PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE, CHAIRMAN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL AS ON MARCH 31, 2017 President: Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Padma Vibhushan 1. Chairman: Prof. Goverdhan Mehta, FNA, FRS, Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy Chair School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Central University, Gachibowli, Hyderabad - 500 046, Telangana. 2. Director: Prof. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay. Representatives of the Government of India 3. Shri S.K. Singh, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Govt. of India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, New Delhi. 4. Dr. G.C. Manna, DG, CSO, Govt. of India, Ministry of Statistics & P.I., New Delhi. 5. Shri Pramod Kumar Das, Additional Secretary, Govt. of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, New Delhi. 6. Dr. Praveer Asthana, Adviser/Scientist-G, Head (AI and Mega Science Divisions), Govt. of India, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi. 7. Dr. M.D. Patra, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai. 8. Shri R. Subrahmanyam, Additional Secretary (T), Govt. of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi. Representative of the ICSSR 9. Dr. V.K. Malhotra, Member-Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. Representatives of the INSA 10. Dr. Manindra Agrawal, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. 11. Prof. B.L.S. Prakasa Rao, Ph. D, FNA, FASc, FNASc., FAPAS, Former Director ISI, Ramanujan Chair Prof., CR Rao Advance Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, Hyderabad. 12. Dr. Baldev Raj, President, PSG Institutions, Tamil Nadu. 13. Prof. Yadati Narahari, Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Representative of the NITI Aayog/ Planning Commission 14. Ms. Anna Roy, Adviser (DM&A), Govt. of India, NITI Aayog, New Delhi. Representative of the University Grants Commission 15. Prof. J.P. Singh Joorel, Former Dean, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir. Scientists co-opted by the Council 16. Prof. Rohini M. Godbole, FNA, Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. 17. Prof. Mihir K Chaudhuri, Vice-Chancellor, Tezpur University, Assam. Elected representatives of the Institute members not employed in the Institute 18. Prof. Shibdas Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata. 19. Prof. Atis Kr. Dasgupta, Kolkata. 20. Dr. I.K. Ravichandra Rao, Bangalore. Elected representatives of the employees of the Institute 21. Dr. Partha Pratim Mohanta, Representative of the Scientific Workers. 22. Shri Gouri Sankar Acharya, Representative of the Non-scientific Workers. Officers of the Institute 23. Prof. Arup Bose, Professor-in-Charge, Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Division. 24. Prof. Ayanendranath Basu, Professor-in-Charge, Applied Statistics Division. 25. Prof. Arunava Sen, Professor-in-Charge, Social Sciences Division. 26. Dr. Tapan Chakraborty, Professor-in-Charge, Physics and Earth Sciences Division. 27. Prof. Pabitra Banik, Professor-in-Charge, Biological Sciences Division. 28. Prof. Susmita Sur-Kolay, Professor-in-Charge, Computer and Communication Sciences Division. 29. Shri Somnath Ray, Head, SQC & OR Division. 30. Prof. Abhay G. Bhatt, Head, Delhi Centre. 31. Prof. T.S.S.R.K. Rao, Head, Bangalore Centre. 32. Prof. S. Ponnusamy, Acting Head, Chennai Centre. 33. Dr. Amita Pal, Dean of Studies. Non-Member Secretary Col. S. Chakraborty, Chief Executive (Administration & Finance). INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE Annual Report April 2016 – March 2017 203 Barrackpore Trunk Road Kolkata – 700 108 (http://www.isical.ac.in) INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE EIGHTY FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT April 2016 – March 2017 CONTENTS Page Director’s Report i Upcoming Centres iii Brief History of the Institute v Summary of Activities at a Glance ix Part I. Teaching & Training, Research and Publications 1. Teaching & Training 1 Degrees and Training Courses 1 Ph.D. Degrees Awarded 4 International Statistical Education Centre 8 2. Research and other Scientific Activities 9 Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Division 9 Stat-Math Unit (SMU), Kolkata 10 Stat-Math Unit (SMU), Delhi 11 Stat-Math Unit (SMU), Bangalore 12 Stat-Math Unit (SMU), Chennai 13 Applied Statistics Division 14 Applied Statistics Unit (ASU), Kolkata 14 Interdisciplinary Statistical Research Unit (ISRU), Kolkata 15 Applied Statistics Unit (ASU), Chennai 17 Applied and Official Statistics Unit (AOSU), N-E Centre, Tezpur 17 Computer and Communication Sciences Division 18 Advanced Computing and Microelectronics Unit (ACMU), Kolkata 19 Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Unit (CVPRU), Kolkata 20 Electronics and Communication Sciences Unit (ECSU), Kolkata 21 Machine Intelligence Unit (MIU), Kolkata 22 Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore 22 Systems Science and Informatics Unit (SSIU), Bangalore 23 Computer Science Unit (CSU), Chennai 23 Cryptology and Security Research Unit (CSRU), Kolkata 24 Physics and Earth Sciences Division 25 Geological Studies Unit (GSU), Kolkata 25 Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit (PAMU), Kolkata 27 Biological Sciences Division 29 Agricultural & Ecological Research Unit (AERU), Kolkata 30 Biological Anthropology Unit (BAU), Kolkata 31 Human Genetics Unit (HGU), Kolkata 31 Social Sciences Division 32 Economic Research Unit (ERU), Kolkata 33 Linguistic Research Unit (LRU), Kolkata 36 Population Studies Unit (PSU), Kolkata 36 Psychology Research Unit (PRU), Kolkata 36 Sampling and Official Statistics Unit (SOSU), Kolkata 37 Sociological Research Unit (SRU), Kolkata 38 Economics and Planning Unit (EPU), Delhi 39 Economic Analysis Unit (EAU), Bangalore 41 Statistical Quality Control and Operations Research Division 41 SQC & OR Unit, Kolkata 42 SQC & OR Unit, Delhi 43 SQC & OR Unit, Bangalore 44 SQC & OR Unit, Coimbatore 44 SQC & OR Unit, Hyderabad 46 SQC & OR Unit, Mumbai 46 SQC & OR Unit, Pune 46 Library, Documentation and Information Sciences Division 46 Library, Kolkata 47 Library, Delhi 49 Library, Bangalore 50 Library, Chennai 51 Library, Tezpur 52 PCM Memorial Museum and Archives, Kolkata 53 Centre for Soft Computing Research: A National Facility, Kolkata 53 Computer and Statistical Services Centre, Kolkata 54 3. Projects 56 Internally Funded Projects 56 Ongoing Projects 56 Completed Projects 61 Externally Funded Projects 63 Ongoing Projects 63 Completed Projects 72 North East Projects 75 Ongoing Projects 75 Completed Projects 75 4. Symposia, Conferences, Workshops, Lectures and Seminars 76 Symposia and Conferences 76 North East Symposia and Conferences 77 Workshops and Training Programme 77 North East Workshops and Training Programme 80 Lectures and Seminars 81 5. Publication of Sankhyā 98 6. Scientific Papers and Publications 99 Books Published 99 Papers Published in Journals 101 Papers Published in Conference Proceedings 135 Papers Published in Books 149 7. Visiting Scientists, Honours and Awards 155 Visiting Scientists 155 Honours and Awards 169 8. Editorial and other Scientific Assignments 172 Editorial Assignments 172 Scientific Assignments/Academic Visits Abroad 176 Scientific Assignments/Academic Visits in India 188 9. Mathematical Olympiad Organised 205 Part II. Administration and Office Bearers 10. General Administration 206 11. List of Members of the Academic Council and other 215 Committees of the Institute as on 31 March 2017 Part III. Audited Statement of Accounts and Auditor’s Report for the year 2016-2017 Director’s Report It is my proud privilege and pleasure to present the Annual Report 2016-17 of the Indian Statistical Institute. This Institute, established by P.C. Mahalanobis in a small laboratory of Presidency College, Calcutta in 1931, has grown into a unique institution of higher learning spread over several cities of the country. As in the past, the Institute continues its glorious tradition of disseminating knowledge in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Economics and related subjects. The year 2016 saw the reconstitution of the Council of the Institute for the term 2016-2018. We are happy to inform you that Dr. Vijay Kelkar has taken over as the President of the Institute succeeding Dr. C. Rangarajan and Professor Goverdhan Mehta has taken over as the Chairman of the Council succeeding Dr. Arun Shourie. We firmly believe that the Institute will continue to flourish under their able guidance. The Institute celebrated its 51st Convocation in January 2017. Professor Leslie Gabriel Valiant, T. Jefferson Coolidge Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Harvard University, USA, and A.M. Turning Award Winner delivered the convocation address as the Chief Guest. The year 2017 also marks the beginning of 125th birth anniversary year of Professor P.C. Mahalanobis. The Post Graduate Diploma course in Business Analytics conducted jointly with Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, saw its first outgoing batch this year. This course has been designed keeping in mind the global requirement for professionals in Business Analytics in the coming years. The Post-Graduate Diploma in Statistical Methods and Analytics (PGDSMA) course has been running successfully at the N-E Centre, Tezpur. All the students of the 2016-17 batch passed out with First Division, including six with distinction, and as per the Memorandum of Agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), all of them will be absorbed by TCS. A large number of prestigious awards and honours was bestowed upon the Scientists of our Institute for their significant contributions in various fields.