The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : The National Spelling Bee is here

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

The National Spelling Bee is here

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: Over 5,000 students will participate in the `National Spelling Bee Contest 2006', organised by Annapoorna Salt in eight cities across the country.

Addressing mediapersons on Wednesday, U. Bharath of Annapoorna Salt said, "Our aim is to take the contest to 1 million children every year."

"We conducted surveys and mock tests for students and found that their spelling proficiency has been deteriorating. This isthe result of new modes of communication such as SMS, chat and the availability of spell check options," said noted quizmaster Giri Balasubramaniam, who will host the contest.

"It is interesting to note that many of the winners of the Spelling Bee contests held in the US are children of Indian origin. It occurred to us that such a contest should be held in India as well and we got on the job," he added.

Preliminary rounds of the contest, open for students of class four to seven, will be held in Chennai, Kochi, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata from January 13.

"In the qualifying rounds, we have created platforms powered by technology because children of this generation are very fond of computer games," said Mr. Balasubramaniam.

The top 12 from each city will take part in the semi-finals. Of these, six will make it to the finals.

Winners will receive scholarships from Annapoorna Salt, and will be featured by Cartoon Network. To register, log on to www.spellingbee.in.

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