President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil to Inaugurate International Congress of Mathematicians

The Hon’ble President of India, Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil will inaugurate the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) at Hyderabad on 19th August 2010. The ICM is by far the biggest and the most prestigious International meeting of Mathematicians. It is a periodic event taking place once in every four years. It is the first time that the Congresss is being held in India (and only the third time in Asia - Japan in 1990 and China in 2002 were previous Asian hosts). About 3000 delegates are expected to gather at Hyderabad during the 9-day meet from 19th August - 27th August 2010.

The Hon’ble President will give away the Fields Medal, the most prestigious global award for mathematical achievement, which is traditionally announced and given away at the ICMs. The Fields medal, named after J.M Fields, a Canadian mathematician, is awarded to promising young mathematicians under the age of 40. Winners of three other prestigious awards - Nevanlinna Prize, The Gauss prize and The Chern Prize will also receive their awards from the President of India.

On the sidelines of the Congress, another attractive event will be the opportunity offered to delegates to play against the World Chess Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand. Anand will play Chess against 40 opponents to be chosen from among the delegates to the ICM at Hyderabad. Vishwanathan Anand is a keen follower of developments in Mathematics and Science as he acknowledges that the methodology of problem solving in chess and mathematics are closely linked.

Source: Press Information Bureau
Date: July 05, 2010