Hyderabad varsity denies chess champ Anand doctorate over citizenship doubts - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The University of Hyderabad has denied world chess champion Viswanathan Anand an honorary doctorate after the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) said that it is confused about whether he is an Indian or a Spanish citizen. The university had decided to award Anand an honorary doctorate in 2009 and had formally forwarded the proposal to the ministry recently. Since all foreign awardees require approval from the Ministry of External Affairs, the HRD ministry raised citizenship queries, as Anand lives with his wife in Spain. "We are very upset. We don't have to prove to anyone if we are Indian," said an upset Aruna Anand, the wife of the world champion. "Anand has given everything to the game and also he has no time to take the award and attend the event", she further added. University sources said all relevant documents were forwarded to the ministry, which was expected to approve them and send them to President Pratibha Patil, who holds the official title of Visitor at the University of Hyderabad.