Homi Bhabha awards announced, Partha Das tops list

This year, 132 trainee scientific officers passed out from the Orientation course for Science post graduates and Engineering post-graduates while 16 trainee scientific officers made it to the BARC from the Engineering postgraduates section.

The awards were given away by Prof P Rama Rao, vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, who was the chief guest of the graduates’ convocation function.

Delivering the presidential address outgoing chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and secretary Department of Atomic Energy, Rajagopala Chidambaram, observed that there is a "decreased motivation for young people to take up careers in Science or careers in Engineering research and technology development."

Pointing out that the problem "will have a serious impact in the future of the growth of science and technology in the country, including in the nuclear field," Chidambaram said the government was engaged in addressing the problem.

Chidambaram obliquely criticised the Central Government for not doing enough to sponsor nuclear power. Observing that there was a large need for nuclear power as it was the only viable and cheap alternative, Chidambaram said, "Even with the existence of a large need, in the absence of political will, a nuclear programme cannot be initiated. In the current international scenario, the political will to exercise the nuclear option is associated with the capability to have a long-term vision and to overcome both internal prejudices and external pressures."

Dr Anil Kakodkar, director BARC and chairman-designate AEC also addressed the gathering.

The other Homi Bhabha awardees are: Imran Ali Khan (Mechanical Engineering), Krishna K Singh (Chemical Engineering, Arjit Laik (Mettalurgy), Dauji Saha (Civil Engineering), Ms Yachika Verma (Electrical Engineering), Amit Chauhan (Electronics), Pankaj Saksena (Computer Science and Engineering), Rajesh Kumar (Environmental Science), Jayanta Debnath (Physics), Ms Sheetal Uppal (Bio-Sciences) and Manish Sharma.