HOMI BABA

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was the visionary who conceptulised the Indian Nuclear Programme and along with a handful of Scientists initiated the nuclear science research in India in March, 1944. He envisaged the vast potential of nuclear energy and its possible successful utilization in the field of power generation and allied areas. Dr. Bhabha started working with the goal of achieving self reliance in the fields of nuclear science and engineering and today’s Department of Atomic Energy which is a consortium of different and diversified fields of science and engineering is the final outcome of the farsighted planning of Dr. Bhabha. Thus, in his own words “When Nuclear Energy has been successfully applied for power production in, say a couple of decades from now, India will not have to look abroad for its experts but will find them ready at hand”. Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, realizing the immense potential of nuclear energy as a viable alternative source for electric power generation, launched the Indian Nuclear Programme in March 1944. It was the farsightedness of Dr. Bhabha to start nuclear research in India at a time following the discovery of nuclear fission phenomena by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman and soon after Enrico Fermi etal from Chicago reporting the feasibility of sustained nuclear chain reactions. At that time very little information was available to the outside world about nuclear fission and sustained chain reactions and nobody was willing to subscribe to the concept of power generation based on nuclear energy.  Dr. Bhabha was an astute scientist and committed engineer, a dedicated architect, a meticulous planner and a perfect executive. An ardent follower of fine arts and music, he was a philanthropist too. The path to perfection paved by Dr. Bhabha has taken the Indian Atomic Energy Programme to one amongst the best in the world. The family members of the Department of Atomic Energy and also the whole country salute the great scientist of our country- Dr. Homi Bhabha and rededicate ourselves in the pursuit of perfection set forth by him through the coming years. ACHIEVEMENTS-BARC:  Dr. Bhabha approached Sir Dorabji Tata Trust for starting nuclear research in India leading to the establishment of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, which was inaugurated on December 19, 1945. Atomic Energy Act was passed on April 15,1948 and Atomic Energy Commission was constituted on August 10, 1948 in order to intensify the studies related to the exploitation of nuclear energy for the benefit of the nation. Exhaustive survey for rare minerals and Uranium deposits started by Atomic Minerals Division and on August 18, 1959 Indian Rare Earths Ltd was set up for the chemical processing and recovery of rare earth compounds and Thorium-Uranium deposits. Atomic Energy Commission started Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay on January 3, 1954. Atomic Energy Commission functioning under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Scientific Research was brought under the Department of Atomic Energy from August 3, 1954 with Dr. Homi Bhabha as the Secretary to the Government of India for the department. Department of Atomic Energy functioned under the direct control of the Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and continued to remain under the direct charge of successive prime ministers since then. All scientists and engineers engaged in the fields of reactor design and development, instrumentation, metallurgy and material science etc were transferred along with their respective programme from TIFR to AEET to become an integral part of the newly created AEET. TIFR has become an institution fully dedicated to carry out fundamental research in Nuclear Science. The Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) was formally dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on January 20, 1957. Later, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi renamed AEET as Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) on January 22, 1967 as a fitting tribute to Dr. Homi Bhabha who died in an air crash on January 24, 1966. Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay has already made its impressions in the world of science as one of the unique nuclear research institution where high quality research and development is taking place in the areas of nuclear reactor design and installation, fuel fabrication, chemical processing of depleted fuel and also acquired sufficient expertise in the development of radioisotope application techniques in medicine, agriculture and industries. Basic and advanced research investigations were in full progress in nuclear physics, spectroscopy, solid state physics, chemical and life sciences, reactor engineering, instrumentation, radiation safety and nuclear medicine etc. In a nutshell, BARC provides a broad spectrum of scientific and technological activities extending from basic laboratory bench scale research to scaled up plant level operations and its functional domain covers all walks of science and technology � stretching from classical school of thoughts to the emerging novel fields of interest. The core mandate of this institution is to provide Research and Development support required to sustain one of the major peaceful applications of nuclear energy viz. power generation. This includes conceptualization of the programme, finalisation of the design of the reactor and the peripheral components, preparation of computer generated working models and their evaluation studies under simulated reactor running conditions, identification, selection and testing of materials and components for their risk analysis under extreme conditions of reactor operating environments, development and testing of new reactor fuel materials etc. Besides, BARC also extends its expertise to chemical processing of spent fuels, safe disposal of nuclear waste besides developing new isotope application techniques in industries, medicine, agriculture etc. Advanced frontline research in physical, chemical and biological sciences are intensely being pursued in BARC in order to give the nation a cutting edge in the fields of science and technology at the international levels. Thus, BARC is a multifaceted institution wherein the in house research findings were further translated into the development stage and finally through successful demonstration phase is taken for deployment in the respective fields. Advanced equipments and instruments, well set laboratories, vibrant ambience and availability of expertise from all fields of science and engineering are the unique features of BARC committed in taking the nation to the new horizons of knowledge and development.

VIKRAM SARABHAI

Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in the city of Ahmedabad , Gujarat State in western India. The Sarabhai family was an important and rich Jain business family. His father Ambalal Sarabhai was an affluent industrialist and owned many mills in Gujarat. Vikram Sarabhai was one of the eight children of Ambalal and Sarla Devi.

