Bhubaneswar: The entire KIIT family, comprising students and staff, displayed their wholehearted and enthusiastic support for the upcoming Chess Olympiad to be held at Chennai.
Students of both KIIT and KISS lined up on both sides of the main road leading to the campuses and extended a spectacular welcome to the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay, accompanied by thunderous applause.
The relay passed through more than 50,000 cheering students — 30,000 from KISS and 20,000 staff and students from KIIT.
KIIT & KISS Founder Prof. Achyuta Samanta, KIIT-DU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sasmita Samanta and Registrar Prof. J R Mohanty, chess players Padmini Rout and Aparajita Gochhikar were present at the unique welcome, along with officials of state and national chess bodies.
The relay reached Bhubaneswar as part of its journey through 75 iconic cities of India over 40 days to mark the 75th year of the country’s independence.
India is the first host country to organize the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay according to Olympic tradition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the torch relay at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium on June 19. It will reach Chennai before the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad gets underway on July 28.
