REGISTERED No. D. 221
The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PART I—Section I
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 29] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY I, 1966/MAGHA 12, 1887
Separate paring is given to this Part in order that it may be filed
as a separate compilation
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 1st February 1966
No. 3/4/66-Pub.II.—The passing away on January 24, 1966, of
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Secretary to the Government of India,
Department of Atomic Energy, Chairman of the Indian Atomic
Energy Commission and prime architect of Indian atomic and
space research programme, has deprived
India and indeed the
world of one of its most distinguished scientists. A versatile
genius, he had not only made an outstanding contribution which
brought him worldwide recognition, to research in the new and
exciting field of nuclear physics, but he was also an accomplished
artist and musician, a dynamic leader of the scientific community,
a brilliant administrator and above all an ardent patriot, who had
dedicated himself to the cause of a developing country taking its
(71)
place among the fully developed nations of the world and attaining
prosperity through the development of its science and technology;
and was indeed responsible for India vaulting to the status of the
first six leading countries in the field of atomic energy. The dream,
for the fulfilment of which he devoted his entire life and energy,
was to project the image of India' as one of the leading, scienti-
fically and technologically advanced countries of the world. His
zeal and untiring effort towards the attainment of this goal was
a continuing source of inspiration to the young band of devoted
scientists who embarked under his dynamic leadership on the
thrilling adventure of atomic energy research, which holds great
promise for mankind, if developed for peaceful uses—a cause
which was ever close to his heart. Indeed, he was responsible in
a large measure for the great increase in the scientific effort in the
world towards the application of atomic energy to
peaceful
purposes, for his voice was heard with respect not only in India,
but all over the world.
2. Dr. Bhabha's original contributions to physics lie in the field
of cosmic radiation, the theory of elementary particles, and
quantum theory. His Cascade Theory of Electron Showers, deve-
loped with W. Heitler in 1937, is basic for an understanding of thf
soft component of- cosmic radiation and the behaviour of high
energy electrons and gamma rays. He did some of the
earliest
work establishing the existence of a new elementary particle, the
meson, which owes its name to his suggestion. His prediction of
the slowing down of the rate of decay of /i —mesong with increas-
ing velocity in accordance with relativity and its subsequent obser-
vational confirmation remain one of the best proofs of the correct-
ness of Einstein's Theory o£ Special Relativity at extremely high
velocities. The importance of his work received wide recognition,
and in 1941, at the early age of 31, he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society.
3. Dr. Bhabha was educated at the Cathedral and John Connon
High School, Elphinstone College, and the Institute
of
Science,
Bombay, up to the age of 17. He then joined-Gonville and Caius
College, Cambridge, and obtained the B.A. Degree in the Mechani-
cal Sciences Tripos in 1930. While at Cambridge he held the Rouse
Ball Travelling Studentship in Mathematics from 1932 to 1934
and spent those years working with W. Pauli in Zurich, Enrico ;
Fermi in Rome, and for a briefer period with H. A. Kramers in
Utrecht. He became Reader in Theoretical Physics at the Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1940, and worked as a Professor
in that Institute from 1942 to 1945.
4. He was awarded the Adams Prize by the University of
Cambridge in 1942, and in 1948, received the Hopkins Prize of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society. He was elected President of the
Indian Science Congress in 1951. In 1954, he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan by the President of India. In J.957, he was elected
Honorary Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and
an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1959,
he was elected Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts
[PAW I - S M . 1]
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY
yj
and Science. In 1962, he was elected Fellow Member of the World
Academy of Arts and Science. In 1963, he was elected Foreign
Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences, and an
Honorary Life Member of the New York Academy of Sciences.
5. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was: founded
through the initiative of Dr. Bhabha, and he was Director and
Professor of Theoretical Physics of the Institute since its founda-
tion in 1945. He was Chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Com-
mission from 1948, and Secretary to the Government of India in
the Department of Atomic Energy from 1954 and Director of the
Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, from 1957.
6. In 1955, Dr. Bhabha was the President of the first Inter-
national Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy orga-
nized by the United Nations at Geneva, perhaps the most historic
scientific conference held in our times. His reference to the possi-
bility of controlled fusion in his Presidential Address was respon-
sible for a great increase in the scientific effort that is being
applied to the
solution of this problem, and led eventually
to
decjassiflcation of the secret work on this subject in the second
International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy
at Geneva in 1958. From 1960 to 1963, he was President of the
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
7. Dr. Bhabha was a Member of the Scientific Advisory Com-
mittee of both the United Nations and the International Atomic
Energy Agency. From July 1965, he was Chairman of the Scienti-
fic Advisory Committee to the Cabinet, Government of India.
8. Such was the record of this truly gifted son of India. The
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Atomic Energy
Establishment, Trombay, are standing memorials to his work and
achievement as a scientist-administrator and the scientific man-
power that he has built up with such devotion and energy his
richest legacy to, India.
9. The Government of India extends its deepest sympathy to
Dr. Homi Bhabha's mother and other members of his family in
this hour of grief,—grief which is shared by the entire nation.
L. P. SINGH, Secy.
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