LONDON
Pakistan is all set to beat India in becoming an associate member at Cern (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory that recently found the god particle, the Times of India reported.
A senior Cern official in London said that bureaucratic red tape in India had slowed down the country’s intentions of joining Cern as an associate member.
The official said, “Cern is very keen that India becomes an associate member and takes up a larger role in the experiments at Cern. But the final documents which India needed to submit have been stuck at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for months now.”
According to the official, Pakistan on the other hand moved swiftly to put “all documents in place” and “is all set to become an associate member before India”.
To be an associate member, India will have to pay $10.7 million annually. The status of associate member is also the pre-stage to full membership. As an associate member, India would have been entitled to attend open and restricted sessions of the organization.
Rolf Dieter Heuer, director general of Cern, had recently said that Cern had become highly popular in India. Cern receives the highest number of applications for summer internships from India. Cern discovered the Higgs Boson popularly known as the god particle.
The associate membership will open the doors of mega science experiments for Indian scientists and will also allow Indian industry to participate in bids for Cern contracts across various sectors. India was given “observer” status in Cern in 2002.