2012 declared as National Mathematical Year as a Tribute to Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26 December 2011 declared the birthday of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, 22 December as National Mathematics Day. Singh also declared 2012 as the National Mathematical Year as a tribute to the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

The Ramanujan Mathematical Society (RMS) will hold a series of activities in 2012 (National Mathematical Year) to mark the 125th birth anniversary of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the year-long celebrations at the Madras University Auditorium  to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan.

The activities to be organised as a part of the year long celebration were planned to involve different sections, including school-goers, college students, students pursuing their research in mathematics and others interested in developments in the discipline.

In the programmes involving school students, for instance, talks and activities would focus on helping them get rid of their fear of the subject.

The biography of Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel in regional languages has been planned . A documentary, tracing the history of mathematics in India, would also be made.

The year-long celebrations of Ramanujan birth anniversary would culminate in an international conference of mathematicians in New Delhi in December 2012.

On the occasion, Manmohan Singh also expressed concern over a slide in the number of students pursuing higher studies in mathematics. He also expressed concern over the sharp decline in the number of quality mathematics teachers in schools and colleges.

RMS president and chair of the organising committee M.S. Raghunathan declared on 26 December 2011 that a mathematics centre named after Ramanujan would be set up in Chennai. It would have a host of facilities, including a museum.