FE Block Residents' Association ushered in the new year by hosting an enriching session on scientist Satyendranath Bose. The event was held on January 1, which was also Bose’s 131st birth anniversary.

“In the spirit of new year celebrations, we have organised this event commemorating the birth anniversary of the father of quantum physics, to ensure that we do not forget our roots,” said Basab Basak, a resident of FE Block, during the welcome address.

Abhijit Chakraborty, who teaches physics at the University of Burdwan, outlined the life, contributions, and lesser-known facts about Bose. “Before attending Hindu School, Bose's initial education took place at Normal School, close to his residence, which has now been transformed into a multi-storeyed building,” said Chakraborty.

“In 1909, when Bose was admitted to college, his English teacher, H.M. Percival (awarded Best Teacher for three consecutive years by Calcutta University), handed over all his medals to Bose upon his retirement in 1914 and remarked that one day Satyendranath Bose would be recognised worldwide,” Chakraborty shared.

During the later part of his college life, Bose started the Working Men's Institute, a non-formal school for workers of the unorganised sector, along with contemporaries Meghnad Saha and Jnan Ghosh joining him in this initiative. To fund this institute, Bose even started coaching actor and director Pramathesh Barua.

Chakraborty also highlighted Bose’s contribution to popularising Einstein's work by translating his German papers into English, making them accessible to masses. In fact, Meghnad Saha and Satyendranath Bose translated Einstein's Principles of Relativity into English, a work recently reprinted.

Bose believed that all education, not just scientific education, should be imparted in the mother tongue so in 1948, under his leadership, Basu Vigyan Mandir was founded to promote science in Bengali. Speaking about Bose's international recognition, Chakraborty mentioned Russian physicist Lev Landau, seven of whose students were awarded Nobel Prizes. “Landau ranked physicists worldwide on a logarithmic scale and placed Bose in third position, after Newton and Einstein,” he said.

Speaking about Bose’s work, Chakraborty explained the symmetric wave function of boson particles and the anti-symmetric wave function of fermion particles. A major contribution of Bose was the recognition of the indistinguishability of particles and their intrinsic spin, the professor said.

“Although not awarded the Nobel Prize, Bose was nominated for third position by the Nobel Committee in 1930, the same year that CV Raman received the prize. Meghnad Saha was ranked fifth. So remarkably, in 1930, three scientists from Calcutta University were nominated for the Nobel Prize,” Chakraborty said.

He also noted that Bose's pioneering work on superconductivity laid the foundation for modern technologies based on quantum statistical mechanics. “His revolutionary discovery that bosons can occupy a single state led to the identification of a new state of matter termed Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC), complementing solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas. His research introduced phenomena like superfluidity and superconductivity, paving the way for high-magnetic-field generation, critical for MRI imaging. The invention of lasers and the modern era of quantum computing are also rooted in Bose’s theories, further developed by countless scientists worldwide,” he said.

Advancements in MRI technology, for instance, would not have been possible without Bose's findings, he summed up.

Football tribute

Budding soccer talents from across New Town came together for a two-day tournament in CE Block earlier this month. The event was the inaugural edition of Chhandita Memorial Cup, played in memory of Chhandita Bhattacharya, a resident who succumbed to Covid in 2021 and who was deeply involved with football coaching in the block.

Players were divided into two categories: under-11s and under-15s and teams were fielded by the likes of BA Block Football Coaching Camp, DC Block, Bengal Heroes New Town, New Town Football Academy Ecospace, Uniworld Soccer School New Town, and of course, the home team. This was the debut year of this tournament and the flagship event of CE Block Football Coaching Camp, which has 55 students on the roster.

Day 1 saw intense matches in both age groups, with teams showcasing their skill and sportsmanship, and the semifinals and finals took place on the second day, culminating in nail-biting finishes.

“This is my first time in a football tournament and I was really excited. I had been preparing for months and our coach also encouraged us a lot. I love football,” said Udbhas Laha, a Class V student at DPS Megacity and, a part of the CE Block U-11 team.

Ayush Padhi played despite an injury. “I had hurt my leg recently but still gave my best today. We had rigorous training sessions over the past few days, and it has been worth it,” said the Class VIII boy from DPS Megacity who played in the DC Block U-15 team.

In the Under-11 category, Uniworld Soccer School New Town emerged victorious with Bengal Heroes New Town and DC Block New Town finishing as joint runners-up.

The Under-15 category saw a repeat success for the Uniworld team, while New Town Football Academy Ecospace finished runners-up.

“This tournament was a success today thanks to the dedication, effort and hard work of all present today,” said secretary of CE Block Alok Das. “Our block’s sports secretary Debdas Chatterjee deserves a special mention as he’s been working tirelessly.”

The event concluded with the prize distribution ceremony, in which medals and trophies were presented by Das and Chatterjee. “The players have shown their dedication and passion for football,” said Chatterjee. “We hope to organise more such events to provide a platform for budding talents and strengthen community bonds.”

Srijita Talukdar