Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in budget speech. (Courtesy: @Media_SAI)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted India”s top-ranked chess player R Praggnanandhaa”s achievements in her budget speech on Thursday. She said that the nation is proud of the youth scaling new heights, noting how the Indian chess prodigy gave a stiff fight against the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen in 2023.
While presenting the interim budget, Sitharaman mentioned that India has developed 80 grandmasters now compared to the 20 in 2010. “The country is proud of our youth scaling new heights in sports. The highest ever medal tally in Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023 reflects a high confidence level,” she said.
“Chess prodigy and our number-one ranked player Praggnanandhaa put up a stiff fight against the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsson in 2023. Today, India has over 80 chess grandmasters compared to little over 20 in 2010,” she added.
Hon'ble Finance Minister, Shrimati @nsitharaman ji highlighted the notable achievements of the Indian contingent during her addressal speech of #Budget2024
Nirmala ji further reiterated that during the year 2023, our nation achieved its most substantial medal count to date in… pic.twitter.com/v0blCTbiFv
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) February 1, 2024
The 18-year-old defeated China”s Liren with the black pieces at the 2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. His brilliant performance helped him surpass Viswanathan Anand to attain the top ranking in India.
Notably, Praggnanandhaa started playing chess at the age of five and went on to become India”s youngest and world”s second youngest chess master at the age of 12. He is the fifth-youngest to receive the title of grandmaster after the likes of Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D and Javokhir Sindarov.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister also mentioned above India achieving the highest tally in Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023. The nation brought 107 medals from the Asian Games and 111 from the Asian Para Games.
