This seminar was organized by the AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy and the AAAS Science and Policy Programs in cooperation with the Indo-U.S. S&T Forum, and the newly formed India S&T Partnership. The topic was "Priorities in Indian Research and Development.”
The speaker was Dr. Rajagopala Chidambaram, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet. With Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees from IIT Bangalore, he joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1962, and became Director in 1990. The research groups he established there in High Pressure Physics and Neutron Crystallography are regarded among the best in the world.
He played a leading role in the design and execution of the Peaceful Nuclear Explosion experiment at Pokhran in 1974, and also led the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) team that designed the nuclear devices and carried out the tests at Pokhran in May 1998, in cooperation with the Indian Defense R&D Organization. He has made important contributions in physics research and to many aspects of India's nuclear technology, including service as Chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary of the DAE from 1993-2000.
Dr. Chidambaram is a Fellow of all the major Science Academies in India and also of the Third World Academy of Sciences, Trieste (Italy). He was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1994-1995. In addition to numerous honorary degrees and distinguished awards, he also remains DAE-Homi Bhabha Professor at the BARC and Honorary Visiting Professor of Physics at Banaras Hindu University. He has also taken Chairmanship of the Council and the Governing Body of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC).
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