M R Srinivasan focused on the peaceful use of nuclear power at a time when the popular view among the 'hawks' was that India should build a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
Rajagopala Chidambaram, a renowned Indian scientist who played a pivotal role in the country's nuclear tests of 1975 and 1998, passed away on Saturday at the age of 88. He was also associated with India's nuclear weapons program and served as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Principal Scientific Advisor to the government.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army, is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing information and expertise to al-Qaeda, according to Indian officials. Chaudhry's father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, allegedly provided insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and raised funds for a fundamentalist organization linked to the Taliban. Mahmood was arrested in 2001 after admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden but was later released.
'Rajagopala Chidambaram's smile, simplicity and ability to put younger colleagues at ease always encouraged me to approach him for advice or guidance.'
'He was deeply committed to nurturing young talent and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.'
'The very fact that his autobiography is called India Rising is a correct example of his wish for India to be a developed country and do as best as possible by science reaching to the common people.'
Ushering in reforms, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed to open up the nuclear power sector for private players and announced a Rs 20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission for research in the field, with an aim to set up five small and modular reactors by 2033.
Whether the ambitious targets are achievable is a moot question as India's earlier target was 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020.
It's time India re-visited its Western alliances for the attitude and approach that the West reserves for the nation when it comes to security cooperation of the kind that they might not have visualised outside of China, India's bug-bear, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
'Why should we disclose classified information to satisfy those who doubt our Hydrogen Bomb capability?'
'Chinese are going bang, bang, bang building 30-35 reactors.' 'We should announce a programme of 50 new reactors and show that we mean business on the ground and not just announcements.'
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
China on Tuesday inked an agreement worth a whopping USD 4.8 billion with cash-strapped Pakistan to set up a 1,200-megawatt nuclear power plant as a sign of increasing strategic cooperation between the two all-weather allies.
Veteran atomic scientist and former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr Sekhar Basu succumbed to Covid-19 early on Thursday at a private hospital in Koklata, a health department official said. He breathed his last just three days after turning 68.
The narrative is faithful to the source, American Prometheus, but what makes it absolutely spell-binding is Christopher Nolan's technique, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Pant, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Rajasthan cadre, is currently secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.
Barely days after imposing a 40 per cent export tax on onions to cool down soaring prices, which, in turn, triggered widespread protests across the main growing belts, the Centre on Tuesday sought to mitigate both political and economic tensions gripping parts of Maharashtra. It decided to procure an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer stock from farmers, a rate that is strikingly close to the price at which they were being exported before the 40 per cent duty was levied on August 19. The export price before the imposition of the duty stood at around $320 per tonne free on board (approximately Rs 2,650 per quintal).
The culprits behind the 'criminal act' of mixing highly radioactive tritium heavy water in the water cooler at the Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karnataka are yet to be identified, a top Atomic Energy Commission official said on Monday.
The Atomic Energy Commission and its subordinate organisations have the mandate to put in place a comprehensive plan to ensure nuclear safety in the country, but that does not seem to have been done, writes Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
... And it's not just fear of job losses, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
'His emphasis on self-reliance is essentially due to the fact he wanted India to be a nuclear weapons country.' Dr P K Iyengar remembers the father of India's nuclear programme.
The idea of weaponization got a fillip from an unexpected quarter. In the last week of October 1985, Rajiv met US President Ronald Reagan. Reagan told Rajiv, 'Pakistan has already made a bomb.' When Rajiv started talking about disarmament, the US president cut him short, 'Don't talk theory, think of your own protection.'
'She showed courage at every turn in her political career.'
Oppenheimer is a very politically significant film for our time, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
Rocket Boys offer an overwhelming experience to me and many others who saw Homi Bhabha in action at Trombay, observes Dr K S Parthasarathy, former Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
Brand India's societal divisions and distortions have remained as much relevant in 'liberal' America and Europe as it still is in the structurally stratified Indian society of the 21st century, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
China has secretly entered into an agreement with Pakistan to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma in Punjab province that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing's promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord, a media report said.
Indian policy makers would be well advised to disabuse themselves of the notion of a Sino-Indian convergence in managing Pakistan. China doesn't do sentimentality in foreign policy, India should follow suit, says Harsh V Pant
Lashing out at anti-nuclear activists, a former Atomic Energy Commission chief on Wednesday said that "certain professional agitators" had worked against the project at Kudankoolam which was "one of the best sites" for a nuclear power station.
Batting for the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant, Atomic Energy Commission chief M R Srinivasan has said Maharashtra needs the new generation capacity to meet its industrial and agricultural demands and assured locals that effluents from the plant will not affect the ecology.
The Koodankulam atomic power project is expected to be commissioned in September, capping months of delays due to non-availability of equipment and anti-nuclear protests.
Asserting that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant belonged to the "highest safety category" of plants currently in operation in the world, the Centre on Tuesday sought dismissal of petitions in the Madras high court against the Rs 14,000 crore Indo-Russian project.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told rediff.com that Israel's recent threats to Iran over the country's plan to build nuclear arms doesn't scare Pakistan, who, some reports suggested, were moving their nuclear arms in an unsafe way, fearing Americans would take them away.
Pakistan plans to build two coastal nuclear power plants with a capacity of 1,000 MW each in the southern port city of Karachi to meet the future energy needs of the financial hub, according to a media report Monday.
The much-delayed Kudankulam project is set to be commissioned within the next two weeks as nuclear scientists have entered the final lap of a series of tests on its safety and efficacy.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday set up a four-member expert panel, which includes former atomic energy commission chief M R Srinivasan, to submit a report on the fears and concerns of local people over the Koodankulam nuclear power project.
With the standoff over the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant issue continuing, top atomic scientists will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday to discuss ways and means to allay the fears of the locals who are insisting on scrapping the project.
Had it not been for the global concern with respect to 'climate change', the nuclear states with a large stockpile of weapons would not have allowed other countries to adopt nuclear energy, said Dr Anil Kakodkar, member of the Atomic Energy Commission.
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