The Silicon Valley is not the only place that’s humming with activity. The action in the IT world is right here in Kolkata. And as Mr Rajeev Goswami, CEO-CATS, says, "It’s time we recognised this power and create a forum for the IT Industry where all can come together, share ideas, work on challenges and have lots of fun together."

February 18, 2001 saw 24 of the biggest IT companies in Kolkata getting together to take control of the mouse. To get them out of their programming holes and cubicles. The battleground for the City’s first IT industry exclusive quiz. Because it’s time India woke up to the power of Kolkata’s IT fraternity. To break the myth of IT’s facelessness in Kolkata.
Twenty minutes of tense silence prevailed in the Preliminary Round as the twenty four 3 member teams put their heads together to match their wits with ace quiz master Siddhartha Basu. Apart from tricky questions like, "Who was the co-founder of Hotmail?" Or simple ones as NASSCOM’s full form. Even a question on our very own Caltiger.com. Including corporate questions, which also tested the teams’ knowledge outside their technical proficiency.

After a break Siddhartha Basu took the stage. To answer the million dollar question. Who’s finally going to take control of the mouse? Eight teams qualified for the final battle of Kolkata’s mouse drivers.

• 2 teams from Price Waterhouse Coopers

• 2 teams from Cognizant Technology Solutions

• Usha Martin Telekom

• ITC Infotech Limited

• Usha Comm. Ltd.

• Compaq Computers

In an amazing battle of wits in the next two hours, Siddhartha Basu and the 8 teams made the audience sit up. Questions like the name of the first cyber café in India or visual slides of IT legends or the name of the world champion who lost chess game to Mephisto kept the over enthusiastic audience enthralled. In an absolute mix of audio & visual rounds, the BBC Mastermind man brought out the best in the Quizzers. And if somebody felt that he drove the mouse drivers up the wall, they’re wrong. The teams surely matched up to the Basu’s fire in the finals. Although the ending was quite dramatic with a tie breaker between Usha Martin Telekom and Cognizant Technologies Solutions fighting for the second place. The Calcutta quiz lovers could not have had it better.

What started as just a forum for the IT industry in Kolkata ended as one of the grandest shows. With the audience picking up prizes from the Oberoi Grand, Bhuvaneshwar and many others. And who bagged the first prize of a ticket to Paris from Air France and a PC. It was Compaq Computers (I) P. Ltd. Usha Martin Telecom won the second prize of a ticket to Singapore along with free stay from Cox & Kings. Cognizant Technologies Solutions, the second runner-up walked away with a Aiwa music systems and a Command cell phone. Not to forget the loads of prizes from Allied Publishers, Rolex Opticals and Book Stop.

Computer Associates TCG Software is a 51:49 joint venture between Computer Associates and The Chatterjee Group. CA-TCG is the largest software technology center for CA outside the United States. Apart from software development for CA and global clients, the company provides professional services in implementation of CA products and consultancy services on security and Neugents technology of CA. The World Wide Web address of Computer Associates TCG Software is www.catsglobal.com Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA), the world's leading business software company, delivers the end-to-end infrastructure to enable eBusiness through innovative technology, services and education. CA has 20,000 employees worldwide and had revenue in excess of $6 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. For more information, visit www.ca.com. For more information about CA, please call 631-342-5224 or e-mail info@ca.com The Chatterjee Group (TCG) builds businesses and management for the well being of shareholders, employees and the community at large. The Group makes long term strategic investments in both private and public companies to generate significant appreciation. TCG invests worldwide with current investments in North America, Europe, Israel, China, India and Russia. For more information about TCG, please call 91 33 280 4876