Prof. Narayan Rishi, Advisor, Amity Institute of Virology and Immunology, Amity University. He is one of the senior most Plant Virologists in the country. He has immensely contributed to the cause of virology albeit research, teaching and promoting this subject. Prof. Rishi served CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar for 28 years on various positions. He developed there a strong school of Plant Virology and established a state of art laboratory. His all students are occupying high positions in India and abroad. Prof. Rishi was visiting professor to the University of Hohenheim, Germany during 1993 and also to the Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA during 1986. He is recipient of Foreign Research Fellowship of the Japan society for Promotion of Science and worked at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo during 1971–1974. In addition Prof. Rishi visited and worked for brief period in various premier laboratories in USA, France, Germany, UK and Denmark. He was President of the Indian Virological Society during 2004-2008 and President, Indian Society of Plant Pathologists during 2002-2003. He was Member of International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and National representative to Virology Division of International Union of Microbiological Society (IUMS). Prof. Rishi was Member, Research Advisory Committee of five ICAR institutes and Member, Quinquennial Review Team, of fifteen ICAR Institutes during 1996-2011. He was member of ICAR’s National Core Committee on Restructuring of PG Curricula in Plant Protection during 2000-2002. Prof. Rishi has successfully organized four international conferences/congress and several national conferences and symposia on important current topics in virology. During 1996 he organized International Training Program in Diagnostic Virology at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in which trainees from 15 countries including India participated. His important research findings are: – (A) First time identification of the strains of sugar cane mosaic virus in India, its purification and raising high titer antisera which was used in ELISAs and other serological tests. (B) Identification of sources of resistance to important viruses in chilly, tomato, vigna crops which were used in developing tolerant/resistance verities. (C) Established genetic variability in cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), cloning and sequencing of coat protein and movement genes, developed for the first time in world GM cotton plants resistant to CLCuV. (D) First time sequencing and diversity in DNA β associated with some monopartite begomoviruses. (E) Identified strains of PVS and PVY inducing partial resistance/reducing severity of late blight and early blight diseases in potato. Prof. Rishi participated in several international congresses, national/international conferences and chaired sessions. He was member of several selection committees of ICAR, CSIR, UPSC, and State Public Service Commissions, Agricultural and other Universities. Prof. Rishi is recipient of Prof. S. N. Das Gupta Memorial Lecture Award, 2003, Prof. M. V. Naydu Memorial Award, 2010, Prof. K. S. Bhargava Memorial Award, 2011 and Prof. Kameshwar Sahai Bhargava Oration Award, 2014. Smithsonian Institute travel grant 1979 and McKnight, USA, International Travel Grant 2001 to visit Israel, France and USA to develop international collaborative project on begomoviruses. Currently he is a nominated member of the Academic Council of Rajendra Central Agricultural University, Bihar as an eminent Agricultural Scientist. He delivered an invited lecture in Euro Virology on July 02, 2018 at Vienna, Austria.
AMITY Institute of Virology and Immunology