India signs agreement to become an Associate Member State of CERN

Sekhar Basu, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in India, and Fabiola Gianotti, General Director at CERN, signed an agreement that added India as an Associate Member State to CERN. The agreement will come into force once India officially notifies CERN of its approval. Pakistan, Turkey and Ukraine are the current Associate Member States with CERN.https://twitter.com/CERN/status/800717029883973636Sekhar Basu said "Becoming Associate Member of CERN will enhance participation of young scientists and engineers in various CERN projects and bring back knowledge for deployment in the domestic programmes. It will also provide opportunities to Indian industries to participate directly in CERN Projects." Fabiola Gianotti said "I am very happy to welcome India as a new Associate Member State and I'm looking forward to enhanced cooperation on CERN’s exciting scientific and technology programmes."The co-operation between India and CERN goes back all the way to the 1970s. Indian scientists from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) have been participating in experiments at CERN since that time. India has contributed hardware and software to CERN. India also played a role in the construction of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the most famous apparatus at CERN.[caption id="attachment_320494" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Large Hadron Collider[/caption]The agreement is expected to strengthen the ties between Indian scientists and CERN. Being an Associate Member State, India can take part in the CERN council meetings. India will play a part in the decision making process of financial and scientific calls by CERN. Indian scientists can be appointed as staff at CERN because of this agreement. India will also be able to bid for CERN contracts after the agreement comes into force.