Noted former scientist & college HoD no more

SHILLONG, Dec 15: A prominent face in the fields of education and science in Meghalaya, Masaud Refaht Halim, former scientist at Botanical Survey of India, and former Head of the Department of Botany, St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, passed away on Tuesday. He was 84.
He was a resident of Shillong between 1960 and 1990.
He spent his prime years in Shillong and his later years in his ancestral home in Boiragimoth, Dibrugarh.
He was the founder of the Biotechnology Department at St. Anthony’s College, where he had started a grand UGC-funded project called Project Orchid for the conservation and propagation of Northeastern orchids.
The project also included tissue culture of the rare and indigenous orchids of the North East.
While working at Botanical Survey of India, he discovered the plant Lysimachia santapaui, along with GV Subbarao, in 1963.
Two of his notable students are late politician PA Sangma and former Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh University, Alak Kumar Buragohain.
He was also actively involved, in conducting Bihu functions with Bolen Hazarika, Kamini Nath and the Assamese community in Shillong.
He also has architectural designs to his credit, including the Seng Khasi auditorium in Shillong.
He was culturally and socially active all throughout his life. Some of contributions include: He started the Abdul Halim Shams Halim Memorial School in Dibrugarh; he acted in the Assamese feature film Jiwon Xurabhi; his sketch of Bishnu Rabha, published in Bhupen Hazarika’s magazine, Amar Pratinidhi, was popular.
He was also a family friend of the Hazarikas.