Indian Statistical Institute

Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a public university which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament.[4] It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in Presidency College, Kolkata. Established in 1931, this unique institution of India is one of the oldest institutions focused on statistics, and its early reputation led it to being adopted as a model for the first US institute of statistics set up at the Research Triangle, North Carolina by Gertrude Mary Cox.[5]

Indian Statistical Institute
Mottoभिन्नेष्वैक्यस्य दर्शनम् (Sanskrit)
Motto in English
Unity in diversity
TypePublic university
Established17 December 1931; 92 years ago (17 December 1931)
FoundersPrasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
Budget322.29 crore (US$40 million) (2023–24 est.)[1]
ChairmanPronab Sen
PresidentSankar Kumar Pal
DirectorSanghamitra Bandyopadhyay
Academic staff
262[2]
Administrative staff
1000[3]
Students1,137[2]
Undergraduates214[2]
Postgraduates618[2]
305[2]
Location
Kolkata (HQ)
CampusMultiple sites
Other campuses
JournalThe Indian Journal of Statistics
NicknameISI
AffiliationsAIU
Websitewww.isical.ac.in Edit this at Wikidata

Primary activities of ISI are research and training of statistics, development of theoretical statistics and its applications in various natural and social sciences. Originally affiliated with the University of Calcutta, the institute was declared an institute of national importance in 1959, through an act of Indian parliament, Indian Statistical Institute act, 1959. ISI functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) of the government of India.[6]

Key areas of ISI are statistics, computer science, mathematics, mathematical economics, operations research and information science and it is one of the few research oriented Indian schools offering courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

History edit

ISI's origin can be traced back to the Statistical Laboratory in Presidency College, Kolkata, set up by Mahalanobis, who worked in the Physics Department of the college in the 1920s. During 1913–1915, he did his Tripos in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Cambridge,[7] where he came across Biometrika, a journal of statistics founded by Karl Pearson.[8] Since 1915, he taught physics at Presidency College,[7] but his interest in statistics grew under the guidance of polymath Brajendranath Seal.[8] Many colleagues of Mahalanobis took an interest in statistics and the group grew in the Statistical Laboratory. Considering the extensive application of statistics in solving various problems in real life such as analyzing multivariate anthropometric data, applying sample surveys as a method of data collection, analyzing meteorological data, estimating crop yield etc., this group, particularly, Mahalanobis and his younger colleagues S. S. Bose and H. C. Sinha felt the necessity of forming a specialized institute to facilitate research and learning of statistics.[9]

On 17 December 1931, Mahalonobis held a meeting with Pramatha Nath Banerji (Minto Professor of Economics), Nikhil Ranjan Sen (Khaira Professor of Applied Mathematics) and Sir R. N. Mukherjee.[9][10][11] This meeting led to the establishment of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), which was formally registered on 28 April 1932, as a non-profit distributing learned society under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.[10][11] Later, the institute was registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act XXVI of 1961, amended in 1964.[12] Mukherjee accepted the role of the president of ISI and held this position until his death in 1936.[12] In 1953,[13] ISI was relocated to a property owned by Professor Mahalanobis, named "Amrapali", in Baranagar, which is now a municipality at the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

In 1931, Mahalanobis was the only person working at ISI, and he managed it with an annual expenditure of Rs. 250. It gradually grew with the pioneering work of a group of his colleagues including S. S. Bose, Samarendra Kumar Mitra (Head of the Computing Machines and Electronics Laboratory and designer of India's first computer), J. M. Sengupta, Raj Chandra Bose, Samarendra Nath Roy, K. R. Nair, R. R. Bahadur, Gopinath Kallianpur, D. B. Lahiri, and Anil Kumar Gain. Pitamber Pant, who had received training in statistics at the institute, went on to become a secretary to the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and was a great source of help and support to the institute.[10]

The institute started a training section in 1938. In due course, many of the early workers left the ISI for careers in the United States or for positions in the public and private sectors in India. By the 1940s, the ISI was internationally known and was taken as a model when the first institute of statistics was set up in the United States by Gertrude Cox – perhaps the only time an institute in a developing country was used as a model in a developed country.[5]

As asked by the government of India, in 1950, ISI designed and planned a comprehensive socio–economic national sample survey covering rural India. The organisation named National Sample Survey (NSS) was founded in 1950 for conducting this survey.[14] The field work was performed by the Directorate of NSS, functioning under the Ministry of Finance, whereas the other tasks such as planning of the survey, training of field workers, review, data processing and tabulation were executed by ISI.[14] In 1961, the Directorate of NSS started functioning under the Department of Statistics of government of India, and later in 1971, the design and analysis wing of NSS was shifted from ISI to the Department of Statistics forming the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).[14]

J. B. S. Haldane joined the ISI as a research professor from August 1957, and stayed on until February 1961, when he had a falling out with ISI Director P.C. Mahalanobis over Haldane's going on a much-publicized hunger strike to protest the United States pressuring U.S. National Science Fair winners Gary Botting and Susan Brown from attending an ISI banquet to which many prominent Indian scientists had been invited.[15] Haldane helped the ISI grow in biometrics.[16] Haldane also played a key role in developing the structure and content of the courses offered by ISI.

