Government work Abdus Salam

the road named after abdus salam in cern, geneva

abdus salam returned pakistan in 1960 take charge of government post given him president field marshal ayub khan. independence, pakistan has never had coherent science policy, , total expenditure on research , development represent ~1.0% of pakistan s gdp. pakistan atomic energy commission (paec) headquarters located in small room, , less 10 scientists working on fundamental concepts of physics. abdus salam replaced salimuzzaman siddiqui science advisor, became first member (technical) of pakistan atomic energy commission. abdus salam expanded web of physics research , development in pakistan sending more 500 scientists abroad. in september 1961, abdus salam approached president ayub khan set country s first national space agency. on 16 september 1961, through executive order, space , upper atmosphere research commission established, in abdus salam served first director. before 1960, little work on scientific development done, , scientific activities in pakistan diminished. abdus salam called ishfaq ahmad, nuclear physicist, had left country switzerland joined cern, pakistan. support of abdus salam, paec established paec lahore center-6, ishfaq ahmad first director. in 1967, abdus salam became central , administrative figure lead research in both theoretical , particle physics. establishment of institute of physics @ quaid-e-azam university, research in theoretical , particle physics engaged. under abdus salam s direction, physicists tackled greatest outstanding problems in physics , mathematics. physicist, raziuddin siddiqui, established numerous physics research groups , supervised research activities in academic institutions of pakistan. under direction of abdus salam, research in physics reached point prompted worldwide recognition of pakistani physicists.

abdus salam international centre theoretical physics founded salam in 1964.

from 1950s, salam had tried establishing high-powered research institutes in pakistan, though unable so. salam moved paec headquarters bigger building, , established research laboratories on country. on direction of salam, ishrat hussain usmani set plutonium , uranium exploration committees throughout country. in october 1961, salam travelled united states , signed space-co-operation agreement between pakistan , united states. in november 1961, nasa started build space facility – flight test range – in balochistan abdus salam served first technical director.

abdus salam played influential , significant role in pakistan s development in nuclear energy peaceful purposes. in 1964, abdus salam made head of pakistan s iaea delegation , represented pakistan decade. same year, abdus salam joined munir ahmad khan – abdus salam s lifelong friend , contemporary @ government college university. khan first person in iaea abdus salam had consulted establishment of international centre theoretical physics, research physics institution, in trieste, italy. agreement signed iaea, international centre theoretical physics set abdus salam first director. @ iaea, abdus salam had advocated importance of nuclear power plants in country. due effort in 1965, canada , pakistan signed nuclear energy co-operation deal. salam had obtained permission ayub khan – against wishes of ayub khan s own government functionaries – set nuclear power plant near karachi. in 1965, efforts led abdus salam, united states , pakistan signed agreement in provided pakistan small research reactor. abdus salam had long dream establish research institute in pakistan, had advocated on many different occasions. in 1965, abdus salam , edward durrell stone signed contract establishment of pakistan institute of nuclear science , technology @ nilore, islamabad.

space programme

salam founder of pakistan s space programme responsible establishment of space research activities in pakistan. in 1961, salam approached president ayub khan lay foundation of country s first executive agency co-ordinate space research. on 16 september 1961, through executive order, space , upper atmosphere research commission (suparco) established of salam made first , founder director of agency. salam travelled united states, signed space co-operation agreement united states government. in november 1961, nasa built flight test center (ftc) in balochistan province. during time, salam visited air force academy met air commodore (brigadier-general) wladyslaw turowicz – polish military scientist , aerospace engineer. turowicz made first technical director of space centre, , programme of rocket testing ensued. in 1964, while in united states, salam visited oak ridge national laboratory, , met nuclear engineers salim mehmud , tariq mustafa. salam signed agreement national aeronautics , space administration (nasa) in nasa launched programme provide training pakistan s scientists , engineers. both nuclear engineers returned pakistan in few months , inducted in suparco.

nuclear weapons programme

salam knew importance of nuclear technology in pakistan, civilian , peaceful purposes. but, according biographers, salam played ambiguous role in pakistan s own integrated atomic bomb project. late 1960s, salam made unsuccessful attempt proposal establishment of nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, deferred matter on economic grounds ayub khan. according rehman, salam s influence in nuclear development lessened , diminished late 1974, , became critical of bhutto s control on science. salam did not terminate connection scientists working in theoretical physics division @ paec. 1972–73, had been great advocate atomic bomb project, subsequently took stance against after fell out bhutto on issue of ahmaddiya denomination non-islamic.

