2. Read the given passage carefully: 1 Surrounded on one side by hills and facing the Arabian Sea on the other, this place has been the
cradle of nuclear research and development in India. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),
Trombay, has been over the last five decades an integral part of India’s development. On
20th January, 2007, it completed 50 years of its existence – a journey that has seen milestones being
met, even as it prepares for future challenges.
2 Today, very few organizations across the world can boast of capabilities like BARC. Be it making
nuclear weapons as part of national security or carrying forward India’s nuclear programme,
developing new crop varieties, exhibiting the country’s supercomputing prowess, helping cancer
patients, protecting food items from rotting, or providing safe drinking water, BARC has been in the
forefront.
3 “It is the mother institutions of India’s nuclear programme”, this is how Dr. Anil Kakodkar, the
Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Secretary to Department of Atomic Energy
(DAE) describes BARC. He has been the Director of BARC for several years and has also been
closely associated with the Pokhran-I and Pokhran-II nuclear tests.
4 BARC has a very humble beginning. It all began when Dr. Bhabha approached the Sir Dorabji Tata
Trust for starting nuclear research in India leading to the establishment of the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, which was inaugurated on 19 December, 1945. The Atomic
Energy Act was passed on 15 April, 1948 and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was
constituted on 10 August, 1948 to intensify studies related to the exploitation of nuclear energy for
the benefit of the nation. In fact, India was among the first 8 countries of the world to have an Atomic
Energy Commission.
5 The Atomic Energy Commission established the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay on
3
rd January, 1954. The AEC, which had been functioning under the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Scientific Research, was brought under the Department of Atomic Energy from 3rd August, 1954
with Dr. Homi Bhabha as Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The DAE functioned
under the direct control of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and continued to remain under
the direct charge of successive Prime Ministers since then. All scientists and engineers engaged in the
fields of reactor design and development instrumentation, metallurgy and material science, etc. were
transferred along with their respective programme from DIFR to AEET to become an integral part of
the newly created AEET.
a) Over the last five years BARC has been an integral part of__________.
i) Rural development ii) nuclear development
iii) India’s development iv) IT development
b) In January 2007, this research centre completed__________.
i) hundred years ii) fifty years
iii) forty years iv) sixty five years
c) BARC has been in the forefront in___________.
i) Making nuclear weapons
ii) helping cancer patients
iii) carrying forward India’s nuclear power programme
iv) all three
d) Dr. Anil Kakodkar has been the director of BARC for_______
i) Twenty years ii) several years
iii) thirty years iv) ten years
e) Which word in para 2 means the same as ‘strength’?
i) Prowess ii) forward
iii) formidable iv) providing
f) Find a word in para 4 which means ‘of low rank’?
i) Nuclear ii) invincible
iii) humble iv) exploitation
Answer the following given questions in 20-30 words each: (1x4=4)
a) How is BARC contributing to the peaceful use of nuclear energy?
b) Where is Bhabha Atomic Research Centre located?
c) What is the meaning of the word ‘metallurgy’?
d) Why was the AEC constituted?
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