Until 1959, ISI was associated with the University of Calcutta. By 'The Indian Statistical Institute Act 1959' of the Parliament of India, amended in 1995, ISI was declared an institute of national importance,[4] and was authorised to hold examinations and to grant degrees and diplomas in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Economics, and in any other subject related to statistics as identified by the institute from time to time.[4] ISI is a public university, as the same act also states that ISI would be funded by the Central Government of India.[4]

ISI had by the 1960s started establishing special service units in New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad to provide consultancy services to business, industry and governmental public service organisations in the areas of statistical process control, operations research and industrial engineering. Additionally, Bangalore had a Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC). In the early 1970s, the Delhi and Bangalore units were converted to teaching centres. In 2008, ISI Chennai was upgraded to a teaching centre.[17] In 2011, ISI added a new centre in Tezpur.[18]

Campuses edit

The major objectives of the ISI are[19] to facilitate research and training of Statistics, to indulge in development of statistical theory and in application of statistical techniques – in the scenarios of planning at national level and in theoretical development of natural and social sciences, to participate in the process of data collection and analysis, to operate related projects in planning and improvement of efficiency of management and production.

The Sanskrit phrase भिन्नेष्वैक्यस्य दर्शणम् (Bhinneswaykyasya Darshanam), which literally means the philosophy of unity in diversity, is incorporated in the logo of the institute, and is the motto of ISI.[19] ISI Kolkata is the headquarter with centres at New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai .[20] Tezpur, the 4th centre of ISI was inaugurated in 2011.[21]

Indian Statistical Institute
Institute / Center City State Founded Type Website Notes
ISI Kolkata Kolkata West Bengal 1931 Institute and HQ
ISI Chennai Chennai Tamil Nadu 1960 Centre
ISI Bangalore Bengaluru Karnataka 1966 Institute Started as unit in 1954
ISI Delhi New Delhi Delhi 1974 Institute
ISI Tezpur Tezpur Assam 2011 Institute

ISI, Kolkata edit

 
Main Building of Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
 
ISI Kolkata board on the gate 205.
 
CV Raman Hall, ISI Kolkata.

ISI Kolkata has a campus consisting of six addresses at 201 through 206 Barrackpore Trunk Road, Bonhooghly (Baranagar). These include a house, which was an erstwhile office of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) of India.

ISI Kolkata campus is eco-friendly, as conceived by Mahalanobis. Hollow bricks that protect from heat and noise were used with minimum use of reinforced concrete, to avoid radiation. There was no use of bitumen-basalt combination at the roads inside ISI campuses. This helps in reduction of radiation and preservation of rain water to maintain equilibrium in ground-water level.

The Kolkata campus offers bachelors level degree course in Statistics (B. Stat), master's degree course in Statistics (M.Stat), Mathematics (M.Math), Computer Science (MTech), Cryptology & Security (MTech), Quality Reliability and Operations Research (MTech) and Quantitative Economics (M.S.).[22] Major divisions and units are: Statistics and Mathematics Unit (SMU), Human Genetics Unit (HGU), Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit (PAMU), Geological Studies Unit (GSU), Advanced Computation and MicroElectronics Unit (ACMU), Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Unit (CVPRU), Machine Intelligence Unit (MIU), Electronics and Communication Sciences Unit (ECSU), Applied Statistics Unit (ASU), Economic Research Unit (ERU), Linguistic Research Unit (LRU), Sociology Research Unit (SRU), Psychometry Research Unit (PRU) and Population Studies Unit (PSU).

The Kolkata campus houses the International Statistical Education Centre (ISEC), which opened in 1950. This centre provides training in statistics to sponsored students mainly from the Middle East, South and South East Asia, the Far East and the Commonwealth Countries of Africa. The centre also offers various short-term courses in statistics and related subjects.

The Center for Soft Computing Research: A National Facility, an associate institute of Indian Statistical Institute and established in Kolkata in 2005, is unique in the country. Apart from conducting basic research, it offers a 3-month course and promotes less endowed institutes by providing fellowships and research grants.