in 1965, salam led establishing of nuclear research institute—pakistan institute of nuclear science , technology. in 1965, plutonium reactor pakistan atomic research reactor went critical under leadership of salam. in 1973, salam proposed idea of establishing annual college promote scientific activities in country chairman of paec, munir ahmad khan, wholeheartedly accepted , supported idea. led establishment of international nathiagali summer college on physics , contemporary needs (insc), each year since 1976 scientists on world come pakistan interact pakistani scientists. first annual insc conference held on advanced particle , nuclear physics.

in november 1971, salam met zulfikar ali bhutto in residence, , following bhutto s advice, salam went united states avoid 1971 indo-pak winter war. in 1971, salam had travelled united states , returned pakistan scientific literature manhattan project, , calculations involving in atomic bombs. in 1972, government of pakistan learned development status of first atomic bomb completed under indian nuclear programme. on 20 january 1972, @ multan meeting, bhutto orchestrated develop deterrence programme. former prime minister, zulfikar ali bhutto, formed group of scientists , engineers, first headed salam. in 1972, salam, science advisor president, had managed , participated in secret meeting of nuclear scientists bhutto in multan, came known multan meeting . @ meeting, i.h. usmani protested, believing country had neither facilities nor talent carry out such ambitious , technologically remanding project @ time, whilst salam remained quiet. here, bhutto entrusted salam , appointed munir ahmad khan chairman of paec , head of atomic bomb program, salam had supported khan. few months after meeting, salam, along khan , riazuddin, met bhutto in residence scientists briefed bhutto nuclear weapons program. after meeting, salam established theoretical physics group (tpg) in paec. abdus had led groundbreaking work @ tpg , headed salam until 1974.

an office set salam in prime ministers secretariat order of bhutto. salam started motivate , invite scientists begin work paec in development of fission weapons. in december 1972, 2 theoretical physicists working @ international centre theoretical physics asked salam report munir ahmad khan, scientific director of program. marked beginning of theoretical physics group (tpg) , reporting directly salam. tpg, in paec, assigned conduct research in fast neutron calculations, hydrodynamics (how explosion produced chain reaction might behave), problems of neutron diffusion, , development of theoretical designs of pakistan s nuclear weapon devices. later, theoretical physics group working under leadership of riazuddin, salam s student, began directly report salam, , work on theoretical design of nuclear weapon device completed in 1977. hence, salam had led groundbreaking work in development of weapons programme, khan. in 1972, salam had formed mathematical physics group, under raziuddin siddiqui, charged, theoretical physics group, carrying out research in theory of simultaneity during detonation process, , mathematics involved in theory of nuclear fission following india s surprise nuclear test —pokhran-i – in 1974, munir ahmad khan had called meeting initiate work on atomic bomb, attended salam , @ muhammad hafeez qureshi appointed head of directorate of technical development in paec.

the dtd set co-ordinate work of various specialised groups of scientists , engineers working on different aspects of atomic bomb. word bomb never used in meeting, participants understood being discussed. on march 1974, salam , khan established wah group scientist charged manufacturing materials, explosive lenses , triggering mechanism development of weapon. following setting of dtd, salam, along riazuddin , munir ahmad khan, visited pakistan ordnance factories (pof) held talks senior military engineers led pof chairman lieutenant-general qamar ali mirza. there corps of engineers built metallurgical laboratory in wah cantt in 1976. thus, wah group working under dtd charged material , triggering mechanism development of weapon. salam remained associated nuclear weapons programme until mid-1974, when left country after ahmadi declared non-muslims pakistani parliament. own relations prime minister bhutto fell out , turned open hostility after ahmadiyya community declared not-islamic; lodged public , powerful protest against bhutto regarding issue , gave great criticism bhutto on control on science. in spite of this, salam maintained close relations theoretical physics division @ paec kept him informed every status of calculations needed calculate performance of atomic bomb, according norman dombey. after seeing indian aggression in northern pakistan, followed massive troops rotation in southern pakistan, salam again renewed ties senior scientists working in atomic bomb projects, including ishfaq ahmad , others, had kept him inform scientific development of program. in 1980s, salam approved many appointments , large influx of pakistani scientists associateship program @ ictp , cern, , engaged in research in theoretical physics students @ ictp.

in 2008, indian scholar ravi singh noted in book in 1978, abdus salam paec officials, paid secret visit china, , instrumental in initiating industrial nuclear cooperation between 2 countries. although had left country, salam did not hesitate advise paec , theoretical , mathematical physics group on important scientific matters, , kept close association tpg , paec.