Hyderabad's maths prodigy becomes the world's fastest human calculator
By Newsmeter Network Published on 20 Aug 2020 3:10 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash has become India's first-ever gold medal winner at the Mental Calculation World Championship. It was held as part of the Mind Sports Olympiad at London this week.
Bhanu was five years old when he enrolled himself in the SIP Abacus program and went on to win the International Abacus Championship in 2013.
Bhanu, however, keenly looks at Maths as an art. He refers to how several countries do not look at it as a science anymore. "I want o to restore the glory of Maths to what India had in its past. India has some of the finest brains and faculties, and we must help many young minds excel," he adds.
Meet World's fastest human calculator, Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash from #Hyderabad.
— NewsMeter (@NewsMeter_In) August 27, 2020
He appeals to donate for Project: 'Math in Lockdown for poor & underprivileged students. The project has worked across 50+ schools and a government education project. Listen in
VC: @ashish80999 pic.twitter.com/Ad0qbwiqqk
[amp-tweet tweetid="https://twitter.com/NewsMeter_In/status/1298865168017788928"]
The tag of 'Human Calculator' has previously been owned by Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg.
This year's competition was conducted virtually. Thirty human calculators participated, who were aged between 13 to 50.
Some of Bhanu's other records include "Power Multiplication Record", and "The Super Subtraction Record."
Bhanu further adds, "I want to build a community of mathematicians."
The 20-year old also runs a startup called Exploring Infinities, through which he has worked to engage kids all across the state. He runs courses such as "Math Wizard" and "Turn on the computer in you" to help kids learn fast-paced mathematical skills. He is a graduate from Delhi University's St Stephens College.
He also works in collaboration with the Government of Telangana and T-SAT Network and has created 700 hours of math content for classes 6 to 10.
"I wish to eradicate the phobia towards Maths through our school interventions, student engagement and PR exercises. I want to help improve cognitive abilities in students through arithmetic learning, all while helping them to explore the infinite capabilities of the human brain. My larger aim is to produce mathematical geniuses from government schools in Telangana." Bhanu adds.
