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Indian boy in Gaza earns
Microsoft certificate

Photograph: Reuters

The seven-year-old son of an Indian diplomat in the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip has been awarded a Microsoft certificate which is so advanced that some US universities require that their students earn it to graduate.

Anudeep Bhaskar obtained a Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) certificate after passing the Microsoft Office 2000 Word exam in May by scoring 891 points, surpassing the required 770.

Bhaskar and his family moved to Gaza Strip shortly before Palestinians began an uprising against Israeli occupation in September, 2000. The Israeli army has responded to Palestinian attacks with air strikes on Gaza.

"Israeli bombardments used to cut off electricity and I had to wait for hours and when electricity came back my work on the screen would have vanished and I had to redo it," said Bhaskar.

In a letter to the second-grade student, an official from the MOUS programme said Bhaskar was "one of very few, gifted young people in his age group that reached this level."

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