The Central Library of ISI is located at Kolkata with branches at the other facilities. The library has over 200,000 volumes of books and journals with a special emphasis on the field of statistics and related studies. The main branch also has a collection of official reports, reprints, maps, and microfilms. The library receives over a thousand new technical and scientific journals every year. The Library has databases on CD-ROM and is working on further digitization of the collection. The library has a separate collection of works on the topics of mathematics and statistics called the Eastern Regional Centre of NBHM collection, funded by grants from the National Board for Higher Mathematics. It also looks to set up research unit in artificial intelligence[23]

ISI, Delhi edit

The ISI campus at New Delhi was established in 1974 and was shifted to the present campus in 1975.[24]

The Delhi campus offers two master level courses Master of Statistics (M. Stat) and Master of Science (M. S.) in Quantitative Economics, and doctoral programs.[22]

ISI, Bangalore edit

The Bengaluru centre of ISI started with a Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research (SQC & OR) unit in 1954.[25] The Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) here became operational from 1962 with honorary professor S. R. Ranganathan as the head.[26] Prof. Mahalanobis planned of starting a full-fledged centre of ISI here around the mid-sixties. In 1966, the then Government of Karnataka granted ISI 30 acres of forest land full of eucalyptus trees, next to the upcoming campus of the Bangalore University, located on the Mysore Road on the outskirts of the city.[27]

However, after death of Prof. Mahalanobis in 1972, the project of establishing Bengaluru centre got temporarily shelved. The project was again revived during 1976–78. Concrete proposals were made to the Government of India to get grants for the development of the land already in possession of ISI, along with the construction of an academic block with a library and offices.[27]

In the meantime, a building was rented on Church Street, in Bengaluru downtown, and various activities of the Bengaluru centre started in September 1978. The Economic Analysis Unit (EAU) and the Statistics and Mathematics Unit were established. The SQC&OR Unit and the DRTC unit, which were functioning from other rented buildings at that time, joined this new Centre.

As construction of the administrative block at the new campus got completed, the various units moved to the new campus in May 1985.

The Bengaluru centre was formally declared as a centre of ISI in September 1996.[27]

The Systems Science and Informatics Unit (SSIU) was established in 2009[27]

The Bengaluru centre has by now became an institution for academic activities in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, SQC and Operations Research, Library and Information Science, and Quantitative Economics.[27]

The Bengaluru campus offers bachelor level course Bachelor of Mathematics, master level courses Master of Mathematics, Master of Science (M. S.) in Library and Information Science and Master of Science (M. S.) in Quality Management Science, and doctoral programs.[22]

ISI, Tezpur edit

Academics edit

 
New Academic Building, ISI Kolkata
 
Main building, ISI Delhi Campus
 
Main building, ISI Bangalore Campus

Traditionally, ISI offers fewer programs (and admits fewer students) than most other degree granting academic institutions. Following the empowerment for granting degrees in the subject of Statistics as per the ISI Act 1959, in 1960, ISI initiated bachelor level degree program Bachelor of Statistics and master level degree course Master of Statistics, and also began awarding research level degrees such as PhD and DSc.[28] Later, ISI started offering Master of Technology (MTech) courses in Computer Science and in Quality, Reliability & Operations Research (QR&OR); these courses got recognition from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).[28] As ISI Act of 1959 was amended by the Parliament of India in 1995, ISI was empowered to confer degrees and diplomas in subjects such as Mathematics, Quantitative Economics, Computer Science, and other subjects related to Statistics and Operations Research as determined by ISI from time to time.[28] Apart from the degree courses, ISI offers few diploma and certificate courses, special diploma courses for international students via ISEC, and special courses in collaboration with CSO for training probationary officers of Indian Statistical Service (ISS).[29]

