised by the government properly. She is just managing to run her livelihood with a job in a college.
It is to be noted that Anand lives in sheer luxury and mostly he spends his time in Spain. Now this 2 crore gift cheque is just an incentive to cash rich Anand.
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