Here are some Messages received from top Statisticians, Mathematicians and Computer Scientists across the Globe on the Occasion of our Cerebrations for World Statistics Day at Convergence'2010 on Oct 20-21; Ramajs College, Delhi University.

1. 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.’ SubhashKak Regents Professor and Head, Department of Computer Science Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA (Prof. SubhashKak’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.)

2. 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.)

3. 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 andespecially 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.’ NachumDershowitz Professor of Computer Science Tel Aviv University Israel (Professor Dershowitzis 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.)

7. 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.’ RavindraKhattree Senior Research Scientist Department of Statistics Radiation Effects Research Foundation Hiroshima, Japan. and Dept. of Math. & Stat., Oakland Univ. Rochester, USA (Professor RavindraKhattree is a Member of the Center for Biomedical Research at Oakland University. He is a Chief Editor of the Journal of Statistics & Applications)

8. 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 onthis 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') andthen 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.)

9. 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 Kindergarten. 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.’ BovasAbrahamPast President, Statistical Society of CanadaProfessor (Emeritus) of StatisticsWaterloo Research Institute in Insurance, Securities and Quantitative FinanceBusiness and Industrial Statistics Research GroupUniversity of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada (Professor Bovas Abraham is a member of the Council of International Statistical Institute)

10. 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. DaniTata Institute of Fundamental Research, MumbaiChair, 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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. …….. 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.‘ PremNarain INSA Honorary Scientist Former Director IASRI, New Delhi (Professor Narain is known for his work on Markov Chains and GeneticalStatistics)

14. MESSAGE "UN World Statistics Day, 20/10/2010, highlights the importance of official statistics in our society. The International Association for Official Statistics congratulates you on the event "Convergence 2010". It is gratifying that your programme emphasizes the important role of statistics in good governance and in nation building - these are the essence of why high quality, unbiased, timely official statistics are critical to any country. Such statistics are essential to enable evidence-based decision making which will enhance the lives of citizens. IAOS exists to promote the understanding and advancement of official statistics and related subjects, and to foster the development of effective and efficient official statistical services through international contacts amongst individuals and organisations. We support statisticians worldwide to achieve their mission and aims based on universally agreed concepts and principles for official statistics. IAOS welcomes everyone working in national or international statistical organisations, users of statistics, academics, students of statistics, and anyone else interested in statistics. On behalf of the IAOS I invite you to join our network to work together for independent, trustworthy and relevant statistical information." Irena Krizman IAOS President International Association for Official Statistics