Krishna Kumar Birla

Krishna Kumar Birla (12 October 1918 As per rajya sabha website – 30 August 2008) was an Indian industrialist of the Birla family. Born at Pilani in the northwestern Indian state Rajasthan on Oct. 12, 1918, He was the eldest of the two sons of Maha Devi and Ghanshyam Das Birla, who was a staunch follower of Mohandas Gandhi and a financier of his Congress Party. his birth coinciding with an epochal event: the signing of the armistice that signalled the end of the First World War. He chose to celebrate his birthday on October 12: he had born on Gopashtami and the family tended to follow the lunar calendar, which meant that the date always bounced around on the western calendar.

He 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, served on several committees of Parliament. He was appointed twice, in 1980 and 2004, as a member of the National Integration Council chaired by the prime minister.

Birla was one of the industrialists who supported economic reforms in India in 1991.

Birla was a Hindi Prabhakar (Honours in Hindi) and in 1997 was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by Pondicherry University. In 1991, Birla established the K.K. Birla Foundation to promote Hindi literature.

He was the chairman of one of The Hindustan Times,He was on the central board of the State Bank of India and ICICI. He headed Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), Indian Sugar Mills Association and many Sports Federations. Birla was the group chairman of the Zuari-Chambal group of companies. He was also the Chairman of Zuari-Chambal-Paradeep.

He died on Aug. 30, 2008 at his home in Calcutta. He was 89. The cause was age-related ailments and pneumonia. He was grief-stricken by the death on 29 July of his wife of 67 years, Manorama Devi.

He was survived by his daughters Nandini Nopany, Jyoti Poddar and Shobhana Bhartia, who is the vice chairwoman and editorial director of The Hindustan Times, and several grandchildren

He liked playing bridge. He was president of the Bridge Federation of India for a number of years and also headed the Indian Lawn Tennis Association.

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