Jamshedpur: There would have perhaps been no steel city here had an Indian geologist not found iron ore deposits in Gorumahisani, Mayurbhanj and written to Tata Steel founder J.N. Tata on February 24, 1904.
Geologist and palaeontologist Pramatha Nath Bose, born on May 12, 1855, can be regarded as the man who made J.N. Tata's industrial dream a reality.
Remembering his contributions, Tata Steel marked Bose's birth anniversary with rich floral tributes at Armoury Ground in Bistupur on Thursday. A short film was also screened on Bose's life during the event. For the time, Tata Steel also organised the P.N. Bose Lecture for executives of Tata Steel at the Centre for Excellence in CH Area after the floral tributes.
Along with Tata Steel vice-president (raw materials) Rajeev Singhal, Tata Workers' Union general secretary Satish Kumar Singh and Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) Sunil Bhaskaran, there was another special guest. Calcutta-based Abhijit Bose, the great-grandson of the pioneer, also attended the occasion.
"If we look at Mr Bose's span of activities, he was not only a geologist but an entrepreneur. With his spirit of adventure, he visited many places. He has made immense contributions not only towards Tata Steel but to the country as well," Singhal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said. "The spirit of Bose and the vision of the company's founder J.N. Tata led to the setting up of Jamshedpur."
Other officials present also garlanded the bust and spoke on Bose's contributions.
Tata Workers' Union general secretary Singh highlighted the geologist's life and times and recreated the journey of a meritorious Indian student in 19th century London who joined the Geological Society of India and how in 1904 finally gave invaluable inputs to set up the steel plant that paved the way for Indian iron and steel industry. He lauded the painstaking research of Bose that led to this stunning discovery.
At the P.N. Bose Lecture, former director of ISM Dhanbad, now IIT(ISM), B.B. Bhattacharya, who delivered the keynote address, remembered Bose as a pioneer.
Bose was the first Indian graded officer of the Geological Survey of India. He also had several other firsts to his credit - he was the first Indian science graduate from a British university, first to discover petroleum in Assam and first to set up an Indian soap factory. Spearheading technical education in India, he was instrumental in making the first All-India Industrial Conference happen in 1905, followed by the formation of Indian Industrial Association. His efforts catalysed the foundation of Bengal Technical Institute in Calcutta, now famed globally as Jadavpur University.
