Devesh Narayanan (9th Std) from Vikhe Patil Memorial School, Patrakar Nagar Wins HDFC Life Spell Bee - India Spells 2011 Pune Round

Devesh Narayanan will participate in the Grand Finale to be held in Mumbai. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) February 15, 2011 - Pune - Devesh Narayanan (9th Std) from Vikhe Patil Memorial School, Patrakar Nagar, Pune battled it out with students from 50 schools to be crowned as the winner of the Pune round of the much talked about 'HDFC Life Spelling Bee - India Spells 2011,' the Indian counterpart of the highly acclaimed Scripps National Spelling Bee, USA. . Devesh Narayanan will now participate in the "Grand Finale" of the famed competition to be in held in Mumbai.

The Pune city final was held today at Millennium National School, Pune battled it out at the final city round, Devesh Narayanan received a certificate for winning the city finale round.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Sudheer Phatak, Founder and Director, Millennium National School, "I'm delighted on being present here today to felicitate the winner of HDFC Life Spell Bee-India Spells 2011. HDFC Life and Alternate Brand Solutions India Limited (ABSIL) have taken a fruitful step in encouraging students to increase their proficiency in the English language. These young minds are the future of this country and initiatives such as HDFC Life Spell Bee help groom them for tomorrow. I wish HDFC Life and ABSIL many more years of success in taking forward the HDFC Life Spell Bee initiative and hope to see more corporate involvement in the development of this nation."

Speaking about HDFC Life Spell Bee Mr. Prashant Panday - Chief Executive Officer of ABSIL said, "The efforts put in by our team have helped us in achieving a very high level of entries for the competition. This clearly indicates, the strong interest generated in the minds of the students and parents for such an initiative. The English language has over the years been woven with much prominence into India's lingual fabric. HDFC Life Spell Bee aims at strengthening the basics of the language amongst Indian students and gives a fillip to their proficiency in English. HDFC Life has partnered the event for the third consecutive year which gives us great joy"

Sanjay Tripathy, EVP and Head, Marketing & Direct Channels, HDFC Life said "I am delighted with the overwhelming response received in Pune for HDFC Life Spell Bee - India Spells 2011. This enthusiasm clearly signifies the craving among young minds for improving their English spelling skills, vocabulary, and pronunciations. The first two seasons of HDFC Life Spell Bee received a phenomenal response and has generated lots of interest to participate and new internal initiatives in schools. Parents agreed that there was a need to provide opportunities such as HDFC Life Spell Bee among kids to sharpen their spelling skills. I am confident that HDFC Life Spell Bee - India Spells 2011 would achieve its objective of reaching out to students in smaller towns and cities to benefit from this unique and scholarly education series. I congratulate Devesh and wish him/her luck for the grand finale."

Students can experience the elation and excitement of the competition and hone their spelling skills by watching the excerpts of the event on Ten Sports Channel. Commenting on the association with the 'HDFC Life Spell Bee-India Spells 2011'

All winners of each of the participating cities will participate in the Grand Finale in Mumbai. The winner of the Grand Finale along with his or her parent will be sent by The Times Group to experience the Scripps National Spelling Bee at Washington DC.

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