New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS): Neutrinos, sub-atomic particles that reportedly travel faster than light, appear to have fired the imagination of President Pratibha Patil who plans to visit CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Geneva Saturday.
Patil will Friday go on a two-nation state visit to central Europe -- Switzerland and Austria. She will be accompanied by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla, three MPs, senior officials and a 55-member business delegation.
In Berne, the Swiss capital, she will hold talks with her counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey on a gamut of bilateral, regional and international issues, M. Ganapathi, secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, told reporters here Thursday.
The talks will focus on ways to intensify trade and investment between the two countries.
An important highlight of her visit will be her meetings at CERN, the prestigious institute that has developed neutrinos that apparently travel faster than the speed of light.
If this is independently verified, the discovery which is creating a flutter in the world of science could overturn the foundations of modern physics, including the Theory of Relativity.
"The president is obviously interested in developments in science and technology," Ganapathi said when asked about the importance of her visit to the Geneva-based research institute.
She is also expected to meet a group of Indian scientists at CERN and highlight Indian scientist Satyendra Nath Bose's contribution to the institution. The sub-atomic particle 'boson' has been named after Bose.
The $10 billion Large Hadron Collider experiment in Switzerland last week is widely credited to the legacy of Bose and Einstein.
Patil will unveil a bust of Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne Oct 4 for the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the Nobel laureate.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a "Tagore Chair" on Indian Studies between the university and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will also be signed during her visit, the external affairs ministry said.
During her visit to Austria Oct 4-7, Patil will hold delegation-level discussions with Austrian President Heinz Fischer. She will also meet Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Barbara Prammer, apeaker of the Austrian parliament.
She will address a joint business forum and meet the Indian community in both countries.