1. WELCOME
TO
“THE WORLD STATISTICS
DAY”
@
“CONVERGENCE 2010”

2. MESSAGE
Dear participants of Convergence ‘2010,
It is my great honor and pleasure to congratulate your celebration of the first World
Statistics Day at your Covergence’2010. The International Statistical Institute is proud of
your leadership in statistics education and research in the past and looks forward to more
contributions in the future.
I wish the students and distinguished faculty members of this great Department of
Mathematics & Statistics, Ramjas College, University of Delhi for what they have
achieved in promotion of the value of statistics in all aspects of human lives by
enhancing the Role of Statistics in Service of the Society, Good Governance, and Nation
Building.
Once again, the ISI, on behalf of world statistics community, sends its deepest gratitude
for your initiative and wishes all the success to each and all participants in this meaningful
occasion from the beginning to the end.
Jae Chang Lee
President-Elect
The International Statistical Institute

3. MESSAGE
‘On behalf of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) we would like to convey our warmest
congratulations to the participants of the Convergence 2010 event on the occasion of World Statistics
Day.
At this first World Statistics Day, statisticians worldwide, working in all kinds of statistical disciplines,
contribute to the celebrations by organizing a wide variety of activities. We congratulate the
Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Ramjas College of the University of Delhi with organising
this event. We wish the speakers and the participants an informative and pleasant conference.
ISI contributes to the celebration with launching today the revised ISI Declaration on Professional
Ethics. The Declaration contains a coherent set of shared values and principles to be used by
statisticians working in diverse organization around the world. ISI Director Ada van Krimpen will
officially launch the revised Declaration at a special session on World Statistics Day during the
Conference of ISI Section IAOS (International Association of Official Statistics) in Santiago de Chile.
We encourage the use of the new Declaration statisticians worldwide and recommend paying
attention to the new Declaration in your important work.
Please accept our appreciation for your work and wishing all of you a successful meeting and happy
World Statistics Day!’
Jef Teugels Ada van Krimpen
President (I.S.I.) Director (I.S.I.)

4. MESSAGE
‘It gives me great pleasure to send you my best wishes and blessings on the occasion
of the World Statistics Day. Statistics provides us a means to make sense of numerical
data in fields as diverse as medicine, business, technology, and engineering. It also
provides us a means of testing different hypotheses in the presence of uncertain data
and separate cases that are coincidences from others that indicate correlations.’
Subhash Kak
Regents
Professor and Head,
Department of Computer Science
Oklahoma State University,
Stillwater, OK 74078 USA
(Prof. Subhash Kak’s research in the fields of information theory, cryptography, neural networks,
and quantum information has been showcased in the popular media including Discovery and
History channels, PBS, Dutch Public TV OHM. The author of 18 books which include "The
Architecture of Knowledge" , Prof. Kak has many awards in his honor.)

5. MESSAGE
‘I am delighted to see that you have organized an impressive program and activities in
celebration of the World Statistics Day at Ramjas College. I congratulate you for your
leadership and vision in planning of the program. World Statistics Day marks
recognition by the United Nations, of the role Statistics plays in advancing science and
society. The enrichment activities organized by the Department of Mathematics and
Statistics, Ramjas College, are truly impressive and go a long way in celebrating the
importance and contributions of Statistics. I am honored to send my greetings and
very best wishes for gala success of the celebration activities.’
Sudhir Gupta
Division of Statistics
Northern Illinois Univ.
DeKalb, IL 60115 USA
(Professor Sudhir Gupta is an alumni of Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, Delhi. He
is a Chief editor of the Journal of Statistics and Applications and is a pioneer in the field of Design
of Experiments.)

6. MESSAGE
‘I am delighted to be informed by the 2 day activity to celebrate the World Statistics
Day at Ramjas College, Delhi, on October 20, 2010. India is a country which has made
very significant contributions to the development of mathematics over the centuries
and which is the residence and place of origin of many mathematicians and
statisticians of genius. I hope that this event will continue the great tradition and
especially that it will contribute to the formation of young mathematicians and
statisticians. You will be discussing the important application of statistics and
mathematics in real life and in good governance as well. I also hope that India will
show to the world a new way to applying mathematics to society, combining efficiency
with spiritual principles.’
Jan Hogendijk
Professor of Mathematics
University of Utrecht
The Netherlands

7. MESSAGE
‘…I also note that the lectures and the panel discussions are all on very relevant topics
and I am sure the participants would gain a great deal of advantage in their various
pursuits. I would particularly urge the young students to carefully attend to the
discussions….
Please accept my best wishes for the success of the function.’
Arun M. Vaidya
Department of Mathematics
Gujarat University
Ahmedabad

8. MESSAGE
‘A tiny country like Luxembourg, huge country like India should both be well aware of
the necessity of developing the science of Statistics.’
Jean-Paul Pier
Société mathématique du Luxembourg
117 rue Jean-Pierre Michels
L-4243 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

9. MESSAGE
‘It is an honor for me to take this opportunity to greet all the participants in the event
at Ramjas College celebrating World Statistics Day. Statistics and their application are
indispensable in the modern world. Applied statistics lie at the core of so much of
modern scholarship, in the exact sciences, the social sciences, medicine, and even in
the humanities.
Let me add that I fondly recall my visit to Ramjas College more than five years ago.
Wishing you all a most successful event and the brightest future.’
Nachum Dershowitz
Professor of Computer Science
Tel Aviv University
Israel
(Professor Dershowitz is an author of several well-known books on Computer Science. His areas of
work include Artificial Intelligence, Calendar Algorithms, Logic, Information Retrieval, analysis of
Historical Manuscripts. His other interests include World Calendars, Computer Risks and Software
Horror Stories, etc.)

