Kolkata, Former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Dr Sekhar Basu passed away at a private hospital in the city on Thursday. He tested Covid-19 positive. He was 68.Nuclear scientist Dr Basu, who was conferred Padma Shri in 2014 by the then President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, was afflicted with pandemic and other kidney ailments. He died early today. He served as the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), from 2015 to 2018. Prior to his assumption of charge as Secretary, DAE, he served as the Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India’s premier multi-disciplinary R&D centre. He also worked as the Project Director of Nuclear Submarine Programme and later as the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board in the same institute.