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Community - Prominent Kashmiris |
| Moti Lal Dhar |
A distinguished and eminent scientist, Dr.Moti Lal Dhar was born to Poshikuj and Dina Nath Dhar on 22nd October1914 at Srinagar. He had a brilliant academic career, standing first in B.Sc.(Hons) and M.Sc in the entire Punjab University. He was the first Kashmiri Pandit to earn a Ph.D degree from London University and that too in the record time of 15 months.
On return to India in 1940, he first joined the Drug Research Laboratory, presently known as Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu. In 1950, he shifted to the Central Drug Research Institute at Lucknow, where he rose to become the Director. He held that position for 12 years till his superannuation in 1972.
Thereafter, he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Kanpur and Vice Chancellor of the Benares Hindu University. In 1977, he shifted to Delhi, where he became a Member of the Governing body of the AIIMS. He remained Chairman of the Academic Council of the AIIMS from 1979 to 1983 and was the Chairman of the Dhar Committee, the Report of which left a lasting impact on the future of doctors serving on the faculty of AIIMS and PGI Chandigarh.
An erudite scholar and researcher, his field of specialization was organic and physico-organic chemistry, chemistry of natural products and chemotherapy, for which he became internationally famous. He published more than 150 research papers and was invited as a Visiting Professor to the California Institute of Technology in 1956. He was a Fellow of all the three prestigious Science Academies. Recognizing his distinguished services to the cause of science, Government honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1971.
Dr Dhar was a spiritually advanced soul who could, with his sharp and scintillating intellect, draw an analogy between the bindu of Tantra and the point source of energy in which the mass of the entire universe is condensed before the Big Bang. He was a warm, generous, caring and dignified human being, who was endearingly called Tathyaji by his kith and kin.
Dr Dhar passed away on 20th January 2002, after a prolonged illness.
( courtesy: Isha Atiti Dhar and L.C.Kaul in the Kashmir Sentinel, Mar-April 2002 ) |
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