New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday hailed noted biochemist G P Talwar as he turned 100, saying the great institution builder is one of the early architects of India's infrastructure in biotechnology.
Ramesh said Talwar is one of the foundational figures of AIIMS having been the second faculty member to join there in August 1956 and is singularly responsible for the establishment of the National Institute of Immunology in the 1980s. "Today, a grateful nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as well as of Lal Bahadur Shastri," the Congress general secretary said. Today also happens to be the day when a most remarkable and distinguished Indian biochemist turns 100, he noted. "And what a great institution builder Dr. G. P. Talwar has been. He is one of the foundational figures of AIIMS having been the second faculty member to join there in August 1956 and is singularly responsible for the establishment of the National Institute of Immunology in the 1980s," Ramesh said.
He has been a pioneering researcher whose work led to the world's first leprosy vaccine, a prolific author, inspiring teacher, brilliant communicator and a great mentor, Ramesh said. Having studied under the iconic Jacques Monod who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965, Talwar could have lived and worked anywhere in the world but from the mid-1950s he decided to stay back and build deep scientific capacities and capabilities within India itself, the Congress leader said. Talwar is one of the early architects of India's infrastructure in biotechnology, Ramesh said. Ramesh also shared the video clip of a journalist paying tribute to Talwar on his becoming a centurion and still going strong.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.