To educate her eight children, Sarla Devi established a private school on the lines of the Montessori method, propounded by Maria Montessori, which was gaining fame at that time. As the Sarabhai family was involved in the Indian freedom struggle, many leaders of the freedom struggle like Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru used to frequent the Sarabhai house. This is said to have greatly influenced the young Vikram Sarabhai and played an important role in the growth of his personality.

Sarabhai matriculated from the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad after passing the Intermediate Science examination. After that he moved to England and joined the St. John's College, University of Cambridge. He received the Tripos in Natural Sciences from Cambridge in 1940. With the escalation of the Second World War, Sarabhai returned to India and joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and began research in cosmic rays under the guidance of Sir C. V. Raman, a Nobel Prize winner. He returned to Cambridge after the war in 1945 and was awarded a PhD degree in 1947 for his thesis titled Cosmic Ray investigation in Tropical Latitudes.

Physical Research Laboratory

Vikram returned to an independent India in 1947. Looking at the needs of the country, he persuaded charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to endow a research institution near home in Ahmedabad. Thus, Vikram Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. He was only 28 at that time. Sarabhai was a creator and cultivator of institutions and PRL was the first step in that direction. Vikram Sarabhai served of PRL from 1966-1971.

Indian Space Program

The establishment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was one of his greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the government of the importance of a space programme for a developing country like India after the Russian Sputnik launch. Dr. Sarabhai emphasized the importance of a space program in his quote:

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight."

"But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society."

Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, widely regarded as the father of India's nuclear science program, supported Dr. Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station in India. This center was established at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because of its proximity to the equator. After a remarkable effort in setting up the infrastructure, personnel, communication links, and launch pads, the inaugural flight was launched on November 21, 1963 with a sodium vapour payload.

As a result of Dr. Sarabhai's dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was launched during July 1975 - July 1976 (when Dr.Sarabhai was no more).

Dr. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian Satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome.

Dr. Sarabhai was very interested in science education and founded a Community Science Centre at Ahmedabad in 1966. Today, the Centre is called the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre.

He led the family's 'Sarabhai' diversified business group.

His interests varied from science to sports to statistics. He set up Operations Research Group (ORG), the first market research organization in the country.

Dr Vikram Sarabhai established many institutes which are of international repute. Most notable among them are IIMs (Indian Institute Of Management) which are considered world class for their management studies. Also he helped establishing PRL (Physical Research Laboratory) which is doing commendable job in R&D in Physics. Dr Vikram Sarabhai setup ATIRA (Ahmedabad Textiles Industrial Research Association) which helped the booming textiles business in Ahmedabad. He also setup CEPT (Center for Environmental Planning and Technology). Not stopping with all these he went ahead and setup BMA (Blind Men Association) which helps visually challenged people with necessary skills and support.

Anil Kakodkar

Dr Dyestuff Kakodkar is a famous Asian atomic human. Currently, he's the head of the Microscopic Vigour Dictation of Bharat AECI and the Confidant to the Regime of Bharat, Section of Atomic Vim. He was also the manager of the Bhabha Microscopical Research Property at Trombay. Dr Indigo Kakodkar is a very magisterial atomic scientist of Bharat. He is presently the chairperson of the Atomic Healthiness Credentials of Bharat AECI as wellspring as the Escritoire to the Government of India, Department of Atomlike Spirit.

He was the musician of the Bhabha Atomic Investigate Sweet at Trombay from the gathering 1996-2000 before being granted the opportunity of directing Bharat's thermonuclear information. Indicate on many around the chronicle of Dyestuff Kakodkar. Anil Kakodkar was hatched on 11 November 1943 in the Barawani community situated in the comprise day Asiatic province of Madhya Pradesh. He's the son of Mrs Kamala Kakodkar & Mr. P. Kakodkar, both of whom bechance to be Gandhian immunity fighters.

Kakodkar then connected VJTI in Bombay Lincoln in 1963 to obtain a award in Robotlike Discipline. In the assemblage 1964, Indigo Kakodkar linked the Bhabha Small Search Centre BARC. He also notched a poet honour in observational articulate reasoning from the Lincoln of Nottingham in the period 1969. The spiritedness history of Dye Kakodkar's progress as atomic soul advance saw him tie the Setup Room Segmentation of the BARC.

Anil Kakodkar also has the assets of beingness a member of the core team of architects of India's Irenic Nuclear Tests that were conducted during the years 1974 and 1998. He also led the indigenous process of the region's Controlled Burdensome Food Setup Technology. Anil Kakodkar's efforts in the rehabilitation of the two reactors at Kalpakkam and the first unit at Rawatbhatta is noteworthy as it were almost to thick low.

In the period 1996, Indigo Kakodkar became the youngest Director of the BARC after Homi Bhabha himself. From the twelvemonth 2000 onwards, he has been stellar the Microscopical Liveliness Delegation of Bharat and playacting escritoire to the Division of Microscopic Spirit. Dr Dyestuff Kakodkar has been activity a pivotal piece in tight dominion for India's atomic tests. Infact, he is famous for being a hefty urge of India's self reliance by employing Thorium as a fuel for thermonuclear vim.