Triloki Nath Khoshoo

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Triloki Nath Khoshoo (1927-2002) was an Indian environmental scientist and administrator. He started his professional career as the co-founder of the Department of Botany that moved to Khalsa College, Amritsar, soon after the partition of India. [1]

Contents

After a brief stint as Chairman of the Botany Department at Jammu and Kashmir University, he joined the National Botanical Gardens, Lucknow, in 1964 as Assistant Director, where he worked under Kailas Nath Kaul, the Founder Director of the Gardens. He soon became the Director, and due to his efforts, the institution rose to the stature of being the National Botanical Research Institute in 1978. [1]

Government posts

In 1982, he became the Secretary of the newly created Department of Environment in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet with the responsibility of developing a pro-active environmental policy for the country. In 1985, he joined TERI as a Distinguished Fellow and contributed to public policy discussions at national as well as international forums. [1]

Writings

Khoshoo was a prolific writer. Over the course of five decades, he authored more than 250 research papers on plant genetics and evolution, biomass, energy, forestry, conservation and the utilization and management of natural resources. [1] He wrote seven books and edited eleven more on a wide range of subjects.[ citation needed ] His book 'Mahatma Gandhi: An Apostle of Applied Human Ecology', published in 1996, was widely applauded for the practical relevance of Gandhian philosophy in today's world. [2]

Decorations

In 1992, Khoshoo was decorated with one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan. [1]

He was honored by the United Nations in 1996, when he was awarded the Sasakawa Environmental Prize by the United Nations Environment Program. [2]

Cannaceae

The world of the Cannaceae family and the Canna genus has much to thank Khoshoo for, because it is from his work that we have gathered much of our knowledge of the genus.[ citation needed ] In all, Khoshoo authored and co-authored over 10 separate papers on the subject of Canna, many of which were bought together in a single document called Origin and Evolution of Cultivated Cannas. [3]

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Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. All of the genus's species are native to the American tropics and naturalized in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s. Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Brat, S. Ved (2003). "In Memoriam: T.N. Khoshoo (1927-2002)" (PDF). Conservation and Society. 1 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 United Nations Environment Programme Laureates: Dr Triloki Nath Khoshoo
  3. Origin and Evolution of Cultivated Cannas