• Search Engine giant Google paid tributes to Indian scientist Asima Chatterjee with a special doodle, on her 100th birth anniversary.
• Chatterjee, arguably the second Indian woman to earn a Ph.D., is the first woman to be elected as the General President of the Indian Science Congress, a premier institution that oversees scientific research.
• “When Dr. Asima Chatterjee was growing up in Calcutta in the 1920s and 1930s, it was almost unheard of for a woman to study chemistry.
• But that didn’t stop Chatterjee: she not only completed her undergraduate degree in organic chemistry, but she also went on to receive a Doctorate of Science.
• Chatterjee’s notable contributions in the field of medicinal chemistry include research on Vinca alkaloids used in chemotherapy and development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs.
• Chatterjee has published numerous scholarly articles on medicinal plants.
• She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1975 and the Sir C. V. Raman Award in 1982. She also served as an MP in Rajya Sabha.

Source:TH