Industrialist KK Birla dies at 90
Noted industrialist and the chairman of the Hindustan Times Dr KK Birla died at his Birla Park residence in Kolkata on Saturday morning after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.
A spokesman for the family said Dr Birla, a former Rajya Sabha member and the chairman of several companies, was ailing for the last two weeks and the end came at 7.30 am.
Dr Birla is survived by three daughters - Nandini Nopany, Jyoti Poddar and Shobhana Bhartia, who is vice chairperson and editorial adviser of Hindustan Times.
His wife Manorama Devi Birla had died about a month ago.
Kolkata, Aug 30 (IANS) Eminent industrialist K.K. Birla died at his Birla Park residence here Saturday morning after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.
A spokesman for the family said Birla, the chairman of the Hindustan Times and several companies, died at about 7.30 a.m. His wife Manorama Devi Birla had died about a month ago.
Birla is survived by three daughters - Nandini Nupani, Saroj Potddar and Shobhana Bhartia, who is vice chairperson and editorial adviser of Hindustan Times.
Doyen of Indian industry K K Babu
Kolkata (PTI): Krishna Kumar Birla, popularly known as K K Babu, was a builder of modern institutions, ranging from industry to education, one of the famous symbols of which is the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani Rajasthan, his birthplace.
Born on November 11, 1918, Birla called it a historic day (his birthday) in his autobiography, "Brushes With History", as agreement of armistice for World War I was signed on that day.
K K Birla inherited a legacy in which the creation of wealth, philanthropy and political leadership was all regarded as part of nation building.
Spiritual strength and moral values were regarded part of KK Birla's personal credo. He built a Radha-Krishna Temple (popularly known as Birla Temple) here and many other institutions countrywide that enriched the fabric of Indian society.
He was responsible for expanding the famous Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, with extension of its campuses in Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad.
He was the chairperson of the Hindustan Times Group and had been a member of the Rajya Sabha for a long time.
He is survived by three daughters - Nandini Nupani, Jyoti Potddar and Shobhana Bhartia.
His wife Manorama Devi Birla died in Kolkata on July 29.FACT FILE ; dr kk birla
The K.K. Birla Foundation was established in 1991 by Krishna Kumar Birla. Its mission is to promote literature (especially Hindi literature) and the arts, as well as education and social work. It regularly gets mentioned in the media for the awards it confers, includding:
- the Saraswati Samman (Rs 5 lakh) for prose/poetry work in any Indian language,
- the Vyas Samman (Rs 2.5 lakh) for prose/poetry work in Hindi,
- the Bihari Puraskar (Rs 1 lakh) for prose/poetry work in Hindi/Rajasthani, only authors from Rajasthan are eligible,
- the Shankar Puraskar (Rs 1.5 lakh) for a work in Hindi concerning Indian philosophy, culture and/or art,
- the Vachaspati Puraskar (Rs 1 lakh) for any work in Sanskrit,
- the G.D. Birla Award for scientific research (Rs 1.5 lakh).
Son of Late Dr GD Birla, Krishna Kumar Birla was born at Pilani, Rajasthan, in Samvat 1975 on the auspicious day of Gopashtami which falls on Kartik Shuklashtami. As Hindu festivals celebrated according to Vikram Samvat occur on dates which vary from year to year, Gopashtami falls on different dates every year, Gopashtami falls on different dates every year.
In 1918, when Krishna Kumar was born, it fell on November 11. For the sake of consistency in the observance of his birthday, Krishna Kumar has adopted October 12 as the official date of his birth, though members of his family and friends celebrate it on whatever date Gopashtami occurs according to the Gregorian calendar. He was currently working as the Chairman of HT Media Ltd.
He passed BA (Hons) from Lahore University in 1939.
Dr KK Birla joined Congress Party in 1984 as a life member. He was elected as a Rajya Sabha member in the same year, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. He was a Member of Parliament for three terms from 1984 till 2002.
Dr Birla was a successful industrialist having interests in Textiles, Sugar, Engineering, Shipping, Fertilizers and Information Technology.
Dr Birla also served as the Chairman/Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology & Science since 1983.
He also served for Central Board of State Bank of India and also on the Board of ICICI for many years. He was a member of a number of committees appointed by the Government of India.
DR Birla had established KK Birla Foundation, which confers annually, awards in Indian Literature, Scientific research, Indian philosophy, Art and Culture and Sports.
He also set up KK Birla Academy that undertakes research on Scientific, Historical and Cultural subjects.
He liked reading, music and playing Bridge in his leisure time. He was president of the Bridge Federation of India for a number of years and of Lawn Tennis Association.
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