Guwahati: 21-year-old Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash of Hyderabad has emerged as the fastest human calculator in the world after winning the first-ever gold for India in Mental Calculation World Championship at Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) held in London recently.
As per reports, this is not the first time Bhanu Prakash has won a title. Neelakanta, a student of Mathematics Honors at Delhi University's St Stephen College holds world records and 50 Limca records for being the "fastest human calculator."
"I hold 4 world records and 50 Limca records for being the fastest human calculator in the world. My brain calculates quicker than the speed of a calculator. Breaking these records, once held by Math maestros like Scott Flansburg and Shakuntala Devi, is a matter of national pride. I have done my bit to place India on the global level of mathematics", he said, adding that the judges were so spellbound by his speed that they wanted him to perform more calculations to confirm this accuracy.
Notably, Neelakanta has won a gold medal for India at the MSO. According to him, this is equivalent to any other Olympic event in the realm of physical sports.
This year MSO was held virtually with 30 participants and is deemed to be the most prestigious international competition for games of mental skill. It had participants up to age 57 years from 13 countries including UK, Germany, UAE, France Greece, and Lebanon.
Securing 65 points, Neelakanta topped the competition followed by a Lebanese contender in the second position and a UAE contestant in the third position.
Bhanu Prakash has said his vision is to create "VISION Math" labs and reach out to millions of children to make them start loving maths.
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