Power utility CESC receives rare honour from IEEE, third for India

Power utility CESC Ltd on Saturday received a rare honor--IEEE Milestone which is only the third for an Indian contribution after Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Laureate C V Raman, the company said.

Power utility CESC Ltd on Saturday received a rare honor--IEEE Milestone which is only the third for an Indian contribution after noted personalities Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Laureate C V Raman, the company said.

The Institute od Electrical and Electronic Engineers is the world's largest technical organization comprising 400,000 members from 160 countries dedicated to advancing innovation and excellence in all aspects of electrical, electronic, computing fields and related areas of science and technology that underlie modern civilization.

The IEEE Milestone is the most coveted award for any power company in the world.

The bronze plaque weighing 8.5 kg and manufactured in the USA was installed at CESC House here on Saturday.

The IEEE honor was first received in the country by Jagdish Chandra Bose who in 1895 demonstrated his invention - the Crescograph which is a device that measures tiny reactions and changes in plant cells in response to stimuli. An IEEE plaque honouring him is located at Presidency College (now University).

The second plaque honors Nobel Laureate C V Raman. This plaque commemorating his experiment is located at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur.

The IEEE Milestone plaque was received on Saturday by CESC Managing Directors RabiChowdhury (Generation) and Debasish Banerjee (Distribution) from Prof Sushmita Mitra, chairperson IEEE, Kolkata section, a company official said.

It reads The Calcutta ElectricSupply Corporation (CESC) established the first commercial electric supply company in South Asia. CESC switched on the 1000 KW thermal generation plant at Emambagh Lane, Prinsep Street in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 17th April 1899.This delivered 450/225 volt DC power for street lighting, residential office buildings and the Calcutta Tramways. This event heralded the era of electricity in the Indian Subcontinent.

Kathy S Land, IEEE president and CEO spoke on the occasion from the USA in a recorded message. This was followed by live messages from Prof Toshio Fukuda, immediate past president of the organisation from Tokyo Japan and Steeve Welby, executive director and COO of IEEE from New Jersey, USA.