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Text of Condolence Message of Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of State for Science & Technology on the demise of Dr. Raja Ramanna.
“It is an extremely sad day for Indian Science. Dr. Raja Ramanna, former Minister of State for Defence, Member of the Rajya Sabha and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission is no more with us.
As a Scientist his research contributions spanned several areas of neutron, nuclear and reactor physics. He was involved in the design and construction of India’s first reactor APSARA. The stochastic theory of fragment mass and charge distribution in fission is a unique contribution of Ramanna to fission theory. Another novel contribution by Ramanna and collaborators was a geometrical interpretation of atomic and nuclear binding energies. He also worked on masses and life-times of elementary particles. Dr. Ramanna was the architect of India’s first peaceful nuclear explosion in 1974. He almost spent a lifetime in shaping the future of India’s nuclear power programme.
After his superannuation, he established the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore and, in recent years, he had been spending his time on the philosophical and policy aspects of science and technology. This institution has already consolidated itself as a leading think-tank in this direction. Dr. Ramanna’s interest in western classical music is well known. He was an accomplished pianist.
In Dr. Ramanna, we have lost a complete human being – a visionary, scientific leader, a brilliant scientist, a deep thinker and policy planner. Our deeply felt condolences to the bereaved family. May God give them the strength and fortitude in this hour of great personal loss! And, may the departed soul rest in peace!”
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