91-year-old zoologist receives Kalinga award

Eminent zoologist Basanta Kumar Behura was conferred with the prestigious state-level Kalinga Samman-2012 by Kalinga Foundation Trust for his contribution to the popularisation of science.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik handed over the award to him Saturday evening. It carries a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh, a memento and a citation, an official of the foundation told IANS.

The city-based Trust which sponsors the prestigious Unesco Kalinga Prize has been presenting the 'Kalinga Samman for Popularisation of Science' to an eminent scientist of the state since 2010.

Behura who is a native of Bilipara village in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur, is one of the oldest active zoologists of the country.

He completed his masters degree in zoology in 1946 from the Calcutta University. He received a first class post doctoral degree in the subject from the Edinburgh University, Scotland, in 1949.

He joined the Odisha government educational service in 1947. He became vice chancellor of state-run Utkal University 1980 after working at various capacities in different educational institutions and universities.

A writer of several books on zoology, more than 240 of his papers have been published in national and international journals, including two full papers in Nature.