New Delhi, Feb 24 (UNI) The European scientific body CERN, which is engaged in quest of an elusive God Particle in its celebrated supercollider experiment, has evinced interest in tapping Indian scientific talent pool. A delegation from Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) started its tour of India to report to the CERN council in Geneva about India's institutional and scientific strengths to become an Associate Member of this leading high energy physics laboratory. Notably, the particle physicists last had last year used a 17-mile long Large Hadron Collider straddling Fanco-Swiss border and tried to collide and break the atom in hope to get to the Higgs-Boson particle, or the God Particle, – an experiment that thrilled the science buffs and gave goose pimples to theolologists who feared it was nothing short of an approaching Doomsday, and the End was near. The Indian connection to the quest is name Higgs Boson, in which Boson is driven from Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose who is also credited with insights into the God Particle. The visiting CERN team started its governmental and scientific interactions in Delhi today by calling on the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. Top bureacrats and scientists from both the sides discussed details at these meetings. The delegation also apprised the government about the long-standing collaboration between Indian institutions and CERN and the long history of India-CERN engagement. They said that CERN greatly valued this long-standing partnership. The minister also expressed the hope that the cooperation would get further deepened with India becoming an Associate Member, the approval for which had already been granted by the Government of India last year. Once India becomes an Associate Member, Indian industry will be able to bid for CERN contracts, thus opening up opportunities in areas of advanced technologies; technology transfer will be facilitated; Indian scientists will be able to get appointments in CERN for longer periods; India will be able to participate in the scientific decision making to a greater degree; Indian students and post-doctoral fellows will have much greater opportunities to participate in CERN's schools, workshops, summer programmes; etc. Later, the Task Force members also visited the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in New Delhi and interacted with university scientists. They also had a look at the accelerator development and allied research activities being carried out there. The Task Force left for Mumbai in the evening on the second leg of their India visit. UNI PRA AJ 2037