June 29 is celebrated as the National Statistics Day in India to commemorate the statistician, Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobi's birth.
June 29 is celebrated as the National Statistics Day in India to commemorate the statistician, Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobi's birth. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was born in Kolkata on June 29, 1893. He completed his schooling in Kolkata (Calcutta) and then went to Cambridge for higher studies in physics and mathematics. Mahalanobis's first paper on statistics entitled 'Anthropological Observations on Anglo-Indians of Calcutta, Part I: Male Stature,' is published in Records of the Indian Museum in 1922. He then started his work on sample surveys to estimate the area and yield of the Jute crop in Bengal in 1937. He made many methodological contributions to survey sampling that included an optimal sampling design choice using variance and cost functions—the interpenetrating network of subsamples for assessment and control of errors, especially non-sampling error in surveys. In 1947, he was elected as Chairman of the United Nations Subcommission on Statistical Sampling. Mahalanobis made noteworthy contributions to economics, survey, and applied statistics.
In recognition of the notable contribution made by Prof. Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development in the post-independent era, the Government of India had decided to designate June 29, every year, following his birth anniversary, as Statistics Day in the category of a Special day. Notification for this effect had published in the Gazette of India on June 05, 2007.
The Government has been celebrating the Statistics Day at the national level to popularise statistics in everyday life and sensitize the public about how statistics help shape and frame policies. Prof. P C Mahalanobis has an invaluable contribution to establishing the National Statistical System, for which he got recognized. In celebration of the Day includes holding seminars, discussions, and competitions to highlights the importance of official statistics in National Development.
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