Research Divisions and Centers edit

Division Units
Applied Statistics
  • Applied Statistics Unit, KOLKATA
  • Applied Statistics Unit, CHENNAI
  • Interdisciplinary Statistical Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Applied and Official Statistics Unit, TEZPUR
Biological Sciences
  • Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, GIRIDIH
  • Biological Anthropology Unit, KOLKATA
  • Human Genetics Unit, KOLKATA
Computer and Communication Sciences
  • Advanced Computing and Microelectronics Unit, KOLKATA
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Unit, KOLKATA
  • Cryptology and Security Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Computer Science Unit, CHENNAI
  • Electronics and Communication Sciences Unit, KOLKATA
  • Machine Intelligence Unit, KOLKATA
  • Documentation Research and Training Centre, BANGALORE
  • Systems Science and Informatics Unit, BANGALORE
Physics and Earth Sciences
  • Geological Studies Unit, KOLKATA
  • Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit, KOLKATA
  • Theoretical and Applied Sciences Unit, TEZPUR
Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics
  • Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, KOLKATA
  • Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, BANGALORE
  • Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, CHENNAI
  • Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, DELHI
Social Sciences
  • Economic Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Economic Analysis Unit, BANGALORE
  • Economics and Planning Unit, DELHI
  • Linguistic Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Population Studies Unit, KOLKATA
  • Psychology Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Sampling and Official Statistics Unit, KOLKATA
  • Sociological Research Unit, KOLKATA
  • Socio-Economic Research Unit, TEZPUR
  • Sociological Research Unit, GIRIDIH
Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research
  • SQC & OR Unit, KOLKATA
  • SQC & OR Unit, DELHI
  • SQC & OR Unit, BANGALORE
  • SQC & OR Unit, CHENNAI
  • SQC & OR Unit, MUMBAI
  • SQC & OR Unit, PUNE
  • SQC & OR Unit, COIMBATORE
  • SQC & OR Unit, HYDERABAD
  • R C Bose Centre for Cryptology and Security
  • Center for Soft Computing Research
  • Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
  • Technology Innovation Hub

Degree courses edit

ISI offers two undergraduate programs, viz. Bachelor of Statistics (Honours) (B.Stat) and Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) (B. Math),[22] seven graduate programs, viz. Master of Statistics (M. Stat), Master of Mathematics (M. Math), Master of Science in Quantitative Economics (MSQE), Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS), Master of Science in Quality Management Science (MSQMS), Master of Technology in Computer Science (MTech–CS), Master of Technology in Cryptology & Security (MTech-CrS) and Master of Technology in Quality, Reliability and Operations Research (MTech–QROR).[22]

ISI also offers four PG Diploma programs, viz. Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural and Rural Management with Statistical Methods[PGDARSMA], Postgraduate Diploma in Statistical Methods & Analytics [PGDSMA], Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics [PGDBA] and PG Diploma in Applied Statistics [PGDAS].

Undergraduate courses are of 3 years duration, whereas the graduate level courses of 2 years of duration. For all undergraduate and graduate level courses, the academic year is divided in two semesters.[29] Except for sponsored candidates of MTech courses, ISI students are not required to pay any tuition fees.[29] Conditional to performance beyond a threshold, all students and research fellows receive stipends, fellowships and contingency/book grants.[29] Students demonstrating outstanding performances are rewarded at the end of the semesters.[29] ISI campuses provide hostel accommodations with recreational facilities and limited medical facilities available free of cost.[29]

Admissions edit

Applicants of all degree courses are required to go through written admission tests and interviews.[29] ISI conducts the written tests at various examination centres across India.[29] Only in few cases, candidates may get called for the interview directly, viz. applicants of MTech Computer Science course having a GATE score above a threshold.[29] Candidates applying to doctoral research programmes who have been awarded (or qualified for) a Junior Research Fellowship by UGC / CSIR / NBHM etc. are also required to clear the ISI admission test or an equivalent separate test and interview conducted by the relevant JRF selection committee of the institute if they wish to obtain a PhD from Indian Statistical Institute.

International Statistical Education Centre edit

In 1950, ISI, in collaboration with International Statistical Institute, UNESCO and Government of India, had set up International Statistical Education Centre (ISEC) to impart knowledge of theoretical and applied statistics to participants from Middle East, East and South-East Asia, the Far East and Commonwealth countries of Africa.[28] The main training course offered by ISEC is meant for international students, preferably graduates with proficiency in English and Mathematics.[30] ISEC, located in Kolkata campus of ISI, functions with support from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of the Government of India.[31]

Publications edit

Sankhya, the statistical journal published by ISI, was founded in 1933, along the lines of Karl Pearson's Biometrika.[10] Mahalanobis was the founder editor.[28] Each volume of Sankhya consists of four issues; two of them are in Series A, containing articles on theoretical statistics, probability theory and stochastic processes, and the other two issues form the Series B, containing articles on applied statistics, i.e. applied probability, applied stochastic processes, econometrics and statistical computing.[32]

Rankings edit

According to India Education Review, no Indian university is in the world's top 200 universities, as of 2012.[33] The ascribed ranking of ISI is 186.[34] The web ranking of this institute, according to 4ICU (4 International Colleges and Universities), is 1693.[35] According to the web ranking published by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, ISI currently holds the world rank of 1352.[36] In the subject-wise academic world ranking of Computer Science, Indian Statistical Institute features in 101—150 category.[37] The Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata is ranked 2nd in Computer Science research by mean citation rate, p-Index, h-index among all universities in India.[38]

Student life edit

Student Fest edit

Integration is the annual techno-cultural fest of Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata usually held during the first and second weekend of January each year.

