Bhubaneswar, July 19: The mortal remains of noted scientist and Director of Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) at Bhubaneswar, Dr Ajay Parida, who passed away in Guwahati, Assam on Tuesday, will reach Biju Patnaik International Airport here at 7.20 AM on Wednesday.
The body will be kept at the ILS-Bhubaneswar campus from 8.30 AM to 9.30 AM for colleagues to pay their last respects to the departed soul.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the last rites of the renowned biologist will be held with full State honour.
Parida (58) died due to heart attack in Guwahati where he had gone to attend a conference.
According to reports, Parida left for Guwahati on Sunday morning from Bhubaneswar and was supposed to catch return flight at 7.30 AM on Tuesday. When he did not come out from his room till 6.30 AM his co-travellers opened the door of his room and found him unconscious. He was immediately rushed to a hospital there, where doctors declared him brought dead.
A native of Bhagabanpur village in Jajpur, Dr Parida was conferred with Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of Science and Technology in 2014.
Parida played a significant role during Covid management in Odisha and his research works on genome sequencing of SARA-cov-2 virus culture and research on the behaviour of coronavirus helped the state government to chalk out plans in controlling the virus.
Parida has made significant research contributions in the field of agriculture, plant molecular biology and biotechnology. His pioneering contributions are in identifying climate resilient crop varieties, also in basic understanding of the genetic architecture and species relationship in mangroves, legumes, cereals, and other cultivated crop varieties.
He has supervised 25 students for their PHD degrees and published more than 1,000 peer reviewed publications and travelled to more than 30 countries.
