Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Director of the Institute Of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar Ajay Kumar Parida passed away in Assam on July 19 while he was on a visit to Guwahati to attend a conference where he died suffering from a heart attack.
According to the reports, Parida was born and raised in Bhagabanpur village in the Jajpur district. He served as the Executive Director of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai during 2009-2017. He was elected as President of the Agriculture Science and Forestry section of the Indian Science Congress in 2012. Dr Parida was the President of the Biological Sciences Session of the National Academy of Sciences India in 2014.
Governor of Andhra Pradesh Biswa Bhusan Harichandan has expressed his grief on his Twitter handle and quoted “I am very saddened to hear of the death of Dr Ajay Parida, Director of ILS. His advice was very helpful to all the individuals involved in the corona and created awareness among the people. His research and contribution to agriculture and science will always be beneficial to the welfare of human society. He was honoured with the Padma Award for his contribution to the field of science and will always be remembered in the state and the country.”
