Cheril Krishna Menon (18 September 1949 – 1 October 2019C. K. Menon, Doha industrialist and philanthropist, dies aged 70
/ref>) was an Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the Chairman and Managing Director of Behzad Corporation, headquartered in Doha, Qatar, which has presence in many other countries. He received the 2006

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Honour/Award) is the highest Indian award for Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India or an organisation or institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Orig ...

and in 2009 received the fourth highest Indian civilian award,

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

, from

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, in 2009, with. He died after prolonged illness at

Apollo Hospital Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited is an Indian multinational healthcare group headquartered in Chennai. Along with the eponymous hospital chain, the company also operates pharmacies, primary care and diagnostic centres, telehealth clinics, ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 1 October 2019, aged 70.

Biography

Krishna Menon was born in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, in the South Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, on 18 September 1949 to Cheril Karthyayani Amma and Puliyamkott Narayanan Nair, a local business man engaged in transport business. His schooling was at

Church Mission Society High School Church Mission Society Boys Higher Secondary School (CMSHSS) is a higher secondary school located in Thrissur city, of Kerala state, in India. The school was started by CMS missionary in 1845. CMS Boys HSS, Thrissur is one of the oldest school ...

(CMSHSS,

) after which he did his Pre University Course from St. Thomas College, Thrissur. He graduated from Sree Kerala Varma College,

and secured a graduate degree in Law from the Law College,

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

. His career started as a lawyer at the

High Court of Kerala The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

, Kochi which he continued for two years before moving to Qatar in 1976. Menon established Behzad Corporation, Doha, a fuel transportation company, in 1978, in partnership with Ali Bin Nasser Al Misnad, a Qatari citizen. Over the years, he diversified his business to cover finance, media, steel and infrastructure industries and has presence in many countries in the Middle East, American continent, Europe and in India. Besides heading his flagship company, Behzad Corporation, he was a director of business establishments such as Behzad Fuels (UK) Limited, Infrastructure Kerala Limited (INKEL), a

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

undertaking,

JaiHind TV Jaihind Television is an Indian Malayalam-language channel, based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was launched on 17 August 2007, in Delhi by the Indian National Congress President and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. T ...

and Symphony TV and was chairman of Al Barakah Financial Services Limited, the first Islamic non banking finance company in Kerala, promoted by

Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. is the industrial and investment promotion agency of the Government of Kerala (India), for the promotion and development of medium and large scale units in the State of Kerala. As the Nodal ...

(KSIDC) and TJSV Steel Fabrication and Galvanizing Limited. Menon, who has been listed as the 20th richest non resident Indian in the Middle East by Arabian Business Magazine in 2011, was a member of many government constituted bodies. He was a permanent director and the vice chairman of ''Norka Roots'', the field agency of the

Department of Non Resident Keralites Affairs The Non Resident Keralites Affairs abbreviated as NORKA is a department of the Government of Kerala formed on 6 December 1996 to redress the grievances of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs). It is the first of its kind formed in any Indian state. ...

. He was on the board of directors of the ''India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians'', a trust under the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for promoting and channelising the philanthropic efforts of the non resident Indians. He was a nominated Ex Officio member of the Security Advisory Council to Civil Aviation, (SACCA)

and served as the chairman of Bhavan's Public School (Al Misnad Education Centre), Doha, Qatar.

Philanthropy

Krishna Menon is reported to have built and donated over 100 houses for the slum dwellers in Thrissur. He was involved with the ''Laksham Veedu Project'' and ''M. N. Laksham Veedu Restoration Project'' of the

. He was a patron and a major supporter of ''Adarsh Charitable Trust'', a non governmental organization based in

Tripunithura Thrippunithura or Tripunithura (), is a prominent historical and residential region in the City of Kochi in Kerala, India. Located about 7 km (4 mi) from the city centre, Tripunithura was the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, which runs various programs including a school for the mentally challenged children. He was also associated with the activities of the School of Bhagavat Gita, Thiruvananthapuram and is known to have donated a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

to the Muslim community.

Awards and recognitions

Krishna Menon received the

from the

in 2006. Three years later, the government honoured him again with the civilian award of

in 2009. He received the

Federal Bank Federal Bank Limited is an Indian private sector bank headquartered in Aluva, Kochi, Kerala. The bank has 1,336 branches spread across different states in India. It also has representative offices abroad in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and ...

Kerala Business Award from the World Malayali Council in 2011. He was also a recipient of the 2012 Qatar National Award from the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID).

Personal life

Menon was married to Jayasree K. Menon, with whom he had three children. He was a regular sponsor of Pulikkali in his hometown. He also sponsored the

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

celebrations at

Vadakkumnathan Temple Vadakkumnathan Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva at city of Thrissur, of Kerala state in India. This temple is a classical example of the architectural style of Kerala and has one monumental tower on each of the four sides ...

in Thrissur.

Death

On 18 September 2019, his 70th birthday, Menon was diagnosed with viral fever which later on worsened into pneumonia and was undergoing treatment in

, where he had lived for the past few years. Since his condition worsened, he was transferred to Appolo Hospital in Chennai, where he died in the night of 1 October. He was cremated with full state honours at the premises of his ancestral home in Thrissur. He is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.

References