10. MESSAGE
‘Greetings from Hiroshima, Japan, the City of Peace. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of
you for celebrating the World Statistics Day on October 20, 2010 at Ramjas College.
….. Here at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, formerly known as the Atomic Bomb Casualty
Commission, we are dedicated to promote and we have a legacy of, the collection and statistical analyses of
the data on the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings for peaceful purposes and for the betterment
of the society at large. This is what I view as “Statistics for Peace”. Mahatma Gandhi, as a staunch believer of
peace and a practitioner of Ahimsa -- the principle of nonviolence, took an oath to work for peace and
always speak the truth. Following his example, on this World Statistics Day, we as statisticians, must promise
ourselves to do so through our data and honest scientific data analyses. By virtue of our professional
abilities, we have the immense power to extract truth from numbers and we must sincerely strive to utilize
this special ability to make this world a peaceful and better place in which to live. If we all could do so, that
is what our “statistical significance” will be in its truest sense.
I wish you all a joyous and intellectually stimulating World Statistics Day and my best wishes to the
organizers for a successful symposium.’
Ravindra Khattree
Senior Research Scientist
Department of Statistics
Radiation Effects Research Foundation
Hiroshima, Japan.
and Dept. of Math. & Stat., Oakland Univ.
Rochester, USA
(Professor Ravindra Khattree is a Member of the Center for Biomedical Research at Oakland University. He is
a Chief Editor of the Journal of Statistics & Applications)

11. MESSAGE
‘Greetings!
It is a well-known fact that the public activity and discourse of both governments and
other (public or private) organizations are necessarily base on data and the resulting
(statistical) conclusions or inferences affect all activities in some way. To make
meaningful summary and both immediate as well as long range predictions based on
this data and analysis, we need to proceed generally in three parts: (i) formulating a
model, (ii) collecting data to verify the model's suitability, and (iii) a prognosis or
prediction. The first one is based on an appropriate but necessary mathematical
construct, the second one is the statistical analysis, and the final one leading to
predictions both for the short and long ranges. The situation is to be continuously
refined, updated and analyzed. This is the fundamental statistical activity which is
necessarily based on suitable mathematical formulation, and relevant statistical
estimation (of parameters), testing (both these termed `inference methodology') and
then prediction. It is thus clear that the three aspects noted above with statistical
analysis at the center, are the life blood of human activity, and thus it is important and
appropriate to celebrate this matter all over the world, reminding everyone about its
key role in governing as well as other human works. I therefore wish a grand success of
the organization of WSD at your place and all the future times.’
M. M. Rao
Mathematics Department
University of California,
Riverside, CA (U.S.A.)

12. MESSAGE
‘I like to wish you and your colleagues all the best for the festivities for the first World
Statistics Day.
The UN declaration of a World Statistics day (WSD) gives all statisticians and Statistics a
valuable opportunity to contribute to our societies. Statistics can play a significant role
in the economic and social developments of our societies. We need to work towards
Evidence Based Policy in our governments and other organizations. This involves
Statistical Capacity Building efforts to improve the national Statistical Capacity. We
need to concentrate on improvements in Statistical Literacy in the society as a whole
and in particular in the school systems starting from Kintergarten. Let us hope that
H.G.Well's quote 'Statistical Thinking will as necessary for efficient citizenship as the
ability to read and write" will be realized.
Once again thank you and wish you the best.’
Bovas Abraham
Past President, Statistical Society of Canada
Professor (Emeritus) of Statistics
Waterloo Research Institute in Insurance, Securities and Quantitative Finance
Business and Industrial Statistics Research Group
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada

13. MESSAGE
‘Dear Dignitaries, guests, colleagues and students,
Much as I would have liked to, I am unable to attend the meeting to celebrate the World Statistics
Day at Ramjas College, as I am currently out of the country. I am writing this message to share my
thoughts for the occasion.
Use of probabilistic and statistical methods, to supplement deterministic reasoning,
to make sense of the complex realities that one encounters in various contexts is a major step in
the progress of mankind. We are now increasingly able to deduce dependable conclusions in a
scientific way, rather than depending on hunches, when only partial or sample inputs are
available from which we need insights about a broader set-up. The recent decades have
witnessed remarkable applications of the theme in various spheres of life. As we proceed, the
methods may be expected to be further perfected and ever more applications to be found. It is a
matter of great pleasure to note that India has played a pioneering role in the rise of the subject
and has been at the forefront in its applications.
This is a wonderful occasion to celebrate the achievements of this new form of knowledge
generation. I would like to compliment Ramjas College for organizing such an event for the
international World Statistics Day. I send my best wishes for the deliberations, both on my own
behalf and on behalf of the National Board for Higher Mathematics, which has endeavored to
support Probability and Statistics along with other streams of mathematics.’
S.G. Dani
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
Chair, National Board for Higher Mathematics
(Apart from his works in areas of Modern Mathematics, Professor Dani is known for his work on Ancient Indian
Mathematics, particularly in highlighting the myth around Vedic Mathematics)