Chaos is the annual techno-cultural fest of Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore usually held during the last weekend of March each year.

Placement edit

Alumni of ISI – including recipients of PhD degree – are employed in government and semi–government departments, industrial establishments, research institutions, in India and other countries.[29] There is a placement cell in ISI Kolkata that organizes campus interviews by prospective employers in various campuses of ISI.[29] Since recent past, a high percentage of ISI alumni gets absorbed into jobs in analytics, banking, finance and software industry.[39]

Statistical Quality Control (SQC) and Operations Research (OR) units edit

Since mid-forties, ISI pioneered in research and application of Statistical Quality Control (SQC) in India.[25] Walter A. Shewhart, the statistician known as the father of SQC, and other experts of this field visited ISI over the years.[28] The first Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research (SQC & OR) unit of ISI was set up in Mumbai in 1953, followed by Bangalore and Kolkata units in 1954.[25] In 1976, this unit was transformed into the SQC & OR Division,[40] which now operates seven units, located at various industrial centres in India – Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and Vadodara.[41] These units partake in technical consultancy with public and private organisations, in addition with performing research and training activities.[28] The branch at Giridih was set up in 1931 and it has two operational units, viz. the Sociological Research Unit and the Agricultural Research Unit.[42]

Statistical Quality Control(SQC) and Operations Research (OR) Units
Units City State Founded Focus Area Website Notes
Hyderabad Telangana 1931 isihyd.ac.in/
ISI Mumbai Mumbai Maharashtra 1953 i isimumbai.co.in/
ISI Giridih Giridih Jharkhand 1931 Agricultural Research Unit
ISI Pune Pune Maharashtra sqcpune.org/
ISI Vadodara Vadodara Gujarat

Achievements edit

Over the years, researchers of ISI made fundamental contributions in various fields of Statistics such as Design of Experiments, Sample Survey, Multivariate statistics and Computer Science. Mahalanobis introduced the measure Mahalanobis distance which is used in multivariate statistics and other related fields.[43] Raj Chandra Bose, who is known for his contributions in coding theory, worked on Design of Experiments during his tenure at ISI, and was one of the three mathematicians, who disproved Euler's conjecture on orthogonal Latin squares.[13] Anil Kumar Bhattacharya is credited with introduction of the measures Bhattacharyya distance and Bhattacharya coefficient. Samarendra Nath Roy is known for his pioneering contributions in multivariate statistics.[44] Among colleagues of Mahalanobis, other notable contributors were K. R. Nair in Design of experiments, Jitendra Mohan Sengupta in Sample Survey, Ajit Dasgupta in Demography and Ramkrishna Mukherjea in Quantitative Sociology.[13] C. R. Rao's contributions during his association with ISI include two theorems of Statistical Inference known as Cramér–Rao inequality and Rao-Blackwell Theorem, and introduction of orthogonal arrays in Design of Experiments. Anil Kumar Gain is known for his contributions to the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient with his colleague Sir Ronald Fisher at the University of Cambridge.[43]

In 1953, India's first indigenous computer was designed by Samarendra Kumar Mitra who headed the Computing Machines and Electronics Laboratory at ISI Calcutta. The Indian Statistical Institute was also hosted the first two digital computers in South Asia; the HEC-2M from England in 1956, and the URAL from the Soviet Union in 1959. These were also among the earliest digital computers in Asia (outside Japan).[45]

During 1953 – 1956 distinguished scientists, like Ronald Fisher, Norbert Wiener and Yuri Linnik visited ISI. Norbert Wiener collaborated with Gopinath Kallianpur on topics including ergodic theory, prediction theory and generalized harmonic analysis.[46] In 1962, during his month-long visit to ISI, Soviet mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov wrote his notable paper on Kolmogorov complexity, which was published in Sankhya, 1963.[47] Other distinguished scientists including Jerzy Neyman, Walter A. Shewhart, W. Edwards Deming and Abraham Wald have visited ISI during the tenure of P. C. Mahalanobis.[48]

Planning Commission edit

The second five-year plan of India was a brainchild of Mahalanobis. The plan followed the Mahalanobis model, an economic development model developed by Mahalanobis in 1953. The plan attempted to determine the optimal allocation of investment between productive sectors in order to maximise long-run economic growth . It used the prevalent state of art techniques of operations research and optimisation as well as the novel applications of statistical models developed at ISI. This second five-year plan shifted the focus from agriculture to industrialisation, with an objective of attaining self-reliance by economy of India. Domestic production of industrial products was encouraged in this plan, particularly in the development of the public sector.[49] The two-pronged strategy devised in this plan targeted rapid growth of the heavy industry, keeping emphasis on growth of small and cottage industries.[50]

