Hyderabad: Eminent scientist Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava, 89, passed away on Tuesday. He was on dialysis for the last one month and breathed his last at 5.45 pm at his residence in Dharmpuri Colony near Uppal. He is survived by his son Mohit and daughter Vaneeta, who are settled abroad. His wife died last year.
His close friends say Dr Bhargava’s health started to deteriorate last year. Dr Bhargava's pioneering vision and efforts led to the founding of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), an eminent institution for research in basic biology and its applications for the benefit of society. He was working in the Biochemistry division of the then Regional Research Laboratory (now the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology), when he convinced the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to establish a separate institute, and CCMB was formed on April 1, 1977.
P.M. Bhargava was born in Ajaymeru (Rajasthan) on February 22, 1928 in a middle-class family that moved to Varanasi when he was 10 years old. He did his schooling and intermediate in Uttar Pradesh and then did his UG (BSc), PG (MSc-Organic Chemistry) and PhD (Synthetic Organic Chemistry) from Lucknow University.
The remarkable thing was he obtained his PhD at the age of 21 after which he moved to Hyderabad.
