Director of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, Dr Ajay Kumar Parida passed away in Guwahati, Assam, on Tuesday. He was 58.
Parida had gone to Guwahati to attend a conference. While cardiac arrest was said to be the reason behind his demise, it was yet to be confirmed.
As per reports, Parida was rescued from his room in Guwahati and immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead.
Parida was a recipient of several awards and recognitions, Padma Shri being the major one conferred upon him in 2014 for his outstanding contribution in the fields of science and engineering. Prior to being posted as the ILS Director, he had served the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai as an Executive Director.
During Parida’s tenure, the ILS played an important role, particularly during the Covid pandemic. It was the ILS that was doing genome sequencing to ascertain Covid variants.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed deep condolence over Parida’s demise and declared that his last rites would be performed with State honour.
