Hyderabad, Feb. 23 -- M Somasekhar

In November 2015, Dr Pushpa Mitra Bhargava, well-known scientist, institution builder and science populariser, caused a sensation by returning his Padma Bhushan(1986) citing the climate in the country was of "very strong fear" and it was "against rationality, against reason and against scientific temper".

A biologist of international repute and a rationalist, Dr Bhargava's was for decades, a strident voice against issues, government decisions and public matters that he strongly believed were against people's interest.

On February 22, this Ajmer-born who made Hyderabad his permanent home and was fondly called as PMB would have turned 94. He passed away in August 2017 and in his death, a strong voice in...