UCIL Marks Diamond Jubilee Year of Uranium Mining

The correct answer is the Department of Atomic Energy. UCIL is described as a public sector enterprise working under the Department of Atomic Energy, and it supplies the uranium that feeds the country's nuclear power programme. Its Diamond Jubilee Year, marked on 4 October 2026, counted six decades from its incorporation on 4 October 1967. The link with the department is visible in the jubilee programme itself: a DAE Technology Exhibition was staged for school students, and the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy, who is also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, sent greetings. Option A, the Ministry of Mines, handles mineral administration in general but not the atomic minerals wing that UCIL belongs to. Option C, the Ministry of Coal, deals with coal and lignite and has nothing to do with uranium. Option D, the Department of Science and Technology, funds scientific research but does not own the uranium mining corporation. Only the Department of Atomic Energy fits.

The correct answer is Jaduguda. The Diamond Jubilee Year celebrations of Uranium Corporation of India Limited were held at Jaduguda, bringing together senior officials, scientists, engineers, technical personnel, employees and media professionals. The Chief Guest, Ms. Seema Jain, Member-Finance of the Atomic Energy Commission, visited the Technology Demonstration Pilot Plant at the research and development centre there, and also the site proposed for a Dark Matter Laboratory at the 815-metre level of the Jaduguda underground mine. Option A, Narwapahar, is a trap worth noticing: the Information Centre at Narwapahar hosted the Journalists' Workshop and the technology exhibition that went with the jubilee, but the main celebration itself was at Jaduguda. Options C and D name other centres associated with India's atomic establishment, and neither is mentioned as the venue of this event. The venue to remember for the jubilee is therefore Jaduguda.

The correct answer is Member-Finance, Atomic Energy Commission. Ms. Seema Jain attended the jubilee at Jaduguda in that capacity as Chief Guest, toured the Technology Demonstration Pilot Plant and the proposed site of the Dark Matter Laboratory, and described the year as a celebration of six decades of scientific capability, institutional experience and service to the nation, paying homage to Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha and the pioneers of uranium mining in India. Option A belongs to Dr Kacham Anand Rao, who is Chairman and Managing Director of UCIL and spoke of the year as a proud marker for the UCIL family. Option B belongs to Dr Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who conveyed his greetings. Option D is not a post named anywhere in connection with the celebrations, though the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics is the body planning the dark matter facility.

The correct answer is the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, an institution aided by the Department of Atomic Energy. The new site proposed for its Dark Matter Laboratory lies at the 815-metre level of the Jaduguda underground mine, and the Chief Guest at UCIL's Diamond Jubilee Year celebrations was taken to see it along with the Technology Demonstration Pilot Plant. A deep underground location suits such a laboratory because the rock above screens out much of the background radiation that would otherwise swamp a sensitive detector, which is why a working uranium mine offers a ready site. Option C, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, is the department's flagship research centre but is not named as the owner of this laboratory. Options B and D are respected research institutions in India, yet neither figures in the plan for the Jaduguda facility. The institute to remember with the 815-metre level is the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.