Shailesh Shirali has been at the Rishi Valley School (Krishnamurti Foundation of India), Rishi Valley, Andhra Pradesh, for more than ten years and is currently the Principal. He has been involved in the Mathematical Olympiad Programme since 1988.

Everyone knows the principle of mathematical induction (PMI for short); it is now standard fare even at the high-school level. Curiously, very few seem to know its close relative -- the principle of descent (PD for short); curious, because the two principles are complementary to one another. In this article we study some typical applications of this principle.

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Address for Correspondence

Shailesh A Shirali
Rishi Valley School
Chittoor District
Rishi Valley 517 352
Andhra Pradesh, India.