Google Doodle: Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis key to founding Indian Statistical Institute

Today is noted applied statistician and scientist Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis' 125th anniversary and in honor of this occasion Google has dedicated its today's doodle by Nishant Choksi to him. He was born on 29 June 1893 in West Bengal and graduated from King's College, Cambridge. Mr Mahalanobis is known for his pioneering work in statistics and is most often remembered by the "Mahalanobis distance", a way of measurement used in population studies and was one of the members of the first Planning Commission of India.

He was also awarded one of the highest civilian awards, the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.

India's second five year plan (1956-1961) which laid heavy emphasis on the development of the public sector and rapid industrialization also followed the Mr Mahalanobis model which emphasizes the importance of building a strong domestic consumption goods sector, which was crucial to the nascent Indian economy and had a lasting impact on the nation's development.

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis also taught at Presidency College (Kolkata) where, in 1931, he was responsible for founding the Indian Statistical Institute.

He further laid the foundations of Indian statistical system through the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO)

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, a man of diverse scientific interests combined other disciplines like anthropology, economics, physics to develop better approaches in the field of population studies, consumption and crop yields. Later on, he collaborated with both top economists and mathematicians from around the world.

He died on June 28, 1972, just a day ahead of his 79th birthday.