RRCAT celebrated its 24^th foundation day on Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008. It was on this day in 1984 that the foundation stone for the new centre was laid by the then President of India, Giani Zail Singh. Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Hon'ble member of parliament and Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, graced the occasion with his presence.

The main event of the day was a gathering in the central complex auditorium in which the chief guest addressed the staff of RRCAT. At the start of the programme, Dr. P.D.Gupta, Head Laser Plasma Division, RRCAT introduced the chief guest giving an outline of the distinguished profile of Dr. Kasturirangan. This was followed by review of the last year's progress & achievements of RRCAT by Dr. V.C.Sahni, Director, RRCAT. Dr. Sahni gave a concise yet all-inclusive account of the progress made by RRCAT on all fronts ranging from improvements in Indus accelerators to lasers being used for various applications. He also described the noteworthy role of RRCAT in the various international collaborations of DAE with some of the leading world laboratories.

Dr. Kasturirangan gave Foundation Day address and his talk was entitled �ASTROSAT & CHANDRAYAAN-1�. He traced the growth of India's space programme starting from the early days of cosmic ray experiments carried out by Dr. Homi Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and leading to the present stage in which the country is able to carry out sophisticated scientific research through its satellites. The latest projects of Indian space programme, ASTROSAT & CHANDRAYAAN-1 were described in detail.

At the end of the programme, Shri. C.K. Pithawa, in-Charge, Indus Accelerator Complex proposed the vote of thanks. The programme concluded with all the staff members of RRCAT gathering on the central lawns for high tea.

Dr. Kasturirangan also visited several laboratories of RRCAT.