President Patil to inaugurate International Congress of Mathematicians

New Delhi, July 5 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil will inaugurate the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), the biggest and the most prestigious International meeting of Mathematicians at Hyderabad, on August 19.

ICM is a periodic event organised once in every four years. This is for the first time that the event 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 nine-day meet from August 19 to August 27.

On the occasion, President Patil 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. (ANI)