14. MESSAGE
‘I would first like to express my gratitude to Professor Man Mohan Gupta for his
tremendous efforts in organizing this event, World Statistics Day at Delhi University.
As a statistician of Indian origin practicing for half a century, I have seen great growth
in our field, and I have full confidence in our future. The recognition of our
contributions by the UNO is a great honor indeed. I wish that I could have joined you
all for this momentous occasion and for what will no doubt be a great celebration.’
Muni Srivastava
Professor Emeritus
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

15. MESSAGE
‘I am very glad to know that the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Ramjas
College, University of Delhi, is celebrating the First World Statistics Day on October 20
& 21, 2010. I regret that I will miss it as I am in USA. I know about WSD, having
received a number of communications from ISI. They highlight the programs and have
made your Dept. visible all over world. It is a proud moment for all of us. I am indeed
very happy that you have taken the lead in this country on celebrating the WSD.
As we all know, the United Nations Statistical Department has declared, for the first
time, October 20, 2010 as World Statistics Day and gave a call to the national
governments to celebrate the many achievements of official statistics and to
strengthen the awareness and trust of the public in cooperation with national
statistical services. The International Statistical Institute is launching a new ISI
Declaration on Professional Ethics to be presented during a special session on this day
at the IAOS Conference in Santiago in Chile. In a broader context, however, we need to
ponder over and discuss how statistics has been serving the different sectors of
science & technology as well as helping in economic development at the national and
international levels during the past decades and how it should shape its role in future.
It is now well recognized that statistics has made inroads in almost every activity of the
society. Whether one is concerned with scientific experimentation or conducting large
scale sample surveys or gallop polls or concerns with dynamics of agricultural and
…Continued

16. MESSAGE
socio-economic development or sports or management & decision making or industrial
product development etc., one cannot escape statistical issues involved therein. In fact
everyone is interested in ascertaining the true picture of the phenomenon in his field
and it is the power of statistics that helps in extracting the truth from the data. Users
of statistics, however, do not fully comprehend the inherent statistical mechanism and
need necessary help from statisticians. There is a need therefore to develop awareness
about statistical concepts, in layman’s language, to the public at large. Just as we talk
of computer literacy these days, we need to stress statistics literacy as well. This
particular Day can be a proper time to launch plans and programs to this end.
I have no doubt, with the two-day comprehensive schedule chalked out by the
organizers, particularly by Professor Man Mohan Gupta and his colleagues, the event
would be an excellent treat to all concerned.
I convey my very best wishes to one and all for the success of this Convergence 2010
on World Statistics Day.‘
Prem Narain
INSA Honorary Scientist
Former Director IASRI, New Delhi
(Professor Narain is known for his work on Markov Chains and Genetical Statistiscs)

17. MESSAGE
‘It is my great honor, on behalf of the Chinese Society for History of mathematics and
in my own name, to express my hearty congratulation on the opening of the two day
activity to celebrate the World Statistics Day at Ramjas College, University of Delhi.
The subject of statistics seems to be of ancient origin both in China and in India, and
scholars from both China and India have made outstanding contributions to the
modern development of statistics.
Today, statistics plays more and more important roles in progress of mankind,
statistical methods are being widely applied to different fields of science and
technology, to economical governance, to environmental protection, etc. I hope that
the cooperation and exchanges between scholars of our two countries in this field
would be greatly strengthened in future.
I wish cordially your activity a great success, and wish you all good health and
happiness.’
Wenlin Li
Professor of the Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences

18. MESSAGE
‘It was very nice of you to have invited me to participate in the first World Statistics
Day on October 20, 2010 (and Oct 21st) at its two day event Convergence, 2010 at
Ramjas College, University of Delhi.
But for the fact that I have certain preplanned unavoidable engagements on the same
dates outside Delhi, It would have been a memorable event for me to participate in.
Aside from any other reasons, the linkage between the world of Actuarial Science and
the academic discipline of Statistics is strong enough for me to be part of the event. If I
look back at about 300 years of the world of actuarial science in its organized form as a
scientific discipline, I find that many of illustrious men of actuarial science were indeed
men of Statistics and Probability.
I congratulate the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Ramjas College of the
University of Delhi with organizing this event. While wishing the speakers and the
participants an informative and pleasant conference, I do hope that in future in some
way the Indian Actuarial Profession (www.actuariesindia.org) will benefit from the
contribution of Statisticians.’
Liyaquat Khan
FIA President
Institute of Actuaries of India