Benjamin Peary Pal obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1932. His pioneering work was on the genetics and breeding of superior disease-resistant wheat. He was instrumental in developing All India coordinated research projects on crops, animals and fisheries. He was the President of INSA (1975-76) and the Indian Science Congress Association. He was the Elected Fellow Member of the Royal Society of London; Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences; French Academy of Agriculture; Genetics Society of Japan; Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding; Indian Botanical Society; Horticultural Society of India and Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researches in Asia and Oceania. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri (1959); Padma Bhushan (1968), and Padma Vibhushan (1987). He was conferred with Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Award and GP Chatterjee Memorial Award.

Harcharan Das Tandon received his PhD from Agra University in 1955. His primary contribution was the discovery of a liver disease caused by aflatoxicosis and veno-occlusive disease caused by the consumption of toxic alkaloids in the seeds of wild plants. He was a Member WHO Task Force on the Environmental Health Criteria for Mycotoxins. He received the Dr BC Roy Memorial Award; KN Rao Endowment Oration Award. He was a Member Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists, the Indian Medical Association, the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists and the National Academy of Medical Sciences.

05-06 November, 2023

At Sacramento, California.