BENGALURU: The Indian Econometric Society (TIES) Trust has conferred the inaugural Prof CR Rao Centenary Gold Medal (CGM) to two distinguished Indian scholars — Dr Jagdish Bhagwati and Dr C Rangarajan.
Dr Bhagwati is a professor of economics, law and international relations at Columbia University and Director of the Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies. Dr Rangarajan is the former chairman, Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister and former governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The award has been constituted by the TIES to commemorate the contribution of Prof Rao, who is the founder president of the Society, and is the doyen of mathematical statistics. He celebrated his 100th birthday on September 10 last year. The award will be presented once in two years to an Indian or Indian-origin scholar for her/his lifetime contributions to the fields of theoretical and applied aspects of quantitative economics, and official statistics.
“Prof Rao’s contributions to theory and applications of statistics has made him one of world leaders in the subject. He has been listed as one of the top ten Indian scientists of all time,” said Secretary, TIES, Vice Chancellor, BASE University Dr Bhanumurthy. “He has been conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, National Medal of Science from the President of the United States and Guy Medal from Royal Statistical Society, among many other awards,” said Dr Bhanumurthy.
“It consists of a gold medal and citation. As part of the award, the awardees are expected to give an acceptance lecture either during the annual conference of TIES or any other venue organised by the Society,” said the doctor.