B. S. Minhas and K. S. Parikh, both from the Planning Unit of ISI Delhi, played key roles in the Planning Commission of the Government of India. Minhas, who joined the Planning Unit in 1962 and retired as a distinguished scientist in 1989, was a member of the Planning Commission during 1971–74.[51][52] Parikh, who was a member of the Planning Commission during 2004–09,[51] chaired Integrated Energy Policy Committee of the commission,[53] was a member of the Economic Advisory Council of India during the tenure of five prime ministers,[53] also played a role in the Department of Atomic Energy establishment, and was a key advisor to the government on energy issues.[53]

Computer science edit

In India, the first analog computer was designed by Samarendra Kumar Mitra and built by Ashish Kumar Maity at ISI in 1953, for use in computation of numerical solutions of simultaneous linear equations using a modified version of Gauss-Siedel iteration.[54] In 1955, the first digital computer of India was procured by ISI.[54] This machine was of a model named HEC-2M, manufactured by British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM).[54] As per the agreement with BTM, ISI had to take care of the installation work and maintenance of it,[54] before it became operational in 1956.[55] Though this HEC-2M machine and the URAL-1 machine, which was bought in 1959 from Russia,[54] were operational until 1963,[54] ISI began development of the first second-generation digital computer of India in collaboration with Jadavpur University (JU).[54] This joint collaboration led by the head of the Computing Machines and Electronics Laboratory at ISI, Samarendra Kumar Mitra, produced the transistor-driven machine ISIJU-1, which became operational in 1964.[55] The first annual convention of the Computer Society of India (CSI) was hosted by ISI in 1965.[54][55] The Computer and Communication Sciences division of ISI produced many eminent scientists such as Samarendra Kumar Mitra (its original founder), Dwijesh Dutta Majumdar, Sankar Kumar Pal, Bidyut Baran Chaudhuri, Nikhil R. Pal, Bhabani P. Sinha, Bhargab B. Bhattacharya, Malay K. Kundu, Sushmita Mitra, Bhabatosh Chanda, C. A. Murthy, Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay and many. ISI is regarded as one of the top most centres for research in computer science in India.[56]

The Knowledge-based Computer Systems project (KBCS), funded jointly by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DoE), Government of India and UNDP since 1986, has a nodal centre at ISI Kolkata.[57] This unit is responsible for research in the area of image processing, pattern recognition, computer vision and artificial intelligence.[58]

Social sciences edit

R. L. Brahmachari, known for his work in many fields like agricultural sciences, zoology, botany, biometrics, did much of his work at ISI.

The institute has done some pioneering work and research in anthropology and palaeontology. A trove of dinosaur fossils was discovered by a team led by ISI researchers in the early 1960s. The scattered fossils were recovered and the partial skeleton was reconstructed at ISI's Baranagar campus. It turned out to be a unique species and was named the Barapasaurus tagorei (Dinosauria: Sauropoda), after Rabindranath Tagore and was mounted in the Geology Museum at the Kolkata Campus of the institute.

The Linguistic Research Unit (LRU) of ISI was involved in the study of speech pathology. Đorđe Kostić of this laboratory was a distinguished scientist. He invented a unique hearing aid, called SAFA (Selective Auditory Frequency Amplifier) that simulates frequency-range according to the need of the particular hearing impaired person.[59]

Administration edit

ISI functions as an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), which is the nodal ministry of the Government of India that ensures the functioning of ISI in accordance with The Indian Statistical Institute Act 1959.[6] ISI Council is the highest policy–making body of the institute.[60] Members of this council include the president of ISI, the chairman of ISI, representatives of the Government of India including one representative of RBI, scientists not employed in ISI including one representative from the Planning Commission of India and one representative of the UGC, representatives of scientific and non-scientific workers of ISI, and representative from academic staff of ISI, including the director of ISI and the Dean of Studies of ISI.[60] Bimal Kumar Roy was the director until 10 June 2015; in a move unique in the history of the institute, he was removed from his post via a notice posted on the web site of the Ministry of Statistics and Planning. He was sacked over financial and administrative irregularities[61][62] The list is the following:[63]

