Charity Chess: Entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath admits taking "help" to beat Viswanathan Anand, apologises
Chennai, Jun 14: An online charity chess event featuring former world champion Viswanathan Anand and several celebrities has run into controversy after a young entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath faced flak for resorting to unfair means in order to beat the Indian legend.
Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, a stock brokerage company and True Beacon, an asset management company, apologised on Twitter and admitted that he took help from chess analysts and computers during the event on Sunday.
Responding to Kamath's tweet, Anand said on Twitter: "Yesterday was a celebrity simul for people to raise money. It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game. I just played the position on the board and expected the same from everyone."
Kamath apologised for his misdemeanour and said he had help from people analysing the game and computers.
"... . It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt. I had help from the people analyzing the game, computers and the graciousness of Anand sir himself to treat the game as a learning experience. This was for fun and charity. In hindsight, it was quite silly as I didn't realise all the confusion that can get caused due to this. Apologies," Kamath tweeted.
Kamath's misdemeanour overshadowed the noble cause and Twitter saw several users slam the entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, All India Chess Federation Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan said it was unfortunate that such an incident happened during a charity event.
"It is really unfortunate. He (Nikhil Kamath) is a big celebrity. He should not have done that. This is really bad. For the noble cause, we are helping people and such things shouldn't happen," he told PTI.
"He is not a regular player nor our member and we don't have jurisdiction," Chauhan said when asked if any action was possible against Kamath.
The event - Checkmate Covid, was organised by Chess.com India (chess.com is a global online chess community) with NGO Akshaya Patra Foundation. It saw various celebrities including Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal and actor Aamir Khan among others taking on Anand in simultaneous games on Sunday evening to raise money for families affected during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chess.com said more than Rs 10 lakh was raised from the event and thanked the participants for making it a success.
It is ridiculous that so many are thinking that I really beat Vishy sir in a chess game, that is almost like me waking up and winning a 100mt race with Usain Bolt. ? pic.twitter.com/UoazhNiAZV
— Nikhil Kamath (@nikhilkamathcio) June 14, 2021
Yesterday was a celebrity simul for people to raise money It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game.I just played the position onthe board and expected the same from everyone . pic.twitter.com/ISJcguA8jQ
— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) June 14, 2021
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
