Hyderabad|India|August'2010: The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010 was inaugurated by the Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. The Congress was attended by more than 2700 participants from India and abroad. Close to 1400 participants from foreign countries are participants in this Congress.

Her Excellency The President, while giving the Inaugural address welcomed the participants of the Congress and wished them a wonderful and fruitful stay in Hyderabad and India. She said that it would be a good opportunity for the Mathematicians to discuss the development and advancement in the field of Mathematics. Mathematics plays an important role in the human progress and also stands at the helm of all sciences, like a crest of the Peacock. India has been at the forefront in the research related to arithmetic, algebra and geometry. She also mentioned that the concept of Zero has originated in India. She highlighted the contributions made by renowned mathematicians like Aryabhatta, Brahmabhatta, Bhaskara and Madhava from India to the field of mathematics; she also remembered enormous contributions made by Srinivasa Ramunajan. She also made a mention of the major role Mathematics plays in the development of Computer Science and Technology, Engineering, Finance, Industry and Social Sciences. She said that Mathematics plays an Integral part in the formation of India's Science Policy. She acknowledged the support of the University of Hyderabad and its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Seyed E Hasnain in hosting an event of this magnitude. Her Excellency deeply appreciated the pioneering work done by all the Prize winners and wished them long years of further enterprising work in Mathematics.

Her Excellency also gave away the 2010 Fields Medal (Equivalent to the Nobel Prize in Mathematics) to Elon Lindenstrauss, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Ngo Bao Chau, Universite Paris-Sud, France; Stanislav Smirnov, Universite de Geneve, Switzerland and Cedric Villani, Institut Poincare, France. The 2010 Rolf Nevanlinna Prize was presented to Daniel Spielman, Yale University, USA. The 2010 Gauss Prize was given away to Yves Meyer, Professor Emeritus at Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan, France. The Chern award for 2010 was won by Louis Nirenberg, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA.

The nine-day International Congress(till 27th August) will see mathematicians from all around the globe discussing the recent developments and discoveries in Mathematics. The next ICM in 2014 will be held at Seoul, South Korea.