6 interesting facts about Homi J Bhabha, his role in Indian nuclear programme and mysterious death

Today is the 113rd birth anniversary of the father of India’s nuclear program, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, popularly known as “father of the Indian nuclear programme”.
Here are 6 interesting facts about the man who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 and 1953–1956.
Family and Education
Born into a wealthy and influential family, Bhabha did his schooling at Bombay's Cathedral and John Connon School and entered Elphinstone College at age 15 after passing his Senior Cambridge Examination with Honors.
A relative of eminent businessmen Dinshaw Maneckji Petit and Dorabji Tata, he joined the University of Cambridge at the age of 18 to study mechanical engineering in accordance with his father's and uncle Dorab Tata's wish.
While at Cambridge, however, his interest shifted to practical physics and the study of atomic energy. There, he received a PhD in 1935 for his thesis, “On cosmic radiation and the creation and annihilation of positrons and electrons.”
Research in Physics
As a student, Homi worked with a Nobel Prize winner, Niels Bohr in Copenhagen and played a major role in the development of The Quantum Theory.
He was one of the first Indians to receive the Isaac Newton Studentship in 1933 after publishing his first scientific paper, "The Absorption of Cosmic Radiation".
A paper he published in 1935 on electron-positron scattering was appreciated much by the scientific community and this phenomenon was later renamed Bhabha scattering.
Return to India
When World War II broke out in 1939, Bhabha was in India on a holiday. With Europe in turmoil, he decided to stay.
On his return, he became the Reader in the Physics Department at the Indian Institute of Science (IIS) in Bangalore, which was then headed by eminent scientist and Nobel laureate C V Raman.
From the position of “reader" in theoretical physics, he was promoted to professor of cosmic ray research. 5 years later, he was chairman of the newly formed Atomic Energy Research Committee.
He was a nuclear physicist who made vital contributions to quantum theory and cosmic radiation and was the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India set up in 1948.
Setting up educational institutions
He founded and directed two of the institutions that would bring India into the nuclear age: the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in his honor.
Chief architect of the Indian nuclear programme
Long before the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, Homi Bhabha saw the importance of nuclear power as a military deterrent and source of energy, and laid the foundation of India’s nuclear establishment.
Bhabha was instrumental in devising the strategy behind the country’s nuclear programme. He pioneered the use of thorium to extract uranium from it rather than relying on the meager reserves of uranium in India. He formulated India’s three-stage nuclear power programme. He was an aggressive promoter of nuclear weapons for the country’s defense.
As part of this vision, Bhabha established the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the IIS, began to work on the theory of point particles movement, while independently conducting research on nuclear weapons in 1944.
A visionary, Bhabha realized that the development of nuclear energy was crucial for the future industrial growth of the country, as the available sources of power and energy were limited. Funded by businessman J.R.D. Tata, Indian nuclear research began with the inception of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1945, with Bhabha at the helm.
Appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission instituted by the government of India in 1948, Bhabha was instrumental in setting up the Atomic Energy Establishment in Trombay.
He convinced the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to start a nuclear programme.
It was under his direction that the scientists of India made their way into making an atomic bomb ant the first atomic reactant was operated in Mumbai in 1956.
Bhabha also led the first UN Conference held for the purpose of Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, 1955. It was then predicted by him that a limitless power of industries would be found through nuclear fusion’s control. He promoted nuclear energy control and also prohibition of atomic bombs worldwide.
He was absolutely against India manufacturing atomic bombs even if the country had enough resources to do so. Instead he suggested that the production of an atomic reactor should be used to lessen India’s misery and poverty.
Death under mysterious circumstances
Bhabha died in a plane crash near Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps while on his way to Vienna for a meeting at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Scientific Advisory Committee on 24 January 1966. He was 56 years old.
Miscommunication between the Geneva Airport and the flight's pilot about the aircraft's position near the Mont Blanc mountain is the official reason of the crash.
Several theories have been proposed for the air crash, including a conspiracy theory claiming that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in order to paralyze India's nuclear program – but none have been proven.