President Term Chairman Term Director Term
Rajendra Nath Mookerjee 1932-35 B. Rama Rao 1954 P. C. Mahalanobis 1931–1972
E. C. Benthall 1936-37 D. N. Mitra 1955-63 C. R. Rao 1972–1976
James Reid-Kay 1938 K. P. S. Menon 1964-70 Gopinath Kallianpur 1976–1978
Badridas Goenka 1939-41 S. C. Roy 1971 B. P. Adhikari 1979–1983
Nalini Ranjan Sarkar 1942-43 Atma Ram 1972 Ashok Maitra 1984–1987
C. D. Deshmukh 1944-63 P. N. Haksar 1973-97 J. K. Ghosh 1987–1992
Y. B. Chavan 1964-66 Bimal Jalan 1998-2001 B. L. S. Prakasa Rao 1992–1995
Satyendra Nath Bose 1967-74 N. R. Madhava Menon 2002-03 S. B. Rao 1995–2000
Subimal Dutt 1976-89 Pranab Mukherjee 2004-12 K. B. Sinha 2000–2005
M. G. K. Menon 1990-2012 A. K. Antony 2012-May 2014 S. K. Pal 2005–2010
C. Rangarajan 2012 Arun Shourie 2014-2016 Bimal Kumar Roy 2010–2015
Bibek Debroy[64] 2018-till date Goverdhan Mehta[64] 2018-till date Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay 2015 – until date

Visits by Heads of states edit

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev visited ISI during his visit to India in 1955.[46] Zhou Enlai, the Prime Minister of China, and Ho Chi Minh, the President of Vietnam, during their visit to India specifically visited ISI respectively on 9 September 1956 and 13 February 1958.[65]

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Demands for Grants, 2023-2024" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "NIRF 2021" (PDF). Indian Statistical Institute.
  3. ^ "ISI Student Enrollment Numbers" (PDF). Indian Statistical Institute. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "UNSD Document – The Indian Statistical Institute Act 1959". United Nations Statistics Division. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  5. ^ a b Ghosh, JK (1994). "Mahalanobis and the Art and Science of Statistics: The Early Days". Indian Journal of History of Science. 29 (1): 90.
  6. ^ a b "About Ministry". Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of the Government of India. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  7. ^ a b Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, p. 1013
  8. ^ a b Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, p. 1019
  9. ^ a b Ghosh et al. 1999, p. 22
  10. ^ a b c d Rao, C. R (1973). Prasantha Chandra Mahalanobis. 1893–1972. Vol. 19. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. pp. 454–492.
  11. ^ a b Rudra, A (1996). Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis: A Biography. Oxford University Press.
  12. ^ a b "History of ISI". Indian Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  13. ^ a b c Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, p. 1020
  14. ^ a b c Ghosh et al. 1999, pp. 17–18
  15. ^ "Haldane on Fast: Insult by USIS Alleged," Times of India, 19 January 1961; "Protest Fast by Haldane: USIS’s Anti-Indian Activities," Times of India, 18 January 1961; "Situation was Misunderstood, Scholars Explain," Times of India, 20 January 1961; "USIS Explanation does not satisfy Haldane: Protest fast continues," Times of India, 18 January 1960; "USIS Claim Rejected by Haldane: Protest Fast to Continue," Times of India, 18 January 1961; "Haldane Not Satisfied with USIS Apology: Fast to Continue," Free Press Journal, 18 January 1961; "Haldane Goes on Fast in Protest Against U.S. Attitude," Times of India, 18 January 1961; "Haldane to continue fast: USIS explanation unsatisfactory," Times of India, 19 January 1961; "Local boy in hunger strike row," Toronto Star, 20 January 1961; "Haldane, Still on Fast, Loses Weight: U.S.I.S. Act Termed 'Discourteous'," Indian Express, 20 January 1961; "Haldane Slightly Tired on Third Day of Fast," Times of India, 21 January 1961; "Haldane Fasts for Fourth Consecutive Day," Globe and Mail, 22 January 1961
  16. ^ Dronamraju, Krishna R. (1987). "On Some Aspects of the Life and Work of John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, F.R.S., in India". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 41 (2): 211–237. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1987.0006. PMID 11622022.
  17. ^ "Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates Chennai centre of Indian Statistical Institute". The Hindu. 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  18. ^ "New life for Look East policy with Tezpur ISI". The Times of India. 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  19. ^ a b "Welcome to Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata". isical.ac.in. Archived from the original on 23 November 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  20. ^ "Campus". Indian Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  21. ^ "About our Institute". Northeast centre at Tezpur, Indian Statistical Institute. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  22. ^ a b c d e "Academic Programme". Indian Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  23. ^ Isi Considers to open a research unit on artificial intelligence https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/isi-looks-to-set-up-research-unit-for-artificial-intelligence/articleshow/67923636.cms
  24. ^ "Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Center". Indian Statistical Institute. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  25. ^ a b c Ghosh et al. 1999, p. 24
  26. ^ Wedeworth, Robert (1993). World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services (3 ed.). American Library Association. p. 697. ISBN 9780838906095. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  27. ^ a b c d e "Home page, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore Centre". Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g S. B. Rao. "Indian Statistical Institute – A Tradition". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Prospectus, 2012–13" (PDF). Indian Statistical Institute. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  30. ^ "List of ITEC/SCAAP Empanelled Institutes". Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, Technical Cooperation Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  31. ^ "Preface". International Statistical Education. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  32. ^ "Sankhya Home". Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  33. ^ "No Indian university in world's top 200: QS Rankings 2012". India Education Review. 12 September 2012. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  34. ^ "Indian Statistical Institute – Top Universities". QS Top Universities. 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  35. ^ "Indian Statistical Institute – Ranking & Review". 4International Colleges & Universities (4ICU). 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  36. ^ "India – Ranking Web Universities". Webometrics. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  37. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities in Computer Science – 2015 – 2015 Top 200 Universities in Computer Science – ARWU-SUBJECT 2015". shanghairanking.com.
  38. ^ "Ranking of Indian Institutions Contributing to Computer Science Research, 1999-2008" (PDF).
  39. ^ Bano, Rahat (17 November 2009). "The number crunchers". The Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  40. ^ Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, p. 1032
  41. ^ "Division and Units". Indian Statistical Institute. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  42. ^ Vishvendu Jaipuriar (30 June 2012). "ISI Giridih a sorry statistic – Research roadblock in cradle". The Telegraph. India. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  43. ^ a b Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, p. 1023
  44. ^ Kanti V. Mardia (23 January 2008). "On S.N. Roy's Legacy to Multivariate Analysis" (PDF). Department of Statistics, University of Leeds. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  45. ^ Menon, Nikhil (2018). "'Fancy Calculating Machine': Computers and planning in independent India". Modern Asian Studies. 52 (2): 421–457. doi:10.1017/S0026749X16000135. S2CID 148820998.
  46. ^ a b "Norbert Wiener and Probability Theory" (PDF). Indian Academy of Sciences.
  47. ^ Ghosh, Maiti & Bera 2010, pp. 1031–1032
  48. ^ Sarma. Statistics Made Simple Do It Yourself on Pc 2Nd Ed. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 3.
  49. ^ Das, Gurcharan (2002). India Unbound From Independence to the Global Information Age. Penguin Books. p. 88. ISBN 9780143063018.
  50. ^ Indira Gandhi (29 December 1981). "The Indian Path of Development" (PDF). Golden Jubilee Souvenir, ISI Alumni Association. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 16 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  51. ^ a b "List showing names of Members of Planning Commission". Planning Commission, Government of India. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  52. ^ T. N. Srinivasan (15 September 2005). "B S Minhas: Down-to-earth policy analyst". Business Standard India. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  53. ^ a b c "Dr. Kirit S. Parikh – DIREC (2010)" (PDF). Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC) 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  54. ^ a b c d e f g h Devaprasanna Sinha (August 2012). "Glimpsing through Early Days of Computers in Kolkata". Computer Society of India. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 17 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  55. ^ a b c "50 Years of IT: Disrupting Moments: 1956–1965: The Beginning". Dataquest magazine, India. 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  56. ^ Anup Kumar Das; Aruna Karanjai (2002). "Institutional Distribution in Computer Science Research in India" (PDF). Annals of Library and Information Studies 49,1. pp. 23–27. Retrieved 13 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
  57. ^ Krithi Ramamritham (8 November 1995). "Computer Science Research in India". Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org). Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  58. ^ Utpal Kumar Bannerjee (1 January 1996). Computer Education in India: Past, Present and Future. Concept Publishing Company. p. 248. ISBN 9788170226093. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  59. ^ "Đorđe Kostić". Institute for Experimental Phonetics and Speech Pathology, Belgrade. Archived from the original on 28 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  60. ^ a b "Office Bearers". Indian Statistical Institute. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  61. ^ ISI director sacked over financial administrative irregularties:https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/isi-director-sacked-over-financial-administrative-irregularities/
  62. ^ "Termination Letter" (PDF). Ministry of Statistics and Planning. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  63. ^ "Presidents, chairmen and directors of the ISI". Archived from the original on 3 July 2020.
  64. ^ a b "Council Members 2018-2020" (PDF). Indian Statistical Institute.
  65. ^ Naithani, Pankaj. "Remembering Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis". The Mainstream weekly. Retrieved 25 July 2009.

References edit