Economics Nobel Prize 2019: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the Nobel Prize
Highlights
- Social media was filled with wishes for Abhijit Banerjee
- Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, M Venkaiah Naidu congratulated him
- "Big day for every Indian," tweeted Arvind Kejriwal
After Mumbai-born Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer won the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, social media was flooded with an outpouring of wishes, for the three, who won the coveted prize for their "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty". Eminent personalities, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ramchandra Guha and Kailash Satyarthi took to Twitter to congratulate the three for winning the Nobel.
President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted his congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their research, saying it has "helped economists better understand how to fight poverty in India & the world".
PM Modi, in a series of tweets, said Abhijit Banerjee made "notable contributions in the field of poverty alleviation".
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Abhijit Banerjee on Twitter for winning the Nobel Prize.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted saying it was a "big day for every Indian".
Senior left leader Sitaram Yechury, in his tweet, spoke about how "the calumny spread about both Presidency & JNU" was "rebuffed yet again." Mr Yechury also said it was "the second Economics Nobel from Presidency" referring to Amartya Sen's Nobel Prize win for 1998.
Mr Banerjee, apart from being an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, also studied in Kolkata's prestigious Presidency University.
In another tweet, Mr Kejriwal said Abhijit Banerjee's "pathbreaking work" benefitted "lakhs of children studying in Delhi govt schools."
Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi tweeted his congratulations to all three on Twitter.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said he was "extremely happy" for Abhijit Banerjee's win.
Historian Ramchandra Guha in several congratulatory tweets, said he was "delighted to hear" of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo's win. In his tweets, he said Abhijit Banerjee was a "proud graduate of that much-maligned university, JNU", and praised him for representing "the best of Indian culture and scholarship".
Abhijit Banerjee's father Dipak Banerjee "was a much admired teacher of Economics at Presidency College," adding that his mother Nirmala Banerjee, was "a pioneering feminist economist".
In another tweet, he said Mr Banerjee's Nobel Prize win "can be viewed as a joint tribute to Harvard (where he took his Ph D)" and to his hard work.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan summed up the Nobel Prize winning a "a fresh Nobel Prize" for JNU.
The Congress party also tweeted its congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee commending his "incredible work in poverty alleviation".
Nirmala Banerjee, Mr Banerjee's mother, said she would "tell him off" for not telling her about his Nobel when she spoke to him last night.
"I haven't spoken to my son (since the award was announced) but I did speak to him last night. He did not mention this then. I will tell him off... he should have told me about it," Ms Banerjee told NDTV.
Abhijit Banerjee, 58, was born in India and has a PhD from Harvard University. He is a Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.
Esther Duflo, 47, was born in Paris and is currently a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also has a PhD from MIT. Ms Duflo is the second woman and the youngest person to be awarded the prize in Economics. Mr Banerjee and Ms Duflo are married.
Michael Kremer, 55, is a professor at Harvard University and has a PhD from the university. The prize amount of 9 million Swedish krona will be shared equally between the three Laureates.