Noted scientist Dr. Baldev Raj - An Eulogy

Noted scientist Dr. Baldev Raj, Director of the prestigious National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, passed away in Pune early on Saturday while attending a conference. He was the former director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in Kalapakkam. Dr. Baldev Raj helped advance several challenging technologies, especially those related to the Fast Breeder Test Reactor and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. Besides his stellar contributions in the field of energy, he has made profound contributions in finding solutions to challenges in water, healthcare and manufacturing. He is acclaimed for his contributions to science and technology of measurements and Sodium Fast Reactors and Associated Fuel Cycle.

He is known for his pursuit in harvesting the knowledge of basic science and its derived applications and using it as multi and interdisciplinary approaches for the benefit of various fields including the cultural heritage. It was for this reason that the Ministry of Culture Government of India permitted me to approach him and his Institute the NIAS, for guiding and advising us in the field of art authenticity.

museums and cultural institutions in India, that have an outstanding collection of rare objects and antiquities, face threats of theft and replacement of rare objects and antiquities with duplicates. This issue is a major concern for all of us - the museum professionals- and therefore, rightly, the Supreme Court has also taken cognizance of this and directed the Ministry of Culture to explore ways and means to curb this menace of illicit culture trafficking. It is for this reason that proper scientific documentation using state of the art technological tools that span the entire electromagnetic spectrum, to document our precious collections has been the major focus for the Ministry of Culture Government of India. It has been an honour for me to liaison with the museum professionals and the scientific institutions to try and see what best solutions the science and technological tools can offer to document the precious collection of the museums. It was for this reason that Dr Baldev Raj was so overwhelmingly supportive and wished to help us in brainstorming to explore possible solutions.

He wrote” I understand the importance of authentication of our vast heritage in the museums and other heritage places of the country. I was inspired by Dr S Paramasivam of Naitonal Museum Madras (now Chennai), Dr C V Sundaram, Dr V S Arunachalam and Prof. P Rama Rao to start finger printing and authentication starting with bronze icons. My significant work has been in the area of Non-Destructive Measurements in electromagnetic and acoustic, spectra, nuclear particles and electrons. I shall be delighted to work with you to design robust implementable method and structure to enable authentication and finger printing in rigorous way and also with time schedules. The distributed expertise and those who are willing to participate with commitment exists in the country. At least 10 institutes of excellence and importance have expertise and infrastructure. We need to unite them together with empowerment and accountability to realize the outcomes as mentioned by you”.

I am confident that NIAS will help us in taking forward the guidance and leadership that Dr Baldev Raj so very kindly volunteered to provide in achieving the objectives of the Museums in art authenticity, yet we will surely be missing his inspirational leadership in this endeavor.

On behalf of the two institutes that I represent, the Nehru Science Centre and National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, I join countless others in the scientific community in offering our prayers for his soul to rest in eternal peace.