Dr Baldev Raj
(April 9, 1947-Jan 6, 2018 )
Dr Baldev Raj, Director of
National Institute of Advanced Studies, (NIAS) Bengaluru and former Director of
Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, (IGCAR), Kalpakkam sadly passed away
in Pune on the morning of Jan 6, 2018, where he had gone to attend a meeting at
the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Pune. Our
heartfelt condolences to the family and friends and colleagues of Dr Baldev
Raj.
The vast contribution of Baldev
Raj to the Indian Fast Breeder Program in general and to Radiometallurgy,
non-destructive testing, strategic materials etc. are well known ( )and are
already documented (see for example: http://nias.res.in/director/baldev-raj ).
He was richly recognised for the
same by the Government of India with a Padmashri and numerous National and
International apex bodies in Science and Technology.
I would like here to briefly
highlight a few other aspects of his personality and work which are less
documented.
Baldev Raj was greatly interested in India’s
culture and heritage. As a Materials Scientist he contributed by studying among
other things the near perfect casting technology involved in Chola Bronzes of
Thanjavur (Where Gods Come Alive - Bronze Icons of South India by Baldev Raj, C
Rajagopalan, C V Sundaram, Vigyan Prasar, 2000,
https://archive.org/details/WhereGodsComeAlive-BronzeIconsOfSouthIndia ). Under
the inspiration of Profs T R Anantharaman, C V Sundaram, S Ranganathan, A K
Biswas a new field called Archaeo-Metallurgy came into being in India, which
tried to reconstruct our history of minerals, metals and materials by applying
modern scientific analysis to ancient artifacts and Baldev Raj participated in
it enthusiastically (http://reflections-shivanand.blogspot.in/2011/10/archaeo-metallurgy-dr-baldev-raj.html ).
He was aware of the fact that native
intelligence and genius had no correlation with class background and in fact
the nation loses a lot of potential talent because the bright children of the
poor do not get enough opportunities or encouragement to flower. He started a
vigorous program in Coimbatore to identify such children train a bunch of
dedicated teachers to help them out and create opportunities for them to
interact with the nation’s top scientists, educationists, social scientists,
journalists etc. while he was an advisor to a group of educational institutions
there. I had the good fortune of interacting with nearly a hundred such
brilliant pre-teens to teens in Coimbatore when he had invited me to deliver
some lectures at PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research in 2014. I
was amazed at their energy, enthusiasm and chutzpah. More over the twinkle in
Baldev Raj’s eyes as they spoke was unforgettable.
One of the lesser known aspects of Baldev
Raj’s leadership at Kalpakkam was how he dealt with the unprecedented danger
and destruction caused by the Tsunami in December 2004. It remains a case study
in disaster management and I wish it were properly recorded for the lessons to
be learnt. ( http://reflections-shivanand.blogspot.in/2013/12/dr-baldev-raj-safety-at-fast-breeder.html )
He was articulate and accessible to journalists
and was a great believer in effective science and technology communication. I
visited the Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam twice in 2006 and in 2011 and as
Director of IGCAR, Baldev Raj was more than happy to share the progress in the
prestigious Fast Breeder Program.
He had a broad vision towards humanities and
social sciences unlike most scientists and he showed that effectively when he
became the director of NIAS in 2014. NIAS was conceived by JRD Tata in 1988 as
an Institute of Advanced Studies with a multidisciplinary ambience, where the
future leaders of India can come for broadening their vision. It has had the
service of such distinguished personalities as Raja Ramanna, Roddam Narasimha,
K Kasturirangan, V S Ramamurthy and now Baldev Raj as Directors.
He ran a tight ship at NIAS and at the same
time successfully broadened financial support for research at NIAS from not
only Tata Trusts and various government departments like Science &
Technology, Atomic Energy, Railways, Space, Renewable Energy etc but also
corporates like TCS, Titan etc.
He advocated passionately a number of
multi-disciplinary studies at NIAS on energy, strategic studies, inequality
studies, consciousness studies, education, heritage conservation, man-animal
interactions, risk communication in science and technology etc. (Business India, April 27-May 10, 2015, ‘CSR funds give new hope to research’ )
He helped in creating a vibrant atmosphere of
discussion without intellectual silos at NIAS. He was a good people manager and
cared for every aspect of the institute from its conscientious gardener to
the needs of young and old researchers. He will be missed by a large community
of scientists and academics.
Shivanand Kanavi
