Lok Sabha Question No. 4546 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-14
Subject: European Organisation for Nuclear Research
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, Shrirang Appa Barne, ANANDRAO  ADSUL, J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE, DHARMENDRA YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4546

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2016

## EUROPEAN ORGANISATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH

4546.  SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL:

SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  European  Organisation  for  Nuclear  Research  (CERN)  is  the world's  largest  nuclear  and  particle  physics  laboratory,  where  scientists  and engineers  are  probing  the  fundamental  structure  of  universe  by  using  the most sophisticated scientific instruments and advanced computing systems;
- (b) if  so, whether Indian scientists have been involved in all pioneering activities at CERN in recent years and if so, the facts in this regard;
- (c) whether  India  has  made  significant  contributions  to  the  construction  of  the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether CERN has signed an agreement making India an Associate Member State of CERN and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the extent to which the same will open opportunities for Indian industries to participate directly in the CERN project?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) Yes, Sir.
- (b)&(c)    In  recent  years,  Indian  scientists  have  been  involved  in  all  pioneering activities at CERN.  India has made  significant contributions to the construction  of  the  Large  Hadron  Collider  (LHC),  in  the  areas  of  design, development and supply of hardware accelerator components/systems and

its  commissioning  and  software  development  and  deployment  in  the machine.  India  is  one  of  the  leading  partners  in  the  ALICE  experiment, which is on a quest to unearth the physics of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and to get a glimpse of how matter behaved within a few microseconds after the birth of the Universe. The discovery of the Higgs Boson at the LHC is the most  talked  about  scientific  discovery  in  recent  memory.  Indian  scientists have  played  a  significant  role  in  the  Compact  Muon  Solenoid  (CMS) experiments, which is one of the two large experiments that have led to the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Indian scientists have been named as part of this  historic  discovery.  This  helps  India  in  participating  in  the  high  end technology related to high energy accelerators. It is noteworthy to mention the  involvement  of  Indian  scientists  in  high-tech  particle  detectors  and electronics  research,  ISOLDE  (Isotope  Separator  On  Line  Device)  and  nTOF (neutron Time of Flight) experiments, and various application oriented programs including medical imaging. In the field of large-scale computing, India  has  made major contributions in terms of designing, developing and deploying software for the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (WLCG). It  is  worth  mentioning  that  the  grid  Tier-2  centres  established  at Variable  Energy  Cyclotron  Centre  (VECC),  Kolkata  and  Tata  Institute  of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai have provided the pledged resources and are operating with 96% uptime, thereby facilitating running of computational jobs by various CERN collaborations.

- (d) An  agreement  has  been  signed  on  21.11.2016  between  India  and  the European  Organisation  for  Nuclear  Research  (CERN)  concerning  the granting of the status of Associate Member at CERN.
- (e) Associate  Membership  entitles  Indian  industry  to  participate  directly  in  all CERN related activities.  This will lead to enhancement of high technology development expertise in the country, which will in turn be beneficial to DAE and other scientific departments in the country for their future programmes in the related areas.

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