Today is the birthday of Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha, who is called the father of nuclear power in India. The name of Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha is included among the great people who laid down their lives to make independent India strong and powerful. Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha’s work in atomic and space field made India famous all over the world. Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha was born in a Sadan Parsi family on October 30, 1909. His father Dr Jehangir Bhabha was a barrister. His father was very fond of reading so he collected many books including books on science.
Dr. Homi was fond of science from childhood. So he read many science books. His father wanted Homi to become an engineer after finishing school, but Homi insisted to his father that he liked mathematics and material science and wanted to pursue a career in it. His father allowed him to pursue a career in this subject but made it a condition to complete engineering first. Therefore, Homi completed his first class in engineering from Cambridge University in 1930. He also studied mathematics and material science under the guidance of Paul Direk.
He excelled in Mathematics and Materials Science and won many prizes and scholarships in these subjects. He returned to India in 1940. After coming to India, he worked as a professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He was instrumental in establishing the Tata Institute of Basic Research in 1945. Later he became the director of this organization. Even as a director, he did not give up his research work. After the independence of the country in 1948, on his initiative, the Government of India established the Atomic Energy Commission. He was also the director of this organization.
He started his research in this institute, when the child particle, new theory, new techniques were emerging. Dr. Homi Bhabha added value to it. In the month of August 1954, when the Government of India created a separate account for the development of atomic energy, Dr. Homi Bhabha was selected as the first secretary of this account. This Atomic Energy Development Research Department set up the country’s first nuclear research center at Turbhe in Mumbai under the leadership of Dr. Bhabha. Then in 1956, the first nuclear reactor not only in the country but also in Asia was started. Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha is credited with laying important and solid foundations in both the nuclear and space fields.
He believed that nuclear power should be used for constructive purposes and not for destructive purposes. In 1955, Dr Bhabha presided over a symposium on the use of atomic energy for peaceful development held at Geneva and organized by the United Nations. In this seminar, he challenged all countries not to use nuclear energy to make nuclear bombs. Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha has won many international awards for his great work in the field of nuclear energy and space.
The Government of India also honored him with the Padma Bhushan Award. On January 24, 1966, this great scientist died in a terrible accident on the high peak of Mont Blanc in Switzerland. After his death, the Atomic Research Center at Turbhe was renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Greetings to him on his birthday today!
✒️Shyam Basappa Thanedar(Daund District Pune)mo:-9922546295
