The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Going by logical thinking

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Going by logical thinking

Special Correspondent

Manindra Agrawal wins Infosys Mathematics Prize

A PLEASANT SURPRISE: NIAS director K. Kasturirangan (right), Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Director of Infosys T.V. Mohandas Pai (left) and Prof. B.V. Sreekantan of NIAS (second from right) at a press conference to announce the Infosys Mathematics Prize in Bagalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: Infosys Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy deemed it a coincidence. Manindra Agrawal, the first winner of Infosys Mathematics Prize, is on the faculty of IIT-Kanpur, which happens to be Mr. Murthy’s alma mater.

The prize includes a cash component of Rs. 10 lakh.

Once this was explained, the co-founder of Infosys did his best to present a strong case for the study of pure mathematics and how mathematicians should be encouraged to come out with innovative solutions that can go beyond applications in computing. For instance, Dr. Agrawal’s research is in Complexity Theory, related to the study of algorithms which is what computing is all about.

National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) is closely involved with the Infosys Prize, apart from jointly instituting it. NIAS director K. Kasturirangan told reporters that the prize was to encourage more research and studies in mathematics, largely overlooked in recent years, “despite a long tradition in mathematics”.

The number of papers presented by Indian researchers at international mathematics conferences had come down to an abysmal level, he said.

His colleague B.V. Sreekantan referred to the suggestions that surfaced at a recent NIAS workshop on Higher Mathematics. Job opportunities was one component; Department of Atomic Energy, ISRO and DRDL, were just a few organisations where distinguished young mathematicians could be employed.

Mr. Murthy let the media into a secret: the Infosys Prize was actually funded by T.V. Mohandas Pai, the company’s director

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka