->Rathfelder at 10:51, 16 June 2021

2021-06-16T10:51:50Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Adinath Lahiri
|image = Adinath Lahiri.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1916|08|24}}
| birth_place = [[Pabna]], British India (now [[Bangladesh]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1975|08|26|1916|08|24}}
| occupation = Geochemist<br>Fuel technologist
| yearsactive = 1942–1975
| known for = Institution builder<br>Researches on Coal
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]]<br>[[Padma Shri]]<br>[[Imperial College London|Imperial College]] Judd Memorial Prize
|signature = signature of Adinath Lahiri.jpg
}}
'''Adinath Lahiri''' (1916–1975) was an Indian [[geochemist]] and fuel technologist, known for his efforts in developing ''Central Fuel Research Institute'', [[Dhanbad]] (CFRI) into one of the premier research institutions in India.<ref name="Deceased Fellow - INSA">{{cite web | url=http://www.insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N600404 | title=Deceased Fellow - INSA | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | access-date=24 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812222017/http://www.insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N600404 | archive-date=12 August 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was the director of the ''National Coal Development Corporation'' (NCDC) and contributed towards the establishment of the ''Central Mining Research Station'', which was later merged with CFRI to form the present day [[Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research]]).<ref name="Profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.cimfr.nic.in/prof.html | title=Profile | publisher=Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research | date=2016 | access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 1960 and followed it up with the third highest honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]], in 1969, for his contributions to Science and Technology.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2016 |access-date=3 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Adinath Lahiri was born on 24 August 1916.<ref name="24 August 1916">{{cite web | url=http://www.indianage.com/eventdate.php/24-August-1916 | title=24 August 1916 | publisher=Indianage.com | date=2016 | access-date=25 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405154719/http://www.indianage.com/eventdate.php/24-August-1916 | archive-date=5 April 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> After completing his master's degree in geology and geochemistry from the [[University of Calcutta]], he obtained ''Sir Palit Foreign Fellowship'' of the university and did his doctoral studies at the [[Imperial College London|Imperial College]] of the [[University of London]] to secure a PhD, winning the Judd Memorial Prize for the best thesis in geochemistry.<ref name="Obituary: Adinath Lahiri">{{cite journal | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244064406 | title=Obituary: Adinath Lahiri |author1=S.Ranga Raja Rao |author2=Ian G.C. Dryden | journal=Fuel | date=January 1976 | volume=55 | pages=87 | doi=10.1016/0016-2361(76)90079-x}}</ref> He started his career as a research associate at the Department of Chemical Technology at Imperial College in 1942, but joined the [[Royal Air Force]] during [[World War II]] to serve as a Scientific Officer and, later, as the Head of the Fuel and Oil Research Section at the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]], [[Farnborough Airport|Farnborough airfield]]. After the war was over, he returned to India, in 1945, to take up the position as the Assistant Director (Planning) at the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] (CSIR) when he contributed to the planning and establishment of the Central Fuel Research Institute (CFRI), Dhanbad.<ref name="Deceased Fellow - INSA" /> He joined the institute after its inception as the Deputy Director and when the founder director, J. W. Whitteker left, he took over as the director in 1953 to stay with the institute till his superannuation in 1974.<ref name="60 Years of CFRI">{{cite web | url=http://www.cfriindia.nic.in/60yrs.pdf | title=60 Years of CFRI | publisher=CFRI | date=2016 | access-date=25 March 2016 | pages=5 of 285 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328191007/http://cfriindia.nic.in/60yrs.pdf | archive-date=28 March 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In between, he also underwent training under a Summer Fellowship at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science]] in 1950.<ref name="Obituary: Adinath Lahiri" /> After his retirement from CFRI, he joined the [[United Nations]] as an advisor and served in Chile when he died on 26 August 1975, two days after his 60th birthday, succumbing to a cardiac arrest.<ref name="Obituary: Adinath Lahiri" />

Lahiri's research interests covered the fields of [[petrography]], oxidation mechanisms, solvent extraction, surface chemistry of coal, catalysts and [[adsorbents]] and he was credited with several innovations in fuel technology, which earned him over 90 patents.<ref name="Deceased Fellow - INSA" /> His contributions have been reported in the development of [[Beehive oven|beehive coke oven]], process technologies for the isolation and recovery of useful chemicals from the byproducts of coal, process technologies for the production of resins and other compounds, and [[active carbon]] and [[ion exchange]]rs for determination of water-based coal. He published his research and professional experiences by way of over 500 articles,<ref name="Obituary: Adinath Lahiri" /> ''Reaction of coals under plasma conditions: direct production of acetylene from coal'',<ref name="Reaction of coals under plasma conditions: direct production of acetylene from coal">{{cite journal | title=Reaction of coals under plasma conditions: direct production of acetylene from coal |author1=Subhas C. Chakravartty |author2=Devaprasad Dutta |author3=Adinath Lahiri | journal=Fuel - Central Fuel Research Institute | date=January 1976 | volume=55 | issue=1 | pages=43–46 | doi=10.1016/0016-2361(76)90068-5}}</ref> ''National Coal Development Corporation A New Approach'',<ref name="National Coal Development Corporation A New Approach">{{cite journal | url=http://cimfr.csircentral.net/1348/ | title=National Coal Development Corporation A New Approach | author=A. Lahiri | journal=Journal of Mines, Metals & Fuels | year=1961 | volume=9 | issue=10 | issn=0022-2755}}</ref> and ''Trekking on the Southern Bhutan Frontier'' counting among them.<ref name="Trekking on the Southern Bhutan Frontier">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7zsPgAACAAJ | title=Trekking on the Southern Bhutan Frontier | publisher=Calcutta Geological Society | author=Adinath Lahiri | year=1937 | pages=5}}</ref> During his tenure with CFRI, he proposed the setting up of ''Central Mining Research Station'' for overcoming the coal mining issues faced in India and served as the director of the National Coal Development Corporation.<ref name="Deceased Fellow - INSA" /> In 1954, he proposed energy studies, a pioneering effort in India, and served the Indian Energy Survey Committee of 1965 and the National Fuel Policy Committee of 1974, as a member.<ref name="Obituary: Adinath Lahiri" />

Lahiri was an elected Fellow of the [[Institution of Engineers (India)|Institution of Engineers]], Institute of Fuels (London) and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] (INSA), and served as a member of the INSA council from 1968 to 1970.<ref name="Deceased Fellow - INSA" /> In 1960, the Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Notification">{{cite web | url=http://www.pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_03/ACC%20NO%20012-BR/RAS-1960-01-26-4313.pdf | title=Notification | publisher=Gazette of India | date=1960 | access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref> Nine years later, he was included in the [[Indian honours system|Republic Day Honours]] list again, this time for the third highest honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> ''Central Fuel Research Institute'', the institute he helped found, have since renamed their conferencing facility as ''Adinath Lahiri Hall'', in his honour.<ref name="Green chemistry key to sustenance">{{cite web | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050422/asp/ranchi/story_4645928.asp | title=Green chemistry key to sustenance | publisher=The Telegraph | date=22 April 2005 | access-date=25 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409090419/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050422/asp/ranchi/story_4645928.asp | archive-date=9 April 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[De Nobili School, FRI]]
* [[Imperial College London]]
* [[List of Imperial College London people]]
{{portal|India|Science}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.sensonmedia.net/information/padmashri_awards_west_bengal.htm | title=Padma Shri Awards from West Bengal | publisher=Season Media | date=2016 | access-date=25 March 2016}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahiri, Adinath}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Indian geochemists]]
[[Category:Scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry]]
[[Category:Indian scientific authors]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian inventors]]
[[Category:Indian officials of the United Nations]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Imperial College London]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian chemists]]

Adinath Lahiri - Revision history

->Rathfelder at 10:51